Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michał Kołodziejczak on Tuesday on TVN24, when asked about list of companieswhich they imported Ukrainian grain to Poland, replied that he had a list of 570 entities. When asked about the publication of this list, he replied: “We’ll see how much we can show, but I need to know all the details – who bought what and how much.” “At the beginning it was said that these were only companies that bought wheat, cornnow we have rape” – added.
Public country of origin of raw materials
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czesław Siekierski On Wednesday, in the PAP Studio, when asked whether the Polish consumer should be informed whether the product he wants to buy was made from domestic grain or whether it came from, for example, Ukraine, he replied: “The goods should be marked as far as the raw material is concerned.”
First: Do no harm
To the comment that in many cases it may not be possible to verify it, he replied affirmatively and added that as a result of the list of entities published by the PiS government at the end of November at the end of November which, according to the ministry’s data, they imported grain from Ukraine, “some companies are losing customers, have economic problems, and they have not committed any crime.” He added that, therefore, “they demand not only correction, but also can pursue their rights in court.”
“We have to look at it very objectively. At a certain period (importing Ukrainian grain – PAP) was allowed because the possibility of importing it was allowed,” he said.
The Minister of Agriculture emphasized that in the case of publication of company names you need to have a “full legal basis” for this and you should treat companies that imported differently when the law was in force embargo on given products, and in other words, when they “did it in accordance with the applicable law”. “Although you could say that maybe not entirely morally,” he added.
List of selected entities
When asked directly whether the public would not be made aware of the list of these entities, the minister replied: “It may be in cases where the applicable law was exceeded.” “All this is checked because it is easy to blame someone, and then it is difficult to remove this odium from the company’s brand,” he added.
Siekierski emphasized that he asked Deputy Minister Kołodziejczak to “tone it down a bit, because there are certain rules that must be followed.” “There is no rush here, although I understand social and media expectations,” he emphasized.
False start of the first list
At the end of November last year, the Ministry of Agriculture published it on its website list of companies importing grain from Ukraine. According to the then Minister of Agriculture Anna Gembicka the list consists of data available to inspections subordinated to the ministry. She then explained that she had applied to… National Tax Administration for providing the KAS list.
The document with the list of companies published in November has 62 pages. There are several hundred companies on the list, some of which have their names repeated many times.
NIK already knows everything
On November 23 last year, during a press conference presenting the results control of import and trade of grain and rapeseed from Ukraine director of the Department of Agriculture and Development of the Supreme Audit Office Marek Adamiak When asked by journalists whether the Supreme Audit Office knew the list of companies involved in this trade, he informed that the Chamber had received such lists, but could not disclose them because they were covered by customs secret.
In response to the Supreme Audit Office’s information, the then Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus informed that he had asked the National Tax Administration to provide lists of trading companies technical grain from Ukrainein response, KAS said that it could not provide the lists due to the applicable ones fiscal secrecy. Telus then announced that it had requested the prosecutor’s office to provide this information and about consent to make them public. “The answer I have is that I cannot receive such a list,” he said.
The entire conversation is available at: https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/gosc-studia-pap-czeslaw-siekierski-minister-rolnictwa-i-rozwoju-wsi-psl and at www.wideo.pap.pl.
Author: Adrian Kowarzyk
