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In high school, I knew him well. For four years, we shared the same classes. Michał was friends with one of my close friends, and the two often sat together at the same desk. Occasionally, he’d visit my house, but he never invited me to his. Coming from a large family that lived in a small apartment, he likely lacked the space for guests.
Michał was proud to be a Boy Scout. He didn’t smoke or drink alcohol, and he disapproved of those who did. He wasn’t shy about it, either. I recall a hot afternoon when a classmate cracked open a beer. “So?” Michał said, irritated. “Are you going to drink beer like this for the rest of your life?”. Beside that, he never stood out. Academically, he was unremarkable—neither brilliant nor a troublemaker.
In his late teens, Michał became infatuated with a girl he noticed at a bus stop. He discovered that she attended Cervantes High School and, for weeks, stationed himself outside her school, walking her to the bus stop, persistently asking for a date. Eventually, she agreed. By the time I graduated, my relations with Michał had largely faded. I heard, though, that he married Justyna, the girl from the bus stop, and they now have two or three children.
Today, as I look at his photo from the arrest warrant, it hits me that more than 25 years have passed since our last meeting. But the eyes are unmistakable—piercing, intense, and unsettling, with the same expression of superiority that I remember from those days.
Michał Kuczmierowski, or "Kuczmier" as we called him back then, was one of the most trusted figures in prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s PiS government. In recent years, he served as the president of the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), an entity created by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party. The agency is tasked with maintaining reserves of food, medicine, equipment, and fuel in the event of armed conflict, natural disasters, or crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Michał's leadership, RARS awarded multimillion-euros contracts to friendly companies without going through public tenders. Prosecutors now accuse Michał Kuczmierowski of involvement in an organized crime group, abuse of power, and dereliction of duty for financial gain. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Some speculate that the scandal surrounding RARS could be one of the largest to emerge during the PiS government's rule.
Morawiecki political ambitions, undermined by corruption charges against associates
The crux of the scandal surrounding Poland’s Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS) centers on the agency's contracts, which were allegedly steered toward a small, pre-selected group of individuals, many lacking relevant expertise. Among the beneficiaries was Paweł Szopa, owner of the nationalist clothing brand Red is Bad. Over the span of three years, more than €100 million was transferred to Szopa’s accounts. Investigators allege that the goods he sold to the agency were vastly overpriced compared to market rates.
Even during the Law and Justice (PiS) rule, these vast transfers from RARS to private companies caught the eye of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA). The bureau launched an investigation codenamed "Walet," which involved wiretapping Szopa, his associates, and officials within RARS.
One of the key allegations involves the sale of power generators intended for war-ravaged Ukraine. Szopa reportedly purchased these generators in China for €16 million and sold them to RARS for over €80 million, netting a profit of more than €60 million.
A critical witness in the case, Justyna Gdańska, who previously served as the director of RARS's Purchasing Office and was a close associate of agency chief Michał Kuczmierowski, was arrested in July and has since provided damning testimony. According to her account, Kuczmierowski instructed her to finalize contracts through informal channels, often passing her decisions on small slips of paper, which he then destroyed.
Details of Gdańska’s interrogation, reported by Gazeta Wyborcza, suggest that Kuczmierowski was solely responsible for selecting Szopa’s companies as the supplier of the generators. "The selection of offers was made on recommendation", Gdańska testified. "I received these instructions from Michał. Negotiations were limited, and Szopa drastically increased prices, which were non-negotiable." When costs became too conspicuous, Gdańska was allegedly told to divide contracts into smaller amounts to avoid scrutiny.
Her testimony further implicates the PiS government, suggesting that some of the money transferred to Szopa may have been diverted for political purposes, specifically in support of prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s election campaign. Gdańska stated that she "suspected that the money for Szopa was actually going toward campaign purposes".
The CBA had previously uncovered wiretaps indicating that Szopa may have funded "troll farms" to bolster PiS’s online presence.
