NIK negative about Polish Space Agency; agency: report applies only to 2016.

The Supreme Chamber of Control has negatively assessed the functioning of the Polish Space Agency, the chamber’s president Krzysztof Kwiatkowski said. According to the agency, the NIK report concerns 2016, and its conclusions do not reflect the current situation.

"We negatively evaluated the functioning of the Polish Space Agency. The spending plan was exceededoin, bypassing the Law of ProcurementoPublic Procurement Law was used to purchase airline tickets for the podroThat domestic and foreign, the work performed and analysis by the expert was not verifiedoin external. However, in accordance with the adopted procedure, the detailedoThe detailed information will be made available when the omoprisoners in the Sejm execution of the state budget" – informed NIK President Krzysztof Kwiatkowski in a statement sent to PAP.

Post-audit conclusions on the operations of the Polish Space Agency (POLSA) will be presented by the President of the NIK at a session of the Sejm on July 18-20.

Headoa specialist in. contactow with POLSY media Urszula Szwed-Strych, in a statement sent to PAP, points out that the NIK report covers the entire year 2016, and its conclusions do not reflect the current situation at the agency. "We have accepted the recommendations of the NIK’s audit speech, whichore received at the end of April 2017, and we are well advanced in their implementation” – provided.

As she pointed out, 2016. was the first full year of operation of the Polish Space Agency, during which ktorego intensive substantive work related to the implementation of the statutory tasks of the agency and the simultaneous continuation of organizational work related to the development of the activities of the new organization was underway.

"As often in such cases, it was not free of errorsow. In October 2016, Professor Marek Banaszkiewicz was dismissed from his position as Chairman of PAK (Polish Space Agency), in connection with the NPRM’s failure to approve reports on the Agency’s activities in 2015" – she recalled in a statement.

The findings of the NIK audit were reported Thursday by Radio Zet. Referring to them, POLSA’s representative found the information (provided on the radio’s website) that in 2016 sprod 17 statutory tasks, the agency accounted for the implementation of only one.

"PAK carried out all but one of the tasks specified in the Law on the Polish Space Agency in 2016. This is confirmed by the provisions of the Supreme Audit Office’s audit speech, according to whichorymi in 2016. The agency has carried out its statutory tasks, although some of them have been carried out to a limited extent" – reads a statement sent to PAP.

Urszula Szwed-Strych added that POLSA has not taken action on a single task, related to the record-keeping of the objectoin space. This has happened "due to lack of relevant regulationsoin determining the content of the registry and how toob its conduct, whichoThe creation of which is not within the competence of PAK" – she wrote.

POLSA was established in 2014. Under the Act on the Polish Space Agency. Its task is to coordinate the activities of the Polish space sector (previously dispersed among roother institutions and ministries); initiation, preparation and implementation of assumptions, mainoin different directionsoin the research and programoin the field of exploration and use of space. POLSY’s task is to roalso removing barriers to the development of companies and R&D institutions in the space sector.

The activities of the agency are supervised by the president of the council of ministersow – he also appoints president of POLSY.

POLSA’s first president was Prof. Marek Banaszkiewicz, whoory performed this function until October 7, 2016. He was dismissed from his post due to Prime Minister Beata Szydło’s failure to approve the agency’s 2015 reports. Since then – after being appointed by the Prime Minister – the duties of the president have been performed by Col. Piotr Suszyński – POLSY’s vice president for. Defense.