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Daniel Obajtek (born 2 January 1976) is a Polish
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
and executive manager who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2024. From 2006 to 2015, he was the mayor (''wójt'') of
Gmina Pcim __NOTOC__ Gmina Pcim is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Myślenice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. Its seat is the village of Pcim, which lies approximately south of Myślenice and south of the regional capital ...
. Obajtek has been involved in Polish local and national politics since the early 2000s, having held various positions in local government and state agencies.


Early life

Obajtek was born on 2 January 1976 to Jan and Halina. Daniel Obajtek attended a veterinary vocational school in the Agricultural Schools Complex in
Nowy Targ Nowy Targ (Officially: ''Royal Free city of Nowy Targ'', Yiddish: ''Naymark'', Gorals, Goral dialect: ''Nowy Torg'' ) is a town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin at the foot of the Go ...
, from which he was expelled, moving to an agricultural vocational school in the Schools Complex in Myślenice, which he graduated from in 1995. In 1995, he was employed as a chemical machinery operator at the Elektroplast company in Stróża, run by his uncles Józef and Roman Lis, which produced installation equipment.


Career

From 2002 to 2006, he served as a member of the Pcim commune's council, before becoming the mayor (''wójt'') of the commune from 2006 to 2015.Elected in the first round - obtaining 55.76% of votes in the 2006 local government elections, 86.61% of votes in 2010, and 84.78% of votes in 2014. He held the position until November 27, 2015. During this time, he served as the chairman of the committee for physical culture and sports, health, education, and social affairs. In 2014, he completed his studies at the Private University of Environmental Sciences in
Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...
in the field of environmental protection. In 2019, he completed an
Executive MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
program in Polish. In the subsequent
2006 Polish local elections The 2006 Polish local elections were held in two parts. with its first round on 12 November and the second on 26 November 2006. In the election's first round, voters chose 39,944 gmina councillors, 6,284 powiat councillors and 561 deputies to ...
, he was elected as the head of Pcim commune, receiving over 55% of the votes and defeating his opponent, Andrzej Padlikowski, in a landslide. At that time, neither candidate belonged to any political party and ran from independent lists. During his first term as the commune mayor, Daniel Obajtek led to the implementation of, among others, a comprehensive project to rebuild and modernize the commune center, which included modernizing roads and sidewalks, installing lighting, a
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...
, an illuminated
footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...
, and erecting a monument dedicated to the soldiers of the Warsaw Uprising. A playground was also built. In the
2010 Polish local elections The 2010 Polish local elections were held in two parts, with its first round on 21 November and the second on 5 December. The first round included elections of deputies to provincial voivodeship sejmiks, as well for gmina and powiat councilors. ...
, now running from the list of
Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...
, he achieved an electoral result of 86.6%. In the 2014 local elections, Obajtek repeated his success from the previous elections, achieving a result of 84.8%. He resigned from the position of commune head in 2015, due to becoming entrusted with the duties of the president of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture.


Activity in state-owned companies

On November 27, 2015, Daniel Obajtek was entrusted with the duties of the president of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture, and on January 13, 2016, he was appointed to this position. In July 2016, he was appointed as the chairman of the supervisory board of Lotos Biopaliwa Sp. z o.o. At the same time, he served as the chairman of the supervisory board of the state-owned company Dalmor S.A. On March 2, 2017, he was appointed as the president of the management board of the energy group Energa S.A. On February 5, 2018, he was appointed as the president of the management board of Orlen company (he took office on February 6, 2018), replacing Wojciech Jasiński. In February 2024, he was dismissed from the position of Orlen's president (he ended his term on February 5, 2024). Since 2018, he has served as the chairman of the council of the
Polish Olympic Committee The Polish Olympic Committee (, official acronym PKOl) is the National Olympic Committee representing Poland. History The Polish Olympic Committee was established on 12 October 1919 and in 1919 was recognised by the International Olympic Commit ...
. In the same year, he became a member of the program council of the Economic Forum in Krynica.


Electoral history


Controversy

The staff reduction carried out in ARiMR resulted in several dozen lawsuits lost by ARiMR in labor courts and the necessity to pay compensation due to violations of
labor law Labour laws (also spelled as labor laws), labour code or employment laws are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship be ...
.


Criminal proceedings

On April 15, 2013, Daniel Obajtek was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police (CBŚP) on charges including accepting a financial benefit of 50,000 PLN. The prosecutor's office requested arrest, but the court ordered the mayor to be released. According to reports from the daily newspaper "
Gazeta Krakowska The (, full title ) is the largest regional daily newspaper in Kraków, Poland, published five times a week in that city. Gazeta Krakowska was established on 15 February 1949. It features articles about politics, business, economy, popular hist ...
", the District Prosecutor's Office in Ostrów Wielkopolski charged him with "collaborating with an organized criminal group led by Maciej C. 'The President', embezzling 1.4 million PLN from the Elektroplast company in Stróża and sharing this amount with criminals, as well as accepting a 50,000 PLN bribe as the mayor of Pcim". On October 30, 2013, an indictment was filed with the District Court in Sieradz against eight people operating in the "President's" group, among whom was Daniel Obajtek. The indictment included charges of: accepting a financial benefit of 50,000 zlotys and twice misleading the owners of the Elektroplast plant in Stróża regarding the quantity of goods delivered, for amounts of 315,000 zlotys and at least 1,075,847.62 zlotys respectively. For almost three years, the trial could not begin. The District Prosecutor's Office in Piotrków Trybunalski withdrew the indictment in September 2016. In mid-February 2017, the investigation involving Daniel Obajtek was taken over from the prosecutor's office in Piotrków Trybunalski by the National Prosecutor's Office and transferred to the Małopolska branch office of the National Prosecutor's Office. In September 2017, the investigation against Daniel Obajtek was discontinued.


