Corruption: Poland is investigating a case related to the construction of a canal bypassing the Russian Federation

The official and former minister are accused of corruption during the construction of the canal through the Vistula spit. Thanks to this channel, Poland got an independent passage to the Baltic Sea from Russia.

The prosecutor’s office in Gdańsk is investigating the abuse of authority by the former director of the Maritime Office in Gdańsk and the ex-Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, writes Gospodarka Morska.

The case is at the stage of preliminary consideration.

The case files state that the director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia, by the time the program was updated in 2020, had undertaken commitments to finance its implementation, which exceeded the total budget of the program by 157.7 million zlotys.

Thus, investment costs were supposed to amount to 880 million zlotys. In the end, they grew to almost 2 billion zlotys.

At the same time, the ex-minister did not inform the Council of Ministers that the excavation of the Vistula Spit would cost twice as much as originally planned. The Supreme Control Chamber noted that the minister also did not interfere in the activities of the director of the Maritime Office.

As a reminder, on September 17, Poland opened a new waterway connecting the Vistula Bay with the Bay of Gdańsk. Thanks to the canal through the Vistula Spit, Poland got an independent passage to the Baltic Sea from Russia.