The sponsorship agreement between Tauron and the Polish Olympic Committee was concluded in the summer of 2023. It should be valid in the years 2023-2027. As part of this, Tauron received, among others: the right to use the titles: “Sponsor of the Polish National Team for the Olympic Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris 2024”, “Sponsor of the Polish Youth National Team for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon 2024”, “Sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee” and “Sponsor of the Polish Olympic Movement”.
Tauron’s contract with the Polish Olympic Committee for PLN 29.5 million
Tauron obtained sponsorship titles and the rights to use them, in particular to use them in promotional, marketing and advertising activities in combination with the Tauron logo or the Polish Olympic Symbol. The company then justified that the start of sponsorship cooperation with the Polish Olympic Committee had a strong commercial justification “due to the wide access of the Tauron brand to new marketing platforms, i.e. the appointment of brand ambassadors who participate in the marketing and communication activities of the Tauron brand and the exposure of the Tauron brand in sports categories aimed at new recipients (e.g. Polish Skating Sports Association, Polish Areoclub, Polish Gymnastics Association)”.
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According to the company’s management at the time (the board of directors was replaced earlier this year), “the wide range of services offered by the contractor should result in increased recognition of the Tauron brand, which should result in increased marketing and sales benefits.” The contract value was PLN 29.52 million.
Tauron President: Our company has suffered a lot
During Tauron’s earnings conference call on Thursday, its chairman, Grzegorz Lot, announced that the sponsorship contract with the Polish Olympic Committee has been terminated with immediate effect.
– We operate based on specific values and principles. For us, the brand name is a key element in building trust among customers. Our company has been hit hard by recent events. In addition, we have not noticed the Polish Olympic Committee’s desire to improve relations. We see that the projects we planned in this sponsorship project are not being implemented.and – emphasized Grzegorz Lot. He added that the company filed a notification with the Prosecutor’s Office about the expenditure of PLN 8.5 million on sponsorship and CSR by the previous board of directors.
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– The notification is the result of our analyses, which confirm that certain projects should not be implemented. The case has already been reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has started its work, noted Grzegorz Lot.
The conclusion of sponsorship agreements was driven by private interests
PKP Cargo was also a sponsor of the Polish Olympic Committee and Polish Olympic athletes – the agreement was concluded in August 2023 and would be valid until 2027.
As Monika Starecka, interim member of the management board for finance, said in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl On 10 May 2024, PKP Cargo terminated the sponsorship agreement with the Polish Olympic Committee, as well as with the clubs Widzew Łódź and Unia Skierniewice, with immediate effect.
– The main reason for the decision to terminate cooperation with the Polish Olympic Committee and other sports organizations was the difficult financial situation of the company, and the savings resulting from the termination of sponsorship contracts amount to millions of zlotys. In addition, the analyses carried out showed that the conclusion of most sponsorship agreements in 2023, including with the Polish Olympic Committee, was completely unjustified and in some cases was caused by the private and politically motivated interests of the then members of the board of directors of PKP Cargo – she emphasized.
It should be recalled that this week the companies PKP Intercity, Enea, Polish Airlines and Krajowa Grupa Spożywcza, to which the Polski Cukier brand belongs, announced the termination of sponsorship agreements with the Polish Olympic Committee.
According to PKP Intercity, this was decided among other things due to loss of trust and marketing losses. In turn, Orlen is currently reviewing the terms of cooperation with the Committee and is currently not making any transfers to the Polish Olympic Committee resulting from the concluded sponsorship agreement.
