Poland’s new Minister of Science has said the ministry will not be formally established until January 1st.
Dariusz Wieczorek told TVN24: ‘This is our conscious decision made together with the Minister of Education, Barbara Nowacka. This is necessary for settlement and financial reasons.
Referring to the ongoing conflict between the new government and the former governing party, he added: ‘…we do not want to make a mess of this separation, it is better to do it after the end of the year,’
The Minister of Science was also asked whether the Prime Minister had agreed that the National Centre for Research and Development be subordinated to the Ministry of Science. 'Yes, I can confirm that I have received the green light from the Prime Minister, we will implement it, after all, there is no science without research and development,’ he replied. According to him, 'this is the institution's natural place in the government structure. Our predecessors changed it in order to steal funds. We should not be afraid to talk about it harshly, because we have a problem that EU institutions are currently investigating the National Centre for Research and Development and it is questionable whether the centre will even be certified for spending European funds. That would be a huge problem,’ he said.
Wieczorek announced the reform of the National Centre for Research and Development. 'It will start with a thorough audit to reveal what was wrong and, of course, reports to law enforcement authorities if the law has been broken.’
The Minister of Science was asked whether the Renaissance and Baroque Research Institute and the Copernican Academy established by former Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czarnek would survive. 'I would not like to jump ahead of the facts, an audit has also been commissioned in this matter. I would like to know what will happen next with these institutions, what their roles are. I want to know, for example, what these institutions are supposed to do, who gets the money and for what, and I also want to know how these institutions can be dissolved,’ he said. When asked whether he was considering dissolving them, he replied: 'I am certainly considering it, public money must not be spent on a few people from the former minister's circle of friends.’ (PAP)
Olga Łozińska
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