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 – An MEP with the ruling Law and Justice party has alleged that the 'Qatargate' corruption scandal that has hit the European Parliament has been going on for a "dozen years", state-owned broadcaster TVPInfo reported. Dominik Tarczynski has highlighted apparent links between Eva Kaili, an MEP facing corruption charges for allegedly taking bribes from Qatar, and Ivan Savvidis, a Russian-Greek oligarch. Savvidis, described by Tarczynski as "Putin's man" is a former Russian MP who has been targeted by Western sanctions and has had his property seized.
TVN24.pl - Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity (WOSP), an annual nationwide charity event for sick children, raised PLN 154 million (EUR 32.7 million) on Sunday, private news broadcaster TVN24 reported. The present sum is PLN 18 million (EUR 3.8 million) more than the previous record set last year. Some 120,000 volunteers took to the streets across Poland to help raise the cash. It was the 31st time the WOSP had taken place.
Rp.pl – The newspaper Rzeczpospolita wrote that the retirement age must be raised in Poland or pensioners will face poverty. At the moment, women can quit work at the age of 60 and men at 65, but this needs to be increased, according to the paper. Today, the paper added, the number of people on the minimum pension is 10 percent but come 2060 it could be six times higher.
Wyborcza.pl – Daniel Obajtek, the head of PKN Orlen, the state-owned fuels company which is also one of Poland’s largest firms, was an informant for the ABW, the Polish internal security agency, the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza has alleged. Citing a former ABW officer, the paper wrote that Obajtek was registered as a source from 2009-2014. Wyborcza also wrote that his case officer, Beata Z., now works for Orlen despite her being convicted of embezzling an ABW operational fund.
