Covid money for yachts and swingers’ clubs prompts Polish opposition attack on Tusk – Politico
11 August 2025 14:42
An attempt to increase transparency in the spending of EU funds for pandemic recovery in Poland has turned into a scandal: published data showed that some of the money went to dubious projects, giving the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party new arguments against Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s vulnerable coalition. Politico writes about this, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to the publication, Donald Tusk’s coalition came under pressure after interactive maps of recipients of EU grants for COVID-19 recovery published online showed that the money was directed to rather controversial projects – from a swingers’ club and a pizzeria with a solarium to a chain of vodka bars.
The 1.2 billion PLN (€282.3 million) program, which was supposed to support hotels, restaurants, and cultural institutions affected by the pandemic, was also used to buy yachts and finance businesses at the address where the sex club was registered.
PiS, which is trying to regain influence after losing the 2023 elections, called it “one of the biggest scandals since 1989” and promised parliamentary checks and appeals to the prosecutor’s office to trace “every connection and decision-making chain.”
How the scandal arose
The 1.2 billion PLN HoReCa program is part of Poland’s 254 billion PLN (€59.8 billion) National Recovery Plan. The EU froze these funds during PiS’s rule due to problems with the rule of law, and unblocking the funding was one of Tusk’s key promises in the 2023 elections.
According to the rules agreed by the PiS government in 2021, the grants could be spent on “diversification” projects, such as tourist rides or eco-attractions.
Some entrepreneurs justify their unusual purchases by saying that they had a business reason. For example, a restaurant owner from Lodz who purchased two yachts explained that this would allow him to make money from tourists during possible future lockdowns. And the owner of a business registered at the same address as a swingers’ club said he spent the money on metalworking equipment, not adult entertainment.
Government response
Tusk promised “zero tolerance” for the abuse of EU funds:
“We have worked too hard to unlock these billions to allow anyone to squander them,” he wrote in X, promising that “anyone who has made mistakes will be held accountable, regardless of position or party affiliation.”
The prosecutor’s office has already started preliminary checks, and the Ministry of Finance said that the first audit results will be available in late September.
The political dimension
The ministry that manages the funds is headed by a representative of the Poland 2050 party, a coalition ally of Tusk’s, and is led by Sejm Speaker Shimon Holovnya. The party has 31 seats and is critical to the majority, but it has also been embroiled in scandals, including a one-night stand with PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
PiS is using the situation to question Tusk’s ability to lead the coalition and to highlight tensions with Holovna.
The scandal erupted a few weeks after a Cabinet reshuffle aimed at restoring the pace of government work after Tusk’s defeat in the presidential election. The nationalist Karol Navrotsky won the election, which complicated the progress of reforms and makes passing laws much more difficult.