Michał Kuczmierowski, my former classmate and the former president of Poland’s Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), was arrested in London in early September. His detention follows an arrest warrant issued by Polish prosecutors in August, which led to the issuance of a European Arrest Warrant. Kuczmierowski will remain in custody in the U.K. until the extradition process is complete.
In a prior interview with wPolityce.pl, Kuczmierowski declared that he would only return to Poland if assured a fair trial. “If I can respond to the documents in a factual manner and speak freely, I will gladly appear the next day” , he stated. Meanwhile, Paweł Szopa, a key figure in the same investigation, is reportedly hiding in a South American country that lacks an extradition agreement with Poland.
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has publicly defended Kuczmierowski, claiming that the former RARS head has been scapegoated by opposition leader Donald Tusk in a politically motivated campaign against the Law and Justice (PiS) party. According to Morawiecki, the charges are fabricated and purely political in nature. However, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński has distanced himself from the unfolding scandal, and his relationship with Morawiecki has noticeably cooled. Once a regular guest at PiS headquarters in Warsaw, Morawiecki has seen his access diminished as the party leadership has grown increasingly divided.
Morawiecki reportedly feels betrayed by his own party. He believes that individuals close to former Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński conspired against him, using the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) to gather materials on the RARS scandal, which were later handed over to Tusk. Morawiecki suspects that Kaczyński sanctioned this move out of growing concern over Morawiecki's rising influence within PiS. The prime minister had begun to attract a new generation of young, educated politicians to his side, becoming less reliant on Kaczyński’s authority.
Now politically isolated, Morawiecki faces a dilemma. On the one hand, he is considering breaking away from PiS to form a new political party, potentially aligning with President Andrzej Duda. On the other hand, he continues to harbor ambitions of running as PiS’s candidate in the next presidential election. “Mateusz has his own ambitions. He wants to play for the highest stakes, but in PiS, he has more enemies than friends right now,” a PiS insider told Salon24.pl.
Fake studies, fake trips, and Russia connections
In mid-September, Ryszard Czarnecki, a prominent former member of the European Parliament and a key figure within Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, was arrested on charges of corruption. The allegations stem from his ties to Collegium Humanum, a private university embroiled in a diploma-for-cash scandal. The university’s rector has been in custody for months, accused of overseeing a scheme that issued diplomas in exchange for payments, bypassing any actual academic coursework.
Hundreds of individuals, lured by the promise of easy MBA degrees, took advantage of the scheme. These diplomas were particularly valuable as they enabled recipients to apply for lucrative positions on supervisory boards, including those of state-owned enterprises. Among those implicated are numerous politicians—many of them linked to PiS—as well as high-ranking military officials, local government leaders, and other public figures.
The foreign ties of Collegium Humanum’s rector, Paweł C., have also raised alarm. He cultivated extensive relationships with institutions in Eastern Europe, including Belarus and Russia. Of particular concern is his collaboration with the Presidential Academy in Moscow, a university known for its strong connections to the Kremlin.
Czarnecki is accused of lobbying Uzbek authorities to establish a branch of Collegium Humanum in Uzbekistan. In return, it is alleged that his wife, Emilia H., was awarded a doctorate and a salaried position at the university, despite performing no actual work. Investigators suspect that her role was entirely fictitious, created solely to provide her with a stream of income.
Czarnecki was arrested at Warsaw’s airport and now faces multiple charges, including influence peddling, money laundering, and accepting financial and personal benefits. He has denied the accusations, calling them "absurd" and insisting that both he and his wife are innocent.
However, this is not Czarnecki’s first brush with the law. In August, Gazeta Wyborcza revealed details of another investigation, in which Czarnecki is accused of falsifying travel reimbursement claims to the European Parliament. According to the prosecutor's findings, “Ryszard Czarnecki turned committing crimes into a regular source of income, deriving undue benefits from criminal activity over a period of four years.” The case, which dates back to 2009-2013, involved the systematic defrauding of over €203,000 through false travel claims.
