Prosecutor says FC-Ekoplan deal above board

City Hall's suspicion was aroused after Friendly City (FC) decided to sell its headquarters to its own subsidiary, Ekoplan. The prosecutors were examining whether or not the organization's management operations were detrimental for the company itself, as there were suspicions that the real value of the building was lowered for the purposes of the transaction.The prosecutors' office subsequently received a report from Urząd Skarbowy, the internal revenue office, which said the real-esate sale was above board.

Spurred by its exoneration in the courts, FC now has some bold plans for the future. Karol Kostrzebski, the owner of Ekoplan, says the firm, which regards itself as an ecological organization protecting the city from unscrupulous developers, has its hands tied at the moment by a new bill enacted by the Sejm that forbids organizations from blocking investments. As a result, Kostrzebski wants to establish a new organization, Interes Społeczny (Social Interest)

This is just the latest development by an organization dogged by controversy. FC managed to get work on the Złote Tarasy site halted after it questioned the project's construction permit. An Administrative Court subsequently rejected these allegations on two occasions.

In 2001, it blocked the construction of the Arkadia shopping mall, but gave up as soon as zł.2 million was waved under its nose. Last year it also attempted to block the construction of part of the Blue City complex, but backed down when its subsidiary Ekoplan won the tender to arrange the green area in Blue City for more than zł.300,000.

Recently, the Inland Revenue Office from the Ursynów district imposed a fine of zł.40,000 on FC, saying that the association declared higher expenditure than it actually spent for 2002-2003, and thus, paid too little tax. FC was formally found in 1997. Since then they have blocked almost every big investment in Warsaw, starting with Trasa Siekierkowska. They are also engaged in residential investments such as Marina Mokotów, the EkoPark SA housing estate at ul. Chodkiewicza, Miasteczko Wilanów, and Budimex's housing park at ul. Czerniakowska.