City worker takes officials' pledge to attack corruption too seriously
One city worker, however, last week reacted a little over-enthusiastically to the call to clean up local government, mistaking a promotional piece for the opening of the new Marks & Spencer department store in Warsaw as an attempted payoff.
Marek Kempski, voivod of Silesia, made headlines Sept. 6-7 when he announced he would set up a special anti-corruption telephone line. Callers would detail accounts of bribery or abuses and call in police to investigate the complaints. Antoni Pietkiewicz, voivod of the Mazowsze region, which includes Warsaw, followed suit and said his office would also set up a special telephone number within the coming days.
"People, who so far have been afraid to inform about cases of corruption will be free to use it," Pietkiewicz said. "Of course the information will be verified."
But even before the line was connected, one public officer took the message far too seriously. Anna Wysocka, managing director of the Srodmiescie district at Warsaw's Gmina Centrum, released a communique last Thursday announcing that British department store Marks & Spencer had tried to bribe her, the Business Journal has learned. What she called a bribe was an invitation for the grand opening of Marks & Spencer's new store in Warsaw Sept. 16 with a symbolic penny attached that could be exchanged for a small promotional gift at the store's Penny Bazaar.
"It's a purely marketing gift, there is no question of free shopping or even reduced prices on that day," said Iwona Jaworska, a public relations specialist at Marks & Spencer. "Marks Penny Bazaar was a store, established in Leeds (England) 115 years ago, where Michael Marks, its owner put a sign: Don't ask for a price, everything for a penny." Marks was a Polish Jew.
But Wysocka felt there was something amiss and warned that she was going to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office.
The Marks & Spencer infraction was not exactly what Kempski and Pietkiewicz said they had in mind when establishing the telephone lines. They said they were looking to stamp out more serious felonies.
"It'll be simply a source of information which will enable us to define areas which are vulnerable to bribery," Pietkiewicz said.
Zbigniew Matwiej, press officer with the Warsaw Police, said that the anti-corruption line is similar to the existing police info-line. Reports of bribery will be handed over to police there for further investigation.
Pawel Wieczorek, spokesman for the Silesian Voivodship, said the info-line is just one of the instruments Kempski is using. He also asked government watchdog, the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK), to audit his office. "Since Poland is perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in Eastern Europe, Kempski decided to use his competencies and do something about it in Silesia," Wieczorek said.
According to a study by Berlin-based Transparency International, a non-governmental organization whose objective is to increase transparency in public life, Poland is the second-most corrupt country in Central Europe, behind only Hungary. In a CBOS survey conducted in 1997, 74% of respondents claimed that nothing could be arranged in Poland without a bribe.
The business community has often complained about the practice, said Witold Michalek, president of the Business Center Club. "Most of our members are furious about bribes being the only way of arranging such things as permits or concessions," he said. "The amounts of bribes are fixed. It's everybody's secret."
Pietkiewicz said he is currently examining property declarations submitted by officers of 325 gminas and 42 powiats within his voivodship to check for conflicts of interest. "Such vetting procedures are indispensable because corruption in public (office) is like a plague," he said.
Marek Kempski, voivod of Silesia, made headlines Sept. 6-7 when he announced he would set up a special anti-corruption telephone line. Callers would detail accounts of bribery or abuses and call in police to investigate the complaints. Antoni Pietkiewicz, voivod of the Mazowsze region, which includes Warsaw, followed suit and said his office would also set up a special telephone number within the coming days.
"People, who so far have been afraid to inform about cases of corruption will be free to use it," Pietkiewicz said. "Of course the information will be verified."
But even before the line was connected, one public officer took the message far too seriously. Anna Wysocka, managing director of the Srodmiescie district at Warsaw's Gmina Centrum, released a communique last Thursday announcing that British department store Marks & Spencer had tried to bribe her, the Business Journal has learned. What she called a bribe was an invitation for the grand opening of Marks & Spencer's new store in Warsaw Sept. 16 with a symbolic penny attached that could be exchanged for a small promotional gift at the store's Penny Bazaar.
"It's a purely marketing gift, there is no question of free shopping or even reduced prices on that day," said Iwona Jaworska, a public relations specialist at Marks & Spencer. "Marks Penny Bazaar was a store, established in Leeds (England) 115 years ago, where Michael Marks, its owner put a sign: Don't ask for a price, everything for a penny." Marks was a Polish Jew.
But Wysocka felt there was something amiss and warned that she was going to file a complaint with the prosecutor's office.
The Marks & Spencer infraction was not exactly what Kempski and Pietkiewicz said they had in mind when establishing the telephone lines. They said they were looking to stamp out more serious felonies.
"It'll be simply a source of information which will enable us to define areas which are vulnerable to bribery," Pietkiewicz said.
Zbigniew Matwiej, press officer with the Warsaw Police, said that the anti-corruption line is similar to the existing police info-line. Reports of bribery will be handed over to police there for further investigation.
Pawel Wieczorek, spokesman for the Silesian Voivodship, said the info-line is just one of the instruments Kempski is using. He also asked government watchdog, the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK), to audit his office. "Since Poland is perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in Eastern Europe, Kempski decided to use his competencies and do something about it in Silesia," Wieczorek said.
According to a study by Berlin-based Transparency International, a non-governmental organization whose objective is to increase transparency in public life, Poland is the second-most corrupt country in Central Europe, behind only Hungary. In a CBOS survey conducted in 1997, 74% of respondents claimed that nothing could be arranged in Poland without a bribe.
The business community has often complained about the practice, said Witold Michalek, president of the Business Center Club. "Most of our members are furious about bribes being the only way of arranging such things as permits or concessions," he said. "The amounts of bribes are fixed. It's everybody's secret."
Pietkiewicz said he is currently examining property declarations submitted by officers of 325 gminas and 42 powiats within his voivodship to check for conflicts of interest. "Such vetting procedures are indispensable because corruption in public (office) is like a plague," he said.
