Negative position of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage towards the activities of the National Broadcasting Council
During the press conference head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage was, among others, asked about the attitude of the Ministry of Culture towards the actions of the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, and his failure to pay license fees to public media and 17 Polish Radio Regional Stations.
“Both my attitude and that of the ministry are absolutely negative,” she emphasized Hanna Wróblewska. She noted that “we are using various means – summoning the State Tribunal and writing further complaints and lawsuits.”
The Minister of Culture emphasized that the funds from the subscription “are not the private money of the National Broadcasting Council or Maciej Świrski.” “I have a policy towards directors, presidents and representatives of companies that if they are the head of a public institution, it should not be a reflection of the ego and political obligations of the president or director, but should serve the public,” she noted.
Plans for a new media law and improved transparency
When asked about the new media law, Wróblewska said that “we intend to put positions on the table for broad consultation in mid-June, which will then be used to create a new law.” However, she noted that “if she knew the ending at this point, the entire process of public consultations would make no sense.”
“We strive to make funds allocated for missions and public media management transparent,” she emphasized.
Changes in management boards
On December 19, 2023, the Sejm adopted a resolution “on the restoration of legal order and the impartiality and reliability of the public media and the Polish Press Agency”, calling on the State Treasury to take corrective actions. A day later, the Ministry of Culture announced that Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, as the body exercising the ownership rights of the State Treasury, acting on the basis of the provisions of the Commercial Companies Code, dismissed on December 19 the current presidents of the management boards of Telewizja Polska, Polish Radio and the Polish Press Agency and the supervisory boards. The minister appointed new supervisory boards of these companies, which appointed new management boards.
Presidential veto of the budget-related bill and its consequences
On December 23, 2023, President Andrzej Duda announced that he had vetoed the budget-related law prepared by the new government, which provided, among others, funds for public media for the next year. As the president justified, his decision was related to a “gross violation of the constitution and the principles of a democratic state of law” in the public media.
After the presidential veto, the head of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, decided on December 27, 2023 to put TVP, Polskie Radio and PAP into liquidation. The Minister of Culture made a similar decision on December 29 in relation to 17 regional companies of Polish Radio.
The National Broadcasting Council directs funds from the subscription to the court deposit
February 7 this year The National Broadcasting Council decided in a resolution that the funds from the RTV license fee should go to the court deposit. It decided that the payment of revenues from license fees for public media will take place after a final judgment of the registry court regarding putting these companies into liquidation. According to the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, the reason for the delay is the unclear legal situation of Polish Radio.
The liquidator of Polish Radio demands payment from the National Broadcasting Council
On April 9, the company's liquidator, Daniel Gorgosz, sent a final pre-court summons to the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council for the payment of license fee revenues in the amount of PLN 141,780,000 along with interest.
On April 12, Polskie Radio reported that the final pre-court payment demand had been sent to the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council. This amounts to nearly PLN 73 million including interest that was not paid to Polskie Radio. The liquidator-editor-in-chief of Polish Radio, Paweł Majcher, recently informed that the Warsaw-Mokotów District Prosecutor's Office had initiated an investigation into failure to fulfill duties and exceeding powers by Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski.
On May 9, the then head of the Ministry of Culture, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, announced that the Sejm had received a request to bring the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, before the Tribunal of State. During the press conference, he explained that the justification for this motion was 50 pages long. On May 23, members of the ruling coalition submitted a preliminary motion to the Sejm to bring the head of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski, before the State Tribunal. It was signed by 185 MPs. (PAP)
Author: Anna Kruszyńska
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