Wroclaw. Control at the Wrocław Opera. In the background, a party by Minister Czarnek, his assistant and other prominent PiS politicians

“Media campaign multiplying false information, control ZUS and commissioned by the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodship on March 2 this year. ‘backstage check’ of one of the many commercial events organized at the Wrocław Opera destabilizes the work of one of Wrocław’s most important cultural institutions.

“As a consequence of this situation, the artistic director of the Wrocław Opera, Maestro Mariusz Kwiecień, a world-renowned baritone, whom we had such difficulty recruiting, resigned from his position” – added.

“The director of the Opera, Halina Ołdakowska, declares her full readiness to control any scope of activity of the institution she manages. Due to the involvement of Opera employees in the implementation of everyday artistic tasks and the ongoing control of the Social Insurance Institution, the director asked the Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship to verify the functioning of the institution in a manner which will not affect its current activities and reputation recognized in the world of culture.

In the background of the case there are various aspects of the activity of the Wrocław Opera.

One case concerns the birthday party of Bartosz Rybak, an associate of the Minister of Education, Przemysław Czarnek. It was to be organized in February at an institution in Wrocław, and prominent politicians were to take part in it PIS, headed by Minister Czarnek. “Fact” was the first to report on the case.

In connection with press reports on the organization of a private party after the performance of Giacomo Puccini’s “La bohème” on February 17, the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship ordered an urgent inspection of the Wrocław Opera, the provincial authorities announced on Wednesday.

Read also: Urgent inspection at the Wrocław Opera

Read also: Dziemianowicz-Bąk: Minister Czarnek spends public money not on education, but on his party and parish buddies

The cost of renting a hall in a building such as the one belonging to the opera can reach tens of thousands of zlotys. Meanwhile, people invited to the party at the opera – according to journalists – did not have to pay for tickets.

On Thursday, “Fakt” wrote that “a foundation from Lublin paid for the catering at the birthday party” and “the name of its president was also on the list of guests invited to the party at the Wrocław Opera”.

The daily also quotes Bartosz Rybak’s statement on this matter. “As part of our internal settlements, I asked the Foundation to make payments for catering at the Wrocław Opera – it is legal. I have never promised the Foundation’s authorities any support when applying for public subsidies. public funds” – said Rybak, quoted by “Fact”.

The minister was to attend the event Przemyslaw Czarnek with his wife, as well as, among others, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, Deputy Chief Commander of the State Fire Service, rectors of universities, including the rector of the Wrocław University of Technology and the Academy of Music, and local PiS politicians.

Minister Czarnek was also to be accompanied by the officers of the State Protection Service.

According to media reports, the disco polo band Bayer Full was to perform on stage. The leader of the group, Sławomir Świerzyński, was to perform the song “Knitting Panties” for the gathered people… in Chinese translation.

The Minister of Education, Przemysław Czarnek himself, admitted that he visited Wrocław and the opera itself, but he did not confirm the presence of the discopol band on stage. In a Twitter post, he summed up the media reports with the sentence: “what nonsense.” “In the evening, together with the rectors, I attended the La bohème opera” – confirmed the minister. However, he added that “there was no Bayer Full performance and I didn’t hear their song there, although like many I also like such music,” he wrote on Twitter.

On that day, Czarnek also visited the Wrocław University of Technology and the Lower Silesian Center of Oncology and Pulmonology in Wrocław. Referring to the entry by MP Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, he emphasized that his visit to the capital of Lower Silesia took place not on February 24, but on February 17.

At the end of February, we reported that the board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship unanimously adopted a resolution on the intention to dismiss Halina Oldakowska from the position of director of the Wrocław Opera. In recent months, inspections have been carried out at the cultural institution, which have shown a violation of the law in the field of public finance discipline, and this was indicated as the reason for the appeal.

The authorities of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship informed that the intention to dismiss the director of the Wrocław Opera from his position was preceded by negative results of an inspection carried out at the Opera by the Supreme Audit Office, the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and the decision of the Regional Adjudication Committee operating at the Regional Accounting Chamber issued after a notification submitted by the Public Finance Ombudsman. The inspection of the Supreme Audit Office showed a negative assessment of the Opera’s activities in terms of: organization, employment issues, public procurement and financial management.

The document stated irregularities in the inspected areas concerning, among others: award of two public contracts concerning the application of the single-source procurement procedure. It was about the contract with Mariusz Kwiecień and Bassem Akiki.

According to the press office of the marshal’s office, the resolution was adopted unanimously. – The Management Board of the Lower Silesian Voivodship adopted a resolution on the intention to dismiss Ms. Halina Ołdakowska from the position of director of the Wrocław Opera due to a violation of the law in connection with the position held. Ms. Halina Ołdakowska was twice found guilty of violating public finance discipline by the Regional Adjudicating Committee at the Regional Accounting Chamber in Wrocław. A reprimand and a warning were imposed on the director of the Opera, said Krzysztof Maj, member of the board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.