Polish first lady tells of donation by CRH

Poland's first lady, Jolanta Kwasniewska, has told a parliamentary inquiry that Marek Dochnal, who claims he arranged a $1 million bribe on behalf of CRH, introduced her to the company in 1997.

CRH, which denies the bribery allegations, has said its only contact with Mr Dochnal was in relation to the purchase of his company's stake in a holding company prior to the privatisation of a Polish cement plant in 1995.

Mrs Kwasniewska said Mr Dochnal was instrumental in arranging a meeting at which CRH agreed to give 500,000 zloties (€125,000) to her charity, Communication without Barriers, the biggest single donation it received in 1997.

"I'm certain that Mr Dochnal's conversations with that firm were very significant. I wouldn't have met CRH, were it not for the previous conversation with Mr Dochnal I've got here a letter from CRH, where this company points to Mr Dochnal as the organiser."

Mrs Kwasniewska said CRH suggested that Mr Dochnal help to arrange her official programme during a visit to Ireland in 1997 with her husband, President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

"CRH, an Irish company, which took part in the privatisation of the Ozarow cement factory in 1995, introduced Mr Dochnal to me as somebody who could arrange certain details concerning our meeting before our official visit," she said.

The inquiry heard further details of Mr Dochnal's allegation that he bribed Poland's former privatisation minister, Wieslaw Kaczmarek, on behalf of CRH.

Roman Giertych, a member of the parliamentary commission, said Mr Dochnal "maintains that the CRH company initially paid him two million commission for the privatisation of Cementownia Ozarow, and that later he split the sum of one million dollars with Mr Wieslaw Kaczmarek".

Another member of the commission, Zbigniew Wassermann, said that the "regularity" of the Ozarow privatisation was in doubt.

Holding Cement Polski (HCP), in which CRH had a 40 per cent shareholding, acquired a 75 per cent shareholding in the privatised plant. CRH paid IR£29.7 million at the time and increased its stake in the plant over the next three years.

By the end of 1998, CRH had bought out the other major shareholder, Elektrim, and owned 96 per cent of HCP, which owned 87 per cent of the Ozarow plant.

Mr Wassermann quoted to the inquiry testimony given to a public prosecutor by a former associate of Mr Dochnal: "Dochnal's contacts with Elektrim, headed by Mr Andrzej Skowronski, were of utmost significance for the privatisation of Ozarow.

Under the then law, privatisation called for a majority share of Polish companies, therefore the official buyer of the Ozarow plant became Cement Polski Holding, which was specially formed for this purpose. The main position in this holding was held by Elektrim which ... sold its shares to the Irish three years later."