This is how the mechanism worked: It turns out that Russian entities took over Belarusian companiesto take advantage of the government program “Poland.Business Harbour”. Only for one such “Belarusian” company Poland issued 370 visas to Russians. Interest in the program and visas for IT specialists increased dramatically across the eastern border after the attack Russia to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to Morawiecki: In April 2022, he wrote to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in an alarming tone on this matter consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “It's not interest Polish program, or rather saving themselves by escaping from military mobilization,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed, emphasizing that this was particularly about companies from Russia. “Poland.Business Harbour.” was introduced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in September 2020.
Reaction after 2 months: Only two months after this letter, Justyna Orłowska, the program coordinator for the GovTech program of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, turned to the heads of Intelligence Agency and National Tax Administration asking whether these institutions would like to participate in the verification process of companies – partners of this program. Sejm investigative committee The Visa Scandal Office, which checked how the program worked, found no evidence that any action had been taken.
No one was checked: From March 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023, 1,838 PBH visas were issued to Russian citizens. Marek Sowa, head of the visa scandal commission, says that “no one was verified at any stage”. It wasn't even checked whether the person is an IT specialista statement was enough. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested, for example, verification of one of the companies established in Belarus and 370 Russian workers relocated to Poland. It has not been verified where these people are and how many of them worked in our country.
See also: You can also read about the visa scandal in the text titled: “Morawiecki, Emilewicz and others. They announce 11 notifications to the prosecutor's office”.
Source: “Republic”.