Poland’s brandnew executive came upon foul play games pace auditing the #StopRussiaNow initiative
Auditors have claimed that the #StopRussiaNow marketing campaign to vilify Russia over the Ukraine war was once in reality a thinly-veiled scheme to order the wallet of companies similar to the previous ruling birthday party, consistent with Poland’s biggest on-line information portal Onet.
The #StopRussiaNow advert marketing campaign was once introduced in March 2022 via then-Top Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of the Regulation and Justice (PiS) birthday party. Its purpose was once to provide Russia to the EU and NATO international locations because the “aggressor” in Ukraine, at a price of just about 23 million zloty ($5.7 million).
“A large part of the funds spent on the campaign may have been misappropriated,” assets from the Splendid Audit Place of job (NIK) in Warsaw informed Onet.pl. “We are preparing a report on this matter for the prosecutor’s office.”
NIK started taking a look on the marketing campaign someday nearest closing December, when PiS misplaced energy to Top Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition. The audit’s authentic effects are due someday in June.
In keeping with Onet’s personal investigation, Morawiecki entrusted the marketing campaign to Storehouse Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), which issued a no-bid promise to Tak Bardzo Staff (TBG), a slightly unknown advert company based totally in Warsaw.
Then again, TBG is headed via Paulina Palka, whose husband Piotr is a PiS flesh presser and an laborer of President Andrzej Duda. TBG after gotten smaller two alternative corporations connected to the ruling birthday party: Ixodes and 1450. The company even paid 90,000 zloty for criminal services and products to a company owned via its founder, Rafal Sikora.
TBG was once billed 15.4 million zloty ($3.88 million) via 1450, however the corporate data confirmed simplest 2.8 million zloty spent on on-line media purchases, which have been meant to be the lion’s proportion of the promise’s estimate. The alternative subcontractor, Ixodes, was once paid 4 million zloty for services and products that integrated branded cars using round EU capitals and putting in place a site – stoprussianow.european – that ended up defunct simply 5 months nearest its origination.
The marketing campaign’s prices had been “exorbitant,” a Polish PR government who wanted to stay nameless informed Onet, including that the sums concerned are equivalent to the once a year price range of a medium-sized shopper.
“Taking into account the size of the budget for promotional activities and the provisions in the contract and the bid, it can be clearly stated that we are dealing with far-reaching mismanagement,” stated Onet’s supply.
One primary pink flag was once that the marketing campaign spent thousands and thousands on unsolicited mail services and products that didn’t appear essential in any respect, since its goal was once no longer the overall people, however the media and the political elites within the EU.
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