Tusk's aide resigns new job after cronyism outcry


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish oil company PKN Orlen said Friday that an aide to the country's former Prime Minister Donald Tusk has resigned from his new job following a storm over his appointment.

The appointment Wednesday of Igor Ostachowicz, Tusk's image adviser for seven years, to PKN Orlen's management board generated controversy as some critics suspected Tusk was behind the decision. The government holds a stake in the oil company and appoints one of the board members.

Tusk is set to become the head of the European Commission on Dec. 1. He stepped down as prime minister along with his government earlier this month.

The apparent lack of transparency in Ostachowicz's appointment and the job's hefty salary of around 2 million zlotys ($610,000) led opposition parties to accuse Tusk of cronyism.

The new prime minister, Ewa Kopacz, intervened and PKN Orlen said Friday that Ostachowicz had resigned, citing his "concern for the interest of the public company due to the controversy sparked by his appointment." It said Ostachowicz will receive no payment from the company, where he spent just two days.

Tusk said that prior to his job in the government Ostachowicz had experience in the energy sector but admitted that the move "looked bad."

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Business stories

Related topics

Business
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast