Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Prosecutors have charged the former head of the charitable foundation of Polish state energy giant Orlen for allowing its funds to be used to support a political campaign of the former ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
She is accused of signing off on spending of almost 4.7 million zloty (€1.1 million) that was used to pay for adverts relating to a referendum that the former PiS government called in 2023.
The case forms part of a broader effort by Poland’s current ruling coalition, which replaced PiS in 2023, to investigate alleged abuses of power and misuse of funds under the previous administration. PiS was often accused of using state entities to support its political activities.
Prawie 4,7 mln zł z Fundacji Orlen – według ustaleń prokuratury – miało zostać przeznaczone na kampanię medialną o charakterze politycznym, związaną z referendum z 15 października 2023 r.
Środki, które powinny służyć działalności społecznej, miały finansować ogólnopolską…
— Waldemar Żurek (@w_zurek) March 5, 2026
On Wednesday, prosecutors announced that they have charged a woman, identified only as Katarzyna R. under Polish privacy law, with causing economic damage to the Orlen Foundation in 2023.
They say that she did so by approving a report on the use of almost 4.7 million zloty that had been granted to the Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski Foundation for the Development of Economics and Innovation for a project called the “Academy of Civic Activity”.
Investigators found that the money was, in fact, used to “finance a political media campaign, contrary to the statutory objectives of the Orlen Foundation”.
The spending included a series of press adverts and billboards encouraging people to vote in line with PiS’s position in a referendum it had called on 15 October 2023, the same day as parliamentary elections.
The referendum contained four questions on policies PiS claimed would be under threat if it lost power at those elections, including preventing the EU from relocating refugees to Poland, lowering the retirement age, and building an anti-migrant barrier on the border with Belarus.
The referendum was widely regarded as an attempt by PiS to bolster its campaign message and mobilise its voters at the parliamentary election.
In the end, turnout for the referendum was only 41%, lower than the 50% needed for it to be valid. At the parliamentary election, which took place at the same time and in the same polling stations, turnout was a record 74%, indicating that many voters boycotted the referendum.
Turnout for the government's referendum today was 40%, below the threshold for it to be valid, according to the exit poll.
In the parliamentary elections that took place at the same time, turnout was 73%, indicating many voters boycotted the referendum https://t.co/aZu8EjU5Uz
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 15, 2023
The Gazeta Wyborcza daily reports that the Kwiatkowski Foundation’s leadership included PiS activists and associates of the then-education minister, Przemysław Czarnek. The funds from the Orlen Foundation were reportedly transferred 11 days before the referendum.
OKO.press, an investigative news website, reported in 2023 that the Kwiatkowski Foundation ran a major campaign in relation to the referendum, spending hundreds of thousands of zloty on Facebook and Google adverts.
Its ads repeatedly showed then-opposition leader (and now prime minister) Donald Tusk alongside former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, contrasting them to idyllic images of Poland under PiS.
@gazeta_wyborcza pisze dziś o zabezpieczeniu majątku b. prezes Fundacji Orlen w śledztwie dot. kampanii referendalnej. GW powołuje się na nasze teksty, w których opisywaliśmy lubelską fundację, która w 11 dni wydała ponad 1 mln zł na spoty referendalne.https://t.co/ppBLMp6kOE
— Jawny Lublin (@JawnyLublin) March 4, 2026
Campaign financing rules in Poland are less restrictive for referendums than for elections. That allowed many foundations linked to state-owned companies to register as participants in the 2023 referendum campaign.
Foundations must, however, spend money in line with their statutory objectives. In the case of the Orlen Foundation, prosecutors say the funds in question were used in a way that violated the foundation’s statutory goals, which include support for social, educational, cultural, health and community projects.
If convicted, Katarzyna R. faces up to 10 years in prison. She has pleaded not guilty and declined to provide a statement to prosecutors.
Journalists were unable to contact her directly. But a person familiar with the woman told Gazeta Wyborcza that she “has always been honest” and signed the documents because “someone persuaded her, claiming everything would be fine”, adding that she now “feels left out in the cold”.
Polish state energy giant Orlen says it has notified prosecutors of possible criminal offences by the firm’s management under the former PiS government that caused losses estimated at over €1.2 billion.
The firm's ex-CEO says the claims lack credibility https://t.co/xVof2iXoQe
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 9, 2024
Politicians from Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO) party welcomed the announcement that charges had been filed against Katarzyna R.
“This is what happens to those who follow political orders without the courage to defy their ‘boss’ when the law is blatantly broken,” wrote interior minister Marcin Kierwiński.
Orlen itself was also accused of supporting PiS’s re-election campaign in 2023 by artificially lowering fuel prices. Since Tusk’s government took office, prosecutors have launched several investigations into the company’s actions under PiS.
In December 2025, prosecutors filed an indictment against the former CEO of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, who is now a member of the European Parliament for PiS. He is accused of abusing his powers.
State energy giant Orlen's wholesale fuel prices have continued their post-election rise.
The firm was accused of artificially lowering prices before the elections to help the ruling party. It denied those claims.
For more, see our report from last week: https://t.co/GIKRT8gsW5 pic.twitter.com/2xYI7MUZjP
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 24, 2023
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Orlen Press materials
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
