"Will your wife disclose her assets?" PM turns silent

TVN24 and tvn24.pl have found out that Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's wife, Iwona Morawiecka, earned over 14 million zlotys on selling plots of land in Wrocław, which she bought together with her husband in 2002 for 700,000 zlotys. It means that they made a twetyfold profit.

The prime minister's wife issued a statement in which she said that in 2012 she had bought a 25-percent share of the land from a co-owner. Only after this move was she able to manage the property on her own, she explained. Morawiecka added that the overall price (amount paid in 2002 and 2012 combined), including costs ( tax on civil law transactions, notary fees, ect.) equalled approx. 2.6 million zlotys.

However, both the prime minister and his wife ommited a crucial fact in their statements - according to "Gazeta Wyborcza", the part of the plot they bought out in 2012 for 1.9 million zlotys had earlier been their property.

During his Wednesday's visit to Guido coal mine in Zabrze, the prime minister was asked if his wife's assets would be made public. Passing next to the reporter, Morawiecki was asked for an answer, which he did not give and walk on.

MPs from the Left alliance, Tomasz Trela and Beata Maciejewska, demanded Iwona Morawiecka reveal her assets.

"Just as we all submit asset declarations each year, we demand prime minister's wife do the dame, as public opinion deserves to know who is in charge of our country, what decisions they are making and why they are hidind their assets. If the prime minister had clear intentions - he would not have divided marital assets, and because he did, then nothing stops Mrs Morawiecka from submitting a precise asset declaration for the public to see," trela said.

Commenting on Morawiecka's claim the information was unreliable, Maciejewska said: "If they are unreliable, incomplete, then please just do as we did: please disclose your asset declaration and there will be no unverified information in the public sphere, as everything will be checked coming from the proper and best source".

TVN24 and tvn24.pl on Monday asked Morawiecki about the findings. "We need to clarify some things reported by TVN station. Firstly, in order to be able to control the whole plot, approximately 10 years ago, 25% of this plot was bought out. As a result, the overall cost was around 3 million - so not a twentyfold profit," Morawiecki replied.

"At the same time it needs to be stressed that the land was purchased for a market price, for which there are proper documents, expert price assessments, and so the sale was conducted for a market price, which has also been confirmed by experts," he said.

A co-author of the text on the sale of the land, Grzegorz Łakomski, commented on the PM's words. "What the prime minister said is not completely clear. Facts look as follows: the plot was bought by the Morawieckis for 700,000 zlotys in 2002. We have checked that it was later sold for nearly 15 million zlotys in August this year. In the meantime, which was reported by the media, part of the plot was sold for 190,000 zlotys. And later Iwona Morawiecka, who by that time became the owner, bought the same part for 1.9 million zlotys," Łakomski said.

In his opinion, "prime minister's words could be called window dressing".