Dark clouds over the Wójcik fur empire. In Russia, business is at risk, and in Poland

Czarne chmury nad futrzarskim imperium Wójcików. W Rosji zagrożony biznes, a w Polsce - dotacje

Dark clouds have once again hung over the Wójcik family's fur business, and this time it will be more difficult to disperse them.
On the one hand, there is much talk about multi-million-dollar government subsidies for foundations and media belonging to Szczepan Wojcik, which were allegedly distributed contrary to their intended purpose, and on the other hand, revelations about cooperation with his brother's company operating in Russia cast a shadow over the businessman.

Millions for the Polska Ziemi Foundation

Gazeta.pl and TVP Info report that the Institute of Agricultural Economy and the Polska Ziemia Foundation, created by Szczepan Wójcik, were to receive over PLN 5 million in government subsidies for campaigns raising the ecological awareness of citizens. The money was transferred by the National Fund for Environmental Protection, and the campaigns were run by the media belonging to Wójcik.

Meanwhile, journalists argue that these media spread disinformation on environmental protection issues and undermine the sense of activities carried out in the EU to save the climate. Subsidies for Wójcik's foundations and media also became the target of interest for other portals and stations, the so-called main stream. As a result, we are already hearing about the commissioned inspection of the Wójcik foundations and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, as well as the suspension of subsidies.

Russian farms

However, even more controversy aroused the revelations published about the Wójcik fur business on the website Frontstory.pl. It turns out that Szczepan Wójcik's brother has been running a fur business in the Królewiec Oblast, i.e. in the Russian Federation, for years, and the main recipient of his mink furs is Szczepan Wójcik's company.

Wojciech Wójcik took over a former state farm with a gigantic mink farm and exported the skins from it to Poland. The entrepreneur allegedly benefited from significant subsidies from the Russian government. Wojciech Wójcik's company received subsidies of up to 20 million rubles a year (almost PLN 1 million), while in Poland the industry cannot count on subsidies. Only in 2023, the Russian company sold skins for 126.5 million rubles, or almost PLN 6 million – we read in the article "Fur from Putin".

Profitable business

According to Frontstory.pl, the value of skins imported from Russia by the Polish company Lawofur, owned by Szczepan Wójcik, between March 2021 and January 2023 is EUR 6.3 million. Eurostat data shows that Poland has never imported so many mink skins before.

Even earlier, from 2018, the Wójciks were supposed to invest in Ukraine, but their business there collapsed as a result of hostilities. Meanwhile, business in Russia has been developing dynamically until recently. Everything changed in 2023. First, the farm's employees were caught illegally pouring sewage into the field, then the farm was quarantined, and finally the Russian media accused Wójcik's farm of making the area stinky.

Businessman in trouble

Now, Russian business is really in danger, because Wojciech Wójcik was arrested by the Russian police for trying to corrupt a veterinary supervision official.

According to the prosecutor's office in Królewiec, a Polish mink breeder in exchange for PLN 3,000. hole. bribe wanted to obtain the certificate necessary to export fur from Russia to Asia. According to Russian reports, the businessman was released from custody on bail of 50 million rubles (approx. PLN 2.3 million), but his family claims that he is still in custody – we read on the Frontstory website.

Where is the scandal?

As we learn from the article on Frontstory, Szczepan Wójcik's entire family – brothers and their wives – run mink farms in 18 towns throughout Poland. According to the register of the Veterinary Inspection, the four brothers and their immediate family own 40 of the 338 fur farms registered in Poland. And it's hard to resist the impression that the media wants to make an accusation of this fact. But for now, fur farming has not been banned in Poland, and farm owners have the right to fight for their rights and interests.

Earning money legally is also not punishable. Wójcik's brother did not commit a crime by investing in Russia before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, and the brothers had the right to cooperate. The European sanctions did not cover trade taking place under previously concluded agreements.

As for government subsidies, various organizations have the right to apply for them, and the role of the state is to properly distribute and settle them. It is worth noting here that the current Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Michał Kołodziejczak, head of Agrounia, also benefited from such a subsidy a few years ago, but for the promotion of Polish food, even though he did not agree with the policies of the then government and the EU. Szczepan Wójcik also seems to have no sympathy for either the government in Warsaw or the authorities in Brussels, but this is his private matter.

Second bottom

It's hard to pillory anyone without evidence that they broke the law. It is also difficult not to notice that in Frontstory and Gazeta publications, politicians from PiS, Kukiz'15, Solidarna Polska and Konfederacja, as well as even leaders of Polish and Western agricultural organizations, who are reluctant to the current EU policy, are criticized for their contacts with Szczepan Wójcik. There are suggestions of suspicious interests and Russian influence.

It is also difficult not to notice that the slogans and intentions of agricultural protests are being questioned both in the country and in Brussels, starting from the so-called Fridays for animals, up to imports from Ukraine and the Green Deal. As an agricultural portal, we "do not buy" the thesis that all these agricultural events were manipulated and controlled in foreign interests.

Finally, it is hard not to notice that this "massive attack" on Wójcik is taking place at a time when the ban on fur farming, new animal protection regulations and subsequent stages of the Green Deal are being pushed once again.