Post From the Association For Transparent Markets


Although it supports the principle of a substantial Polish representation in international institutions, the Association for Transparent Markets considers as a provocation the announcement that Mr. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki is now the official Polish candidate to become the head of EBRD. Based on our experience of the man we have decided to bring to your attention few facts that can be easily verified and disqualify Jan Krzysztof Bielecki :

1. When Mr. Bielecki was Chairman of Bank Pekao SA (a member of the Unicredit Group then led by Mr. Profumo) he personally signed the secret “Project Chopin” granting for free to Pirelli, an Italian developer linked to Mr. Profumo, a 25-year exclusivity on all properties of Bank PEKAO SA - and its customers. The project was not disclosed to the markets despite evident obligation pursuant to the conflict of interests and the importance of the deal. The matter is currently being judged in Poland. It certainly deserves to be investigated. An ex-minister of Finance of Poland, Witold Modzelewski, is the author of a very clear report on the matter that the Court has received and that we may disclose upon your request.

2. When he was Chairman of Pekao SA, Mr Bielecki, assigned a top executive position in Pekao Bank Hipoteczny SA to the wife of Mr. Kwasniak, Head of the Banking Inspectorate (currently Chairman of the KNF, Poland's Banking Supervisor). Mr. Kwasniak, a former director of the National Bank of Poland, had a key role in the privatization of Bank Pekao SA, the merger of Pekao and BPH banks, and we had reverted to him to investigate on the “Project Chopin” (see point 1). This information is on internet.

3. When he was Chairman of Pekao SA, Mr Bielecki obliged one of the customers of the Bank, who was clearly at the fringe of bankruptcy, to employ the Banks’ statutory auditors. The contract was negotiated by the Bank (we have documents proving it) and it was a pre-condition for the customer to obtain a new loan, which the Bank should never have granted and was eventually lost. A well known Polish journalist and economist, Jan Fijor, who had had the courage to interview Mr. Bielecki on the matter was fired few minutes after he left Mr. Bielecki’s office, upon Mr. Bielecki’s personal request to the Chief Redactor of that important Polish magazine. The journalist, after investigation, was reintegrated.

4. When Mr. Bielecki was Chairman of Pekao SA, the Bank organized a tender to sell the enterprise of a significant corporate customer (35 M€ debt) who was close to bankruptcy. After all offers had been opened and were thus known, Mr. Bielecki intervened personally in order to pop in the offer of a fund managed by his former governmental cabinet head. Then, despite the protests of the Bank's customer, because the offer was in fact the lowest and was not even based on irrevocable terms, Mr. Bielecki personally intervened, black-mailing the customer that, if he does not accept this very offer, his company will be closed. And so he did, depriving 300 workers from their job most of whom live in a small city with 25% unemployment. We have documents on the matter.

5. When Mr. Bielecki was a member of the Management Board of Unicredit, he was aware that the Bank had served as a vehicle to transfer €2 billions of Italian Mafia funds to Central Europe. Mr. Bielecki did not inform the procurator of Poland despite his obligation, as Chairman of a Polish Bank. The matter was eventually discovered and an investigation conducted... but only in Austria, upon request of the Central Bank of Austria. The information is available on internet. Why did Mr. Bielecki chose the omerta?

6. Mr. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki has on too many occasions mixed his personal and public financial interests, including when purchasing his prestigiously located apartment in central Warsaw from the Polish Army at a dumped price, abusing his position.

Is this on-line with EBRD ethics? Are such methods of black-mailing journalist on-line with the exigencies of transparency prevailing in the London City and generally in Europe? Would you chose such a man to lead the EBRD?

All the reported facts are part of the visible side of the iceberg. They prove enough that Mr Bielecki is a treacherous and nepotistic person who should be held away from any public employment, be it international. This is certainly not the right person for EBRD!

For the Association signed by:
- Jerzy Bielewicz, Chairman, Economist
- Paweł Pietkun, Journalist
- Artur Zawisza, Former MP, Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Commission on banks' affairs.


For victims abused by Mr. Bielecki personally:
- Jan Fijor, Journalist
- Michel Marbot, Entrepreneur
- Ryszard Opara, Entrepreneur