Polish National Foundation

The Polish National Foundation (Polska Fundacja Narodowa, PFN) is a Polish foundation established in 2016 by 17 companies owned by the State Treasury. According to then-Prime Minister Beata Szydło, the foundation was intended to build the Polish brand by drawing on the strength and energy of state-owned companies. Its founding mission was to promote Poland's image abroad, build the country's brand and promote the Polish economy. In its first year of operation, its founders allocated 100 million złoty to its activities. In October 2017 the PFN statute was amended. Since then its stated goals have been scientific, scientific-technical, educational and cultural activity, in particular sustaining and disseminating national tradition, nurturing Polish identity and developing national, civic and cultural awareness, and above all spreading knowledge in Poland and abroad about the history of the Republic of Poland, with special emphasis on recent history, as well as the dissemination of the martyrdom and heroic deeds of the Polish Nation. The foundation has become the subject of media controversy and sharp criticism, especially from parties opposed to the Law and Justice (PiS) governments. Questions have been raised about the legality of its creation, financing and spending, and it has been criticised for directing public funds toward political purposes, for a lack of professionalism and for withholding details — including costs — of its undertakings, which are organised outside the control provided for by the Public Procurement Act and the Public Finance Act. PFN's governance consists of a Foundation Council and a Management Board. As of 10 May 2025 the Management Board comprised Maciej Szudek (President) and Jarosław Ważny (Member). The Council has included Piotr Stryczek (from 2024), Paweł Pomorski, Iwona Radziszewska, Angelina Sarota, Katarzyna Kardasz, Wiesław Malicki, Bartosz Bieszyński, Piotr Bednarek, Marlena Jezierska, Jacek Mazurczak (all from 2025) and Grzegorz Cydejko (from 2026). Former board members include Cezary Jurkiewicz (2016–2024, president 2016–2018), Filip Rdesiński (2018–2019, president), Marcin Zarzecki (2019–2024, president), Michał Góraś (2019–2024) and Artur Nowak-Far (2024–2025). Among the controversies, the "Sprawiedliwe sądy" (Fair Courts) billboard campaign commissioned by PFN from the company Solvere was challenged by opposition politicians as a possible circumvention of party-financing law. On 15 November 2018 the District Court in Warsaw, in a case brought by the Mayor of Warsaw as supervisory authority against PFN, ruled that financing the "Sprawiedliwe sądy" campaign was contrary to the foundation's statutory goals; on 26 June 2019 the Regional Court in Warsaw dismissed PFN's appeal. In June 2024 the prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the financing of the campaign, in which the foundation suffered damage of not less than 8,428,000 złoty. The campaign, which according to PFN's 2017 report cost about 8.4 million złoty, was criticised as an example of falsehood and manipulation. Over two years PFN paid the equivalent of more than 27 million złoty to the American PR firm White House Writers Group, among other things for creating social-media profiles about Poland and for organising meetings it did not in fact organise. The profiles had negligible viewership and were closed after a wave of criticism. The public learned of this only because of US legal disclosure requirements, since PFN had decided to keep its arrangements with the firm secret. After media criticism PFN terminated the contract with WHWG. In connection with that contract it emerged that over two years transfers totalling more than one million złoty had gone to the controversial historian Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, members of his family and his associates.

