Today’s news round up in Poland

Start your day with a summary of today’s top stories from Poland’s leading news sites.

TVPInfo.pl - The public broadcaster TVP ran a story on how 68,000 tonnes of hazardous waste were hidden on various rented properties by a gang involved in the illegal disposal of rubbish. According to investigators, the gang had to make some 3,000 journeys to get all the waste together and forge numerous documents. If disposed of illegally, the waste could have posed a threat to the health of people and wildlife, and damage the environment. The safe and legal disposal of the waste will cost around PLN 350 million (EUR 74 million).

Rp.pl – The newspaper Rzeczpospolita ran a story on the VAT rate on gas. The government has said it needs to restore the rate to 23 percent because of EU requirements. But, the paper wrote, the EU disputes this. Brussels only demands that VAT is restored but sets no required level other than that of a minimum threshold of 5 percent, well below the 23 percent the government has in mind. The rate has been cut to zero to help people deal with a cost of living crisis.

Wyborcza.pl – Readers of the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza donated PLN 200,000 (EUR 42,500) towards humanitarian supplies for Ukraine. The money has been spent on nearly 20 tonnes of supplies including food, cleaning products, washing machines and a generator for a field hospital in Kupiansk, and will help Ukrainians cope with the winter.

TVN24.pl – Jacek Kurski, the former head of public broadcaster TVP who has now been given a post at the World Bank, has been placed in a "gilded cage" to stop him causing trouble for Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Tomasz Siemoniak, an MP from Civic Coalition, the largest opposition grouping, told the private news network TVN24. If Kurski was given a job in Poland at a state-owned company, for example, he could build a power base that could pose a threat to Kaczynski, the leader of Law and Justice, Poland's governing party, said Siemoniak.