Millions in Flood Aid Went to Companies from One Village. Firefighters and Satellites Did Not Confirm Water There

After the flood that hit southwestern Poland in September 2024, the state distributed loans to entrepreneurs to cover damage — loans that could be largely forgiven. The Wirtualna Polska editorial office found that 4.5 million zlotys from one regional agency ended up with three companies from one village, with one of them belonging to the husband of the then deputy chairwoman of the same agency. According to the portal, data from firefighters, the state water administrator Wody Polskie, and two satellite systems do not confirm that floodwater reached these properties. Wirtualna Polska ↗

Four and a Half Million to One Village

Dziwiszów is a village on the slopes of the Kaczawa Mountains, a few minutes from Jelenia Góra. It is from here that three entities came that received the mentioned sum from the agency. Piotr Konieczyński's company Amarcord, husband of agency deputy chairwoman Anna Konieczyńska, received 200,000 zlotys, which is the maximum from the ministerial program. The neighbor's company Kadalore was awarded 3.2 million zlotys in two loans by the agency, plus a non-repayable benefit from Polish ZUS in the amount of 66,749 zlotys. Advertising and television company Dami, a long-time supplier to local governments, received over 1.12 million. Wirtualna Polska ↗

These are two different programs. The ministerial one provides loans up to 200,000 zlotys with the possibility of forgiving the debt entirely or by 75 percent. The second one, from the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, allows a single entrepreneur to receive up to five million, with up to 90 percent forgiven. The agency's own rules for this instrument explicitly define conflicts of interest, including family ties, and require assessors to declare impartiality. According to Wirtualna Polska, the bank admits it does not even have a copy of such a declaration for the Dami company loan. Wirtualna Polska ↗

A Street List That Firefighters Describe as Supporting Material from Risk Maps

The most interesting part of the case is not about names, but about one table. For an entrepreneur to receive a loan, they needed certification from the city of flood damage. Jelenia Góra issued 189 such certificates, basing them on a document called List of Flooded Streets During the 2024 Flood. According to documents obtained by Wirtualna Polska, it contains no house numbers, dates, times, water levels, or mention of emergency response interventions — just street names arranged alphabetically and columns describing road type and surface. Wirtualna Polska ↗

Krzysztof Zakrzewski, spokesperson for the city fire headquarters in Jelenia Góra, told the editorial office in June 2026 that the document was created "for statistical and operational purposes, to enable prediction of the possibility of flooding in a given area" based on flood risk maps, and that it is not a list of locations where rescue operations took place during the flood. The city claims the opposite — that the list has no predictive features. According to the records the editorial office saw, verification at the office looked like this: an office worker found the street name in the alphabetical list and copied the row number into the file. In one case involving one of the companies, the cited street does not appear in the list at all, according to the editorial office. Wirtualna Polska ↗

A Timeline That Fits Too Well

The first affected entrepreneur received a loan from the ministerial program on October 24, 2024, five weeks after the water receded. The participants in this case applied much later. Anna Konieczyńska started leading the agency on February 1, 2025, and four of the five contracts described were concluded only after that. Her husband requested certification of damage from the municipality on June 23, 2025, nine months after the flood and five months after his wife took office. According to the portal, the municipality of Jeżów Sudecki stated in writing that it had no independent evidence that the damage occurred during the flood at all. Wirtualna Polska ↗

A second branch was added Tuesday evening. According to a TVN24 report, the wife and father-in-law of Hubert Papaj, chairman of the same agency, also applied for 200,000 zlotys in flood aid for a house in the town of Lubań that they purchased only in 2025 — that is, after the flood. Residents of the street who spoke with television unanimously claim that water did not reach them. TVN24 ↗

Reactions: From Hot Iron to a Volcano of Hate

The agency's supervisory board recalled Konieczyńska; a spokesperson for the marshal's office cited reputational concerns including publicized irregularities as the reason. According to the Do Rzeczy newspaper, the prosecutor's office opened proceedings on Monday, following publication of the report. Do Rzeczy ↗

Civic Coalition Senator Grzegorz Schetyna said such matters should be "cauterized with a hot iron," but only when there is conviction that a criminal offense or unlawful conduct occurred. He added that Konieczyńska is suspended from coalition membership, faces a party disciplinary court, and herself claims she has nothing to answer for. According to Polish media, Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that if irregularities are confirmed, there will be no leniency for those responsible. Do Rzeczy ↗

The couple themselves tell a different story. Piotr Konieczyński did not directly explain on camera how the flood could have damaged a structure on a hillside, and complained about a "volcano of hatred" and threats that his wife allegedly receives. Among the evidence attached to the application were, according to reporters, also photographs of cracked tiles. Wirtualna Polska ↗ When a reporter asked Anna Konieczyńska if she was ashamed, she answered with a question about what made him think she should be ashamed. Do Rzeczy ↗

Why Read This in Slovakia

Slovak media has not yet covered this case, but its core is not Polish. It is about what happens when the state needs to distribute money quickly after a disaster: damage verification is transferred to municipalities, municipalities rely on a document not meant for that purpose, and actual oversight comes only after payment. The Polish anti-corruption office has been investigating the agency since late April; the prosecutor's office opened proceedings only after the report was published.

Slovakia is now grappling with a similar dilemma of rapid relief after a disaster, though it is not the same type of program or suspicion of fraud. The Agriculture Ministry presented a package of eight measures against drought and will allow farmers to draw advance payments from nearly 200 million euros earlier, starting from mid-September. Pravda ↗ Progressive Slovakia criticizes that the sector could have received over 100 million euros additionally. Hospodárske noviny ↗ The debate is therefore about the volume of aid. The Polish case reminds us that equally important is the question of who and by what means proves that the damage actually occurred.

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