Despite earning a salary of more than €7,000 per month (excluding allowances and benefits), Czarnecki allegedly fabricated journeys, including false addresses, fictitious vehicle registration numbers—listing 14 cars, two mopeds, a motorcycle, and even a tractor-trailer—and exaggerated mileage. He is also accused of giving false travel routes. When these abuses were first exposed, Czarnecki attempted to shift the blame onto his assistants.
The scope and creativity of the alleged fraud, which targeted the European Parliament’s treasury, have shocked many, though the scandal itself has been known for some time. Despite the gravity of the charges, Czarnecki’s standing within PiS remained largely intact—until now. His arrest by the Central Anticorruption Bureau in September prompted PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński to suspend Czarnecki’s membership rights within the party.
For Kaczyński and his allies, the stakes have never been higher
The Law and Justice (PiS) party in Poland has suffered a significant financial blow following a ruling by the National Electoral Commission (PKW) that penalizes the party for violations during the 2023 election campaign. The PKW found that PiS had breached electoral regulations, funneling nearly €1 million through institutions it controlled to bypass the legal restrictions on campaign financing. As a result, the party faces substantial financial penalties that will severely strain its resources ahead of future elections.
PiS has been ordered to return €850,000 to the state treasury, the amount deemed improperly spent during the parliamentary campaign. Additionally, the party’s subsidy for campaign expenses will be reduced by three times that amount—around €2.5 million. Furthermore, the annual party subsidy, which funds PiS’s regular operations throughout the term, will be reduced by the same figure. Over the next four years, the party is expected to lose more than €10 million in funding.
This loss presents a major financial dilemma for PiS. The refund from the campaign subsidy had been earmarked to repay a €3.5 million loan from PKO BP, one of Poland’s leading banks. According to the terms of the agreement, PiS was expected to make substantial repayments by the end of July. With September now past and no funds forthcoming, the party is facing a mounting financial crisis.
At a recent press conference, PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński acknowledged the gravity of the situation, confirming that the party has filed a complaint with the Supreme Court to challenge the PKW’s decision. At the same time, he made a public appeal to supporters, urging them to donate to the party’s account. Whether PiS can raise the necessary funds ahead of the upcoming presidential campaign remains an open question, and the uncertainty surrounding its financial position is causing deep concern among right-wing politicians.
The Law and Justice (PiS) party congress, originally scheduled for the last weekend of September, has been postponed amid internal turmoil and growing speculation about the future of its leadership. The gathering was expected to bring sweeping changes to the party’s structure, including updates to its statutes, personnel shifts, and a potential merger with Sovereign Poland (Suwerenna Polska), the ultra-right-wing party led by former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro. According to reports from Wirtualna Polska, the objective behind the proposed changes is to rejuvenate PiS’s leadership, bringing in a new generation of politicians in their 30s and 40s. Former deputy prime minister and Minister of Defense Mariusz Błaszczak was rumored to be leading this “changing of the guard,” signaling a potential shift in the party’s power dynamics.
One of the most intriguing ideas floated during recent discussions was the prospect of succession at the top. There has been talk of Jarosław Kaczyński, the party’s longtime leader and a towering figure in Polish politics, stepping down as PiS president. Under this plan, Kaczyński would remain in a supervisory role, leading a newly created "supervisory board" with the power to oversee the party's activities. A new president would be appointed—possibly positioning that individual as the party’s candidate for the next presidential election.
Despite the whispers of change, many within PiS remain skeptical that Kaczyński, now 75, will relinquish control. Senior figures believe the proposal will likely falter, and Kaczyński will retain his position as chairman. However, even his loyalists acknowledge that the party's leadership needs to be opened up to new faces if PiS is to navigate the increasingly turbulent political landscape.
The timing of the postponed congress is telling. The decision to push it to October 12 comes as PiS faces mounting scandals, legal troubles, and a precarious financial situation. The party’s missteps during the 2023 election campaign and the recent corruption scandals involving high-profile figures like Ryszard Czarnecki have left it struggling to regain footing.
The PKW ruling, combined with PiS’s growing legal and financial woes, could significantly undermine the party’s ability to mount a robust campaign in the coming elections. For Kaczyński and his allies, the stakes have never been higher.
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