PLN 25 million – that’s the value of the revolving credit agreement entered into by Civic Platform (PO) on September 7, 2023, with mBank. The majority shareholder of this bank is the German Commerzbank AG, whose largest shareholder is, in turn, the German government. The chairman of Commerzbank’s supervisory board is a former advisor to Angela Merkel, and the CEO is Manfred Knor, who openly indicated that he is awaiting a change in the Polish government.
The agreement was signed on September 7, 2023, in Warsaw. The value of the agreement is PLN 25 million, and its term expires on July 31, 2024. On behalf of Civic Platform, the agreement was signed by Donald Tusk and Jan Grabiec.
This is a substantial amount. It’s worth noting that the annual subsidy received by Civic Platform is over PLN 19 million.
Credit for Civic Platform – Commerzbank and Germany
Taking out a loan during an election campaign wouldn’t be anything extraordinary in itself if it weren’t for the fact that the majority shareholder of mBank is the German Commerzbank AG, which holds a whopping 69.17% of the shares.
On the other hand, the largest shareholder of Commerzbank is the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. They hold 15% of the shares, while other major shareholders include Blackrock Fund (over 5%) and Norges Fund (approximately 3%).
The close ties between Commerzbank and the authorities in Berlin are also evident from the fact that the chairman of the supervisory board of this bank is Jens Weidmann, who served as an advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel for six years, from 2006 to 2011. In the following decade, from 2011 to 2021, Weidmann headed the German Federal Bank, the equivalent of our National Bank of Poland.
Manfred Knor: Wait for the elections
The CEO of Commerzbank is Manfred Knor. In December 2022, he gave an interview to the newspaper “Die Welt” in which he criticized the actions of the “nationalist government in Warsaw” regarding the banking sector in Poland. Condemning “extraordinary political interventions in Poland,” including the introduction of “credit holidays” for Poles, he stated:
“We must wait and see what the overall situation will look like after next year’s elections in Poland.”
It should be noted that in December 2022, Civic Platform took out a revolving credit of PLN 10 million from mBank.
The first to report on the matter was an internet user, AntyAnty77, on X (formerly known as Twitter):
Platforma Obywatelska pożycza na potęgę pieniądze od mBanku.
— AntyAnty (@AntyAnty77) September 29, 2023
W sumie to może być już 45 000 000 złotych.
Z czego ostatni „kredyt obrotowy” – umowa z dnia 7 września 2023 roku opiewa na kwotę 25 000 000 zł.
Głównym udziałowcem (około 70%) mBanku jest niemiecki Commerzbank.… pic.twitter.com/l1py1BcaKj