The Polish National Foundation (Polska Fundacja Narodowa, PFN) was founded in 2016 in Poland by 17 companies owned by the State Treasury. According to then-Prime Minister Beata Szydło, the foundation was to build the Polish brand using the strength and energy of state-owned companies. In its first year of activity, its founders allocated 100 million złoty to its operations. Its initial mission was to promote Poland's image abroad, build the country's brand and promote the Polish economy. In October 2017 the PFN statute was amended. From then on, the foundation's goals were defined as scientific, scientific-technical, educational and cultural activity, in particular sustaining and disseminating national tradition, nurturing Polish identity and developing national, civic and cultural awareness, and above all spreading knowledge in Poland and abroad about the history of the Republic of Poland, with special emphasis on recent history, as well as disseminating the martyrdom and heroic deeds of the Polish Nation. The foundation has been the subject of media controversy and sharp criticism, especially from parties opposed to the Law and Justice (PiS) governments. The legality of its creation, financing and expenditures has been questioned, and it has been criticised for directing public funds to political purposes, for a lack of professionalism and for withholding details — including costs — of its undertakings, which are organised outside the control provided for by the Public Procurement Act and the Public Finance Act. According to Civic Platform (PO) politicians, PFN's financing should be based not on its statute (as is the case) but on contracts whose non-performance would require the return of funds. In September 2017 PO and Nowoczesna politicians asked the National Electoral Commission (PKW) to check whether the pro-government "Sprawiedliwe sądy" (Fair Courts) billboard campaign, commissioned by PFN from the company Solvere, was a circumvention of the law on financing political parties. PKW head Wojciech Hermeliński rejected the request, indicating that the campaign's legality could only be assessed in connection with the next elections. On 15 November 2018 the District Court in Warsaw, in the case of the Mayor of Warsaw (supervisory authority) against PFN, ruled that the financing of the "Sprawiedliwe sądy" campaign by the Polish National Foundation was contrary to the goals of its activity contained in its statute. On 26 June 2019 the Regional Court in Warsaw dismissed PFN's appeal in this case. On 23 December 2019 the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw issued a decision refusing to open an investigation into the money spent on the "Sprawiedliwe sądy" campaign, but in 2020 the Regional Court in Warsaw ordered the prosecutor's office to check whether PFN's leadership should be criminally liable for violating the statute and spending money contrary to the foundation's mission. In June 2024 the prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the financing of the campaign, in which the foundation suffered damage of not less than 8,428,000 złoty. The "Sprawiedliwe sądy" campaign, which according to PFN's 2017 report cost about 8.4 million złoty, was criticised as an example of falsehood and manipulation. Over two years PFN paid the equivalent of more than 27 million złoty to the American PR firm White House Writers Group, among other things for creating social-media profiles about Poland and for organising meetings it did not in fact organise. The profiles had negligible viewership and were closed after a wave of criticism. The public learned of this only because of US legal requirements on WHWG, since PFN had decided to keep its arrangements with the firm secret. After media criticism of these activities, PFN terminated the contract with WHWG. In connection with the WHWG contract, it emerged that over two years transfers totalling more than one million złoty had been received by the controversial historian Marek Jan Chodakiewicz, members of his family and his associates. PFN's governance consists of a Foundation Council and a Management Board. As of 10 May 2025 the Management Board comprised Maciej Szudek (President) and Jarosław Ważny (Member). The Council has included Piotr Stryczek (from 2024), Paweł Pomorski, Iwona Radziszewska, Angelina Sarota, Katarzyna Kardasz, Wiesław Malicki, Bartosz Bieszyński, Piotr Bednarek, Marlena Jezierska, Jacek Mazurczak (all from 2025) and Grzegorz Cydejko (from 2026). Former Council members include Józef Orzeł (chairman 2016–2024), Maciej Kość (2016–2024), Ewa Kamińska (2018–2024), Tomasz Walkiewicz (2018–2024), Andrzej Dobosz (2019–2024), Magdalena Kacprzak (2019–2024), Anna Kukla (2019–2024), Andrzej Olszewski (2019–2024), Lucjan Brudzyński (2020–2024), Bogumił Kanik (2020–2024), Artur Warzocha (2022–2024), Bogusław Machaliński (2023–2024), Aneta Kordowska (2023–2024), Wioletta Kulpa (2023–2024) and Marek Pietrzak (2023–2024), among others. Former Management Board members include Cezary Jurkiewicz (2016–2024, president 2016–2018), Adam Kozyra (2016–2017), Maciej Świrski (2016–2018), Antoni Kolek (2017–2018), Filip Rdesiński (2018–2019, president), Robert Lubański (2018–2019), Marcin Zarzecki (2019–2024, president), Michał Góraś (2019–2024) and Artur Nowak-Far (2024–2025).

• 2025

  New Council members appointed; Management Board comprises Maciej Szudek and Jarosław Ważny (as of 10 May)

• 2024

  Prosecutor's office opens investigation into campaign financing (June)

• 2024

  Piotr Stryczek joins the Foundation Council

• 2020

  Regional Court orders prosecutor to examine potential criminal liability of PFN leadership

• 2019

  Regional Court in Warsaw dismisses PFN's appeal (26 June)

• 2019

  Prosecutor's office refuses to open investigation (23 December)

• 2018

  District Court in Warsaw rules PFN financing of 'Sprawiedliwe sądy' contrary to statute (15 November)

• 2017

  Statute amended in October, redefining goals toward history and national tradition

• 2017

  PO and Nowoczesna ask PKW to examine 'Sprawiedliwe sądy' campaign financing

• 2016

  Foundation established by 17 State Treasury companies

• 2016

  Founders allocate 100 million złoty for the first year of activity

A state-linked foundation promoting Poland's national brand and history at home and abroad, funded by state-owned companies.

• Controversy over legality of creation, financing and spending

• 'Sprawiedliwe sądy' campaign financing

• White House Writers Group contract

• Transfers to Marek Jan Chodakiewicz and associates

Read more

1. 1Polska Fundacja Narodowa - Komunikatpfn.org.pl
2. 2Polish National Foundationwikidata.org
3. 3Polska Fundacja Narodowapl.wikipedia.org