NIK investigates spending irregularities in foreign service

The Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) is investigating spending irregularities in the Polish foreign service. Since 1998 the Foreign Ministry has spent zl. 16.6 million on plans to renovate the Polish embassy in Berlin, and now does not have enough money to execute the plans. The building housing the Polish General Consulate in Chicago is in very poor shape and for seven years has been waiting for renovation. The Foreign Ministry sent a modernization and renovation proxy to the consulate, yet his stay in Chicago cost zl. 284,500, which amounts to half of the sum spent on preparations for the renovation. NIK also discovered that the law was broken when auditing incomes from consular fees. Bank account figures were lower than the actual revenue produced. (Zycie, p. 6) K.S.