Miller sacks National Health Fund in apparent snap decision

The president of the National Health Fund (NFZ) Aleksander Nauman was dismissed on Friday by Prime Minister Leszek Miller due to bribery acc usations surrounding officials including Nauman. As soon as Miller came back from Berlin he declared, "I intend to meet Mr Nauman at once and will take an appropriate decision. Government spokesman Michał Tober said that N auman's position will be taken by Mirosław Manicki, the NFZ deputy pre sident. According to Rzeczpospolita, Nauman had no plans to resign, so the decision was entirely Miller's. However, in an interview for Polish Te levision, Nauman claimed that he resigned. At the same time, the Warsaw Court of Appeal announced that it is launching an investigation into a bribe allegedly demanded by the head of the Health Minister's Political Office Waldemar Deszczyński from a pharmaceutical concern. (Rzeczpospolita, May 24-25, p. A1) A.Z.