Polish Filmmakers Association. Jacek Bromski's High Earnings

Minister of Culture on the situation at PISF TVN24

The Ministry of Culture has concealed the most shocking sections of the audit report regarding the Polish Filmmakers Association. This pertains to the multi-million salaries of the former president Jacek Bromski and the director of the SFP office. „Gazeta Wyborcza” acquired the complete version of the audit conducted at the SFP. Bromski asserts that the document „includes a number of inaccurate or unfounded claims”.

At the request of Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Hanna Wróblewska, an audit was performed at the Polish Filmmakers Association. The evaluation focused on the settlement of contracts and selected expenditures from 2020 to 2024. The most significant outrage stemmed from the substantial earnings of president Jacek Bromski and SFP office director Ewa Szacha-Głuchowicz (formerly Ziembicka). The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage attempted to obscure this information.

Millions in a few years

„Long-term president Jacek Bromski viewed SFP as a financial resource. From January 2020 to February 24, 2024, he accumulated over PLN 3.7 million. According to ministry auditors, this expense was not disclosed in any manner within the association’s internal regulations,” noted the daily.

„Ewa Szacha-Głuchowicz earned even more than the president. By Bromski’s directive, the SFP office director received numerous bonuses and cash incentives on top of her monthly salary (initially PLN 30,000, later increased to PLN 35,000). Altogether, from January 2020 to the end of March 2023, this totaled nearly PLN 5.6 million,” reported „GW”.

For scholarship holders 2 thousand

The newspaper highlights that „both Ewa Szacha-Głuchowicz and Jacek Bromski would surpass, for example, the president of the Stock Exchange (PLN 550,000 annually), PKP Cargo, or Bank Ochrony Środowiska”.

It was also noted that „to illustrate the disparity between the salaries of president Jacek Bromski and director Ewa Szacha-Głuchowicz, one can compare their earnings with the scholarships that SFP provides to emerging creators. This amounts to PLN 2,000 distributed over the following 12 months, totaling PLN 24,000”.

In February 2024, Bromski stepped down from his role as president of the Polish Filmmakers Association, a position he had held since 1996. Among the reasons for his resignation, he cited „the abstract policy of fragmenting the film community” and „a climate of defamation.”

We reached out to SFP for a comment on the information presented in the „Gazeta Wyborcza” article.

– During the examination, we provided the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage with all the data that the ministry’s auditors requested from us. The inquiries also pertained to the compensation of the former Director of the SFP Office and the former President of the SFP Management Board. The specifics relating to the financial information you are inquiring about are confidential due to various regulations regarding personal data protection, – Grzegorz Wojtowicz, the SFP spokesperson, stated in an email.

The Ministry speaks out

The Ministry of Culture, in its response sent to PAP, did not address the figures mentioned in the „GW” text. „Information regarding employee earnings is considered personal data under the GDPR regulations. The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as the data administrator, must safeguard it. The anonymization of personal data in published audit documents is mandated by Articles 5 and 6 of the GDPR,” emphasized ministry spokesperson Piotr Jędrzejowski.

He further stated that „information on the amount of compensation and earnings, if it pertains to individuals holding public functions, may be disclosed under the Act on Access to Public Information, following the procedures established by the Act”. „The procedure outlined in the Act on Access to Public Information is specified in the Press Law as the appropriate procedure for journalists,” Jędrzejowski pointed out.

In Jacek Bromski’s view, the post-inspection report from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage represents an attempt to „unjustifiably undermine the credibility of the SFP in the eyes of users – copyright payers”. According to the former president of the SFP, the document „contains numerous false or unfounded assertions” and „has a journalistic character,” as evidenced by the fact that the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage did not impose any penalties or sanctions on the SFP following the aforementioned inspection, but merely issued post-inspection recommendations. – It is notable that the publication of the report on the main page of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which is a first in the history of the Ministry, as well as its dissemination to the media, strongly indicates the journalistic intent of the inspectors, – he stated.

Bromski mentioned that he is contemplating „initiating legal action against the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage due to the leak of the draft post-inspection report, which is a legally protected secret”. – My request to the ministry for clarification regarding the breach of confidential documents was treated

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