Scout of the cross
But Kuczmierowski’s real career began in Krakowskie Przedmieście, in the first days after the Smolensk disaster. It was then that Michał Kuczmierowski, a scout for the ZHR, placed a cross in front of the Presidential Palace, which he “defended” until mid-September. He founded the Association for Poland and its Neighbours, which demanded that a monument to the victims of the disaster be erected in front of the Presidential Palace.
He then found himself firmly in the PiS orbit, although not on the political front. At that time, he joined the Zachodni Bank, of which Morawiecki was already chairman. From that moment on, he became one of the former prime minister’s most loyal and important people. He worked with him at the Zachodni Bank and at Sandantera, and when Morawiecki entered the state apparatus, Kuczmierowski followed him. First to the PKO Bank, and then to the Polish Armaments Group and the Material Reserves Agency, which was transformed into the Government Strategic Reserves Agency.
— A man of arrangement, but not a politician. Probably even in our country, it was only after the email scandal that many people realized how close Kuczmierowski is to Morawiecki, says one of the PiS politicians. As he adds, “it was obvious that Morawiecki was towing him, but not everyone realized that he was such a close acquaintance.”
“Some moderation must be maintained”
For many PiS politicians, Kuczmierowski is one of the party’s biggest problems. Not just Morawiecki’s problems, but the whole of PiS. It’s hard to explain that the accusations against him are political when voters simply don’t know him.
– These scouts are starting to become a bone in our throats – our interlocutors complain – this was one of the reasons why people went to the president and complained about Morawiecki. He gave money to his own people, everyone gives money, but there needed to be some moderation – we heard from PiS.
Let us return to the figure of Dymitr Hirsh, the man with whom Kuczmierowski began his professional career. He has been friends for several years with Michał Dworczyk, whose neighbour and even co-creator of the housing complex built by a group of friends from the former scout group. In addition to Hirsh and Dworczyk, this group also includes Antoni Macierewicz’s daughter Aleksandra. And Hirsh is also a member of the board of the Foundation for Freedom and Democracy, founded by Dworczyk, which has received almost PLN 60 million from the Prime Minister’s Chancellery over the course of four years. It is no secret that Dworczyk – currently an MEP – is one of the people closest to the former prime minister.
“Kuczmierowski tried to obtain immunity for himself”
Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes that Kuczmierowski is Morawiecki’s “right-hand man, a man who deals with respirators and generators.” He may not be right, but he is definitely one of my closest hands. The leaked emails from Dworczyk’s inbox clearly show how much business the men discuss with each other.
“Mateusz, according to reports, it seems that Germany, despite the lockdown, has a problem with the availability of ventilators and beds in hospitals – perhaps this is the time to offer them support?” – Kuczmierowski writes in one of his emails to the head of government. It is immediately obvious that he is more of a PR man than a person who should care about our own reserves.
– Kuczmierowski tried to obtain immunity and even ran for the Sejm, but for our voters he is nobody – our PiS interlocutor shrugs.
In fact, Kuczmierowski tried his luck in the parliamentary elections. However, this was the case when Morawiecki failed to put his man in the starting position. He was placed 10th on the list in the district covering Siedlce and Ostrołęka, and ahead of him were experienced candidates such as MP Koc and former ministers Tchórzewski and Kowalczyk. Even photos with the Prime Minister did not help. He received just over 3,000 votes.
Rumors circulating in political circles indicate that the wanted Paweł Szopa – the owner of the Red is Bad company, which earned an unusually large amount of money on deliveries for RARS – did not leave his friend alone and rewarded him by paying for legal and PR assistance.
