The case of transferring large sums of money to Marta Cienkowska’s company by the capital city hall and its subsidiaries was highlighted by Kanał Zero. According to their calculations, from 2021 to 2023 the company BFF Consulting Marta Cienkowska collected from the Warsaw treasury as much as 1.67 million PLN. And for what? For mostly pro‑environmental projects that had little to do with the culture that Marta Cienkowska currently manages.
Huge sums from the Warsaw treasury for Marta Cienkowska’s company
Journalist Waldemar Stankiewicz of Kanał Zero calculated what and how much the ministry’s company received in a piece published on the channel’s YouTube channel. The amounts are impressive, and the projects carried out by Marta Cienkowska’s firm raise many questions. Among them is why it cost so much.
Cienkowska ran a consulting firm from 2016. Initially as a partner, and from 2021 independently. As it turns out, money from the Warsaw budget flowed into Marta Cienkowska’s company in streams. In 2021 she won a tender worth 850 thousand PLN to design and implement a campaign promoting the Warsaw stretch of the Vistula. According to zero.pl, under the contract the company was to provide staff for four beaches along the Warsaw stretch of the river, organize an exhibition on the boulevards, provide child animation, and develop a campaign slogan. She was also tasked with attracting influencers to the area. That was just one of the tenders the company won in three years, securing funds from the Warsaw budget. The next was a tender for 206 thousand PLN to implement a nature education project to coincide with the “City Crown” event. The company organized walks and nature workshops for children. The amount is impressive. But that’s not all. The company also received 98 thousand PLN for organizing the “Warsaw in Flowers” contest.
“The first item in the specification was lunch for 15 people. Then: transport for 10 jurors to 40 locations in Warsaw, a grass breakfast for laureates, gifts, a photographer, infrastructure, and a show for children” – says zero.pl.
In 2023, before Cienkowska started working in the ministry, she was to win a tender for the re‑organization of the “Warsaw in Flowers” contest. This time the amount she was to receive was more than five times larger than the previous year. According to Kanał Zero citing Jerzy Wasiukiewicz, the ministry’s company was to collect as much as 525 thousand PLN for this!
In total, from 2021 to 2023, from the Warsaw city hall and its subsidiaries, Marta Cienkowska’s company was to receive as much as 1,670 thousand PLN!
Does the Ministry of Culture spend too much money?
The amounts received by Marta Cienkowska’s company were huge, considering the scope of work she had to perform. Perhaps that is why the ministry, under her direction, unhesitatingly allocates tens of thousands of zlotys to culturally controversial projects? Maybe that is what the minister of culture learned from running her own company?
Let’s name a few projects that the Ministry of Culture co‑financed. Among them is an exhibition on Andrzej Wajda in the Senate, which cost 130 thousand PLN (70 thousand of which came from the Ministry of Culture), a 2 by 2‑meter mirror in the sidewalk in Kielce named “Kielce Sky”, costing over 86 thousand PLN (nearly 78 thousand PLN from the Ministry of Culture), and the controversial work of Jan Kapel, who wrote abortion‑themed songs for a play that has not yet been produced. The creator received a ministerial scholarship totaling 60 thousand PLN.
The open question remains whether the mentioned artistic works were over‑invested by the ministry, just like the projects carried out by Marta Cienkowska’s firm.
See also: The government’s bill on artists divided Poles. The criticism concerns both the idea and the preparations for its implementation
