Head of Polish post office fired over report he violated anti-corruption law

Poland’s deputy prime minister dismissed

the head of the state-owned post office Thursday following a report that he violated an anti-corruption law by sitting on the

supervisory board of an insurance company.

Marek Pol, who is also infrastructure minister, dismissed Leszek Kwiatek as general director of Poczta Polska after the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that he also had sat on the board of the Polish Reinsurance Association since May 2002, the government said in a statement.

A provision in Poland’s 1997 anti-corruption law, meant to

prevent conflicts of interest, bars senior state officials from

holding company positions unless they are delegated by the Treasury Ministry to firms in which the government holds a stake.

Kwiatek, who denies any wrongdoing, maintains that he

represented the Treasury at the insurer.

Kwiatek’s dismissal followed the resignation Wednesday of two advisers to Prime Minister Leszek Miller after the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reported that they had held positions at investment funds without government authorization.

Adam Jaskow and Jerzy Godula, who advised Miller on social and economic policy, acknowledged sitting on the boards of the funds

since April last year, the government said.

Miller earlier this year pledged a crackdown on corruption and efforts to boost the flagging economy as he tries to improve

approval ratings that have plummeted as unemployment reached post-communist records of nearly 19 percent.

Three other government advisers have resigned since April.

(bp-ajs-gm)