Obajtek tapes

On February 26, 2021, the daily newspaper "
Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...
" revealed recordings containing telephone conversations of Obajtek from 2009, i.e., from the time he held the office of mayor of
Pcim Pcim is a village in Myślenice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is located in the gmina (administrative district) of Gmina Pcim, of which it is the seat. It lies approximately south of Myślenice and south of the region ...
commune. The extensive material contained the content of hours-long telephone conversations between Obajtek and his business partners, which were supposed to prove that he had made false depositions regarding the division of his functions as mayor and managing the TT Plast company. In the following days, "Gazeta Wyborcza" published an article presenting Obajtek's family and social connections with several people, including Zofia Paryła, who became the president of the oil company
Grupa Lotos Grupa Lotos S.A. was a vertically integrated oil company based in Gdańsk, in northern Poland. The company was listed in the Polish index WIG30. The Polish state was the majority shareholder with 53% percent. The company's main activity branch ...
in 2020; Obajtek and Paryła worked together at the Elektroplast company in Stróża. The publications concerning Obajtek sparked a series of comments in public and media debates. Civic Coalition MPs submitted a request to the prosecutor's office regarding Obajtek's assets, and to the Supreme Audit Office they directed a request to investigate the subsidies that companies associated with Obajtek allegedly obtained from public funds. The Left MPs demanded that the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro initiate ex officio proceedings against Daniel Obajtek, and in order to investigate potential irregularities related to Obajtek's assets and financial activities, they submitted a request to the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. They also appealed to Obajtek to disclose his own asset declarations. Politicians from the ruling PiS camp spoke in defense of Daniel Obajtek as well as the spokesman for President
Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as the sixth president of Poland since 2015. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014 and before becoming Member of ...
. The information contained in Gazeta Wyborcza's publications was denied by PKN Orlen, as the published content concerned, among other things, alleged property connections between PKN Orlen, Prowbud company, and Daniel Obajtek, which according to PKN Orlen was untrue and put in a bad light the Company's activity of supporting athletes, which is one of the most important elements of the Company's CSR. The reports of Gazeta Wyborcza were also denied by Prowbud company and the Football Academy Beniaminek Krosno, which were also slandered in Wyborcza's article. In a segment of ''
Wiadomości ''Wiadomości'' (, ) is a Polish daily television news program that was produced by public-service broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) and was broadcast on TVP1 from 18 November 1989 until 19 December 2023. The main edition was broadcast dail ...
'' on TVP, the vulgarities and insults used by Obajtek in the recorded conversations were justified by
Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome (TS), or simply Tourette's, is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinkin ...
, which Daniel Obajtek allegedly suffered from. In response, the Board of the Polish Tourette Syndrome Association issued a statement critical of the TVP material, stating: "we do not agree to the use and manipulation of the image of people suffering from Tourettes". In March 2021, in response to a series of articles suggesting illegal origins of his assets and unclear business dealings, Daniel Obajtek decided to disclose his financial documents for the years 1998-2020 and make them available for inspection by interested journalists. On June 8, 2021, the
court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...
in
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
fully dismissed Obajtek's demands for
Gazeta Wyborcza (; ''The Electoral Gazette'' in English) is a Polish nationwide daily newspaper based in Warsaw, Poland. It was launched on 8 May 1989 on the basis of the Polish Round Table Agreement and as a press organ of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), t ...
to cease publishing information about his multi-million assets and informal arrangements with developers sponsored by PKN Orlen. The court found that public interest and press freedom are arguments for disclosing such information. In February 2022, the Court of Appeal in Warsaw dismissed with final effect Daniel Obajtek's lawsuit for the publication of a correction to the article "Obajtek's Tapes...".


2024 recordings

In March 2024,
Onet Onet.pl is the largest Polish-language web portal and online news platform. According to Digital News Report, it is the largest online news source in the country, reaching 42% Internet users every week. It is also one of the most-quoted news me ...
reported that it had a recording from a wiretap that the CBA had placed on the then-president of Orlen. The tape contained a conversation between Obajtek and investigative journalist Piotr Nisztor, who is seen asking the president for a job for his wife and father, revealing he has blackmail material on PiS regarding the GetBack scandal. Commenting on these reports, Nisztor stated that he had heard that his conversations with Obajtek might have been recorded, but he does not know whether the recordings are credible or manipulated. For his part, Obajtek, in a post on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, claimed that both recording him and passing on these recordings is 'pathological' and announced that he would file a complaint with the prosecutor's office regarding the ordeal. Onet previously released a transcript of a phone conversation between Obajtek and Adam Burak, a former Orlen executive board member. The call was intercepted by the CBA between 2020 and 2021. According to Onet, Obajtek, then CEO of Orlen, exploited the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
pandemic to create internal conflict within PiS and enhance his own image. Despite Poland's shortage of medical supplies, Orlen reportedly distributed over 3 million zlotys worth of
disinfectant A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than ...
s,
mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...
s, and
hazmat suit A hazmat suit is a piece of personal protective equipment that consists of an permeation, impermeable whole-body or one piece garment worn as protection against hazardous materials. Such suits are often combined with self-contained breathing ap ...
s to the
Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
to achieve this goal.


Personal life

Daniel Obajtek has a brother, Bartłomiej, the former Regional Director of State Forests in Gdańsk. A divorcee, Daniel was married to Agnieszka, the mother of his son Piotr Obajtek.


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obajtek, Daniel 1976 births Living people Mayors of places in Poland Polish business executives MEPs for Poland 2024–2029