The National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management submitted a announcement to the D.A. on Giant fraud In Clean Air. The scale of fraud has surpassed the worst predictions, reaching over PLN 600 million. What's most outrageous is not criminals, but criminals. thousands of beneficiaries – frequently seniors and low-income people – are forced to reimburse grants they have never received or for which they are not responsible. The programme, which was to be a rescue for thousands of homes, became an arena for organised crime groups, and its temporary suspension and urgent improvement is the consequence of many years of negligence in the control system.
Fraud at PLN 600 million: How did it work?
The scandal in Clean Air has been increasing for months, and its actual scale is only coming out. NFOŚiGW revealed that six 1000 grant applications has been filed by companies for which there is simply a legitimate suspicion of committing crimes. The checks have shown many abuses, including fraud, extortion and forgeries or paper reproduction. As a result, the programme already costing the state budget billions of PLN, was temporarily suspended due to systematic manipulation from unfair entrepreneurs.
An avalanche of notifications sank prosecutors across Poland. Collective proceedings are presently being conducted in Lublin (more than 50 victims), Łódź (110 victims) and Szczecin (more than 20 victims). Regional environment funds have combined 103 notices, of which 47 in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The scale of the problem forced the National Prosecutor to take unprecedented coordination actions in February 2025, covering matters with supervision, which underlines the importance and urgency of the problem.
Victims pay for criminals: Who has to donate?
The most dramatic consequences Common citizenswho trusted dishonest companies. Now. 1.4 1000 people had to reimburse the grant with interest and in 652 cases the grant was reduced. full amount to be reimbursed is close PLN 41 million, which means that on average all cheating household has to give you about PLN 30 thousand. The absurdity of the situation is that victims, not frauds, bear the financial consequences of criminal actions.
The situation is peculiarly hard for Seniors and low-income peopleFor which Clean Air was the only chance of thermomodernisation. The necessity of returning tens of thousands of zlotys puts them before the ghost of losing their home or long-term court battles with the state. Companies frequently forced power of attorney, charged public funds to their accounts, and then disappeared without doing their jobs. another methods included over-accounting or installing obsolete equipment, which was possible thanks to weak control system.
False partners and defective checks: What failed the program?
Criminals have exploited the gaps in the strategy perfectly. 1 of them was pre-financing introduced in July 2022, which was intended to facilitate access to the programme for people without wealth. In practice, it became an extortion tool, as companies collected advances and never started investments. In addition, many entities impersonated Official Programme Partners, organizing meetings in rented commune halls and utilizing false documents. Local authorities, as in the municipalities of Wozów and Kotuń in Mazowsz, had to issue authoritative warnings, stressing that do not cooperate with any private companies.
The real operators of the program are exclusively NFOŚiGW, provincial funds, communes conducting consultation points and selected banks offering pure air credit. All these institutions are listed on the authoritative website ś ś ś ś ś. The complete failure of state control mechanisms is simply a key component of this disaster. Audits, which were expected to warrant the correctness of the work, proved to be fiction, and many auditors confined themselves to formal paper confirmation alternatively than actually checking the buildings. It all led to million losses and the request for urgent reform.
Clean Air 2.0: Will fresh rules defend Poles?
The authorities have decided on a fundamental improvement of the Clean Air Programme, which is an indirect admission to catastrophic errors. Program restarted March 31, 2025but with far-reaching changes. The most crucial of them is erasure of the anticipation to transfer grants straight to economical operators’ accounts. Now the money can only be placed on peculiar intent accounts of beneficiaries, which is to prevent companies from capturing public funds before performing their work.
An work has besides been introduced civil liability insurance for all contractors and much more stringent control procedures. Auditors must now actually visit buildings and check the quality of the work done. In addition, maximum subsidies for the least affluent will only be granted to property owners at least 3 years, which is to limit speculation. The question of whether these changes are adequate to halt criminals remains open, especially since the real scale of losses may be even greater.
International embarrassment and long-term effects: What's next for Poland?
The scandal around Clean Air is not only a national problem, but besides international disgrace of Poland. A crucial part of the defrauded funds came from the European Union budget, which means that Poland may be obliged to repay them. The European Commission is already conducting increased checks on all programmes managed by the Polish institutions, which could consequence in suspension or regulation of access to another forms of Union support. This is simply a serious threat to the future economical improvement of the country.
Long-term effects on the Polish energy transition can be disastrous. failure of public assurance in government support programmes can slow down the accomplishment of climate objectives and make future environmental initiatives encounter reluctance. It will be crucial to systematically inform the public of the methods of acting as fraudsters and to build civic awareness. Anyone considering utilizing the program should remember that free assistance is available at municipal officesand no honest company will request advances before the work begins.
Read more:
Thousands of Poles targeted by frauds. NFOŚiGW calls for millions back!
