President Andrzej Duda's veto regarding the financing of Polish public broadcasters TVP and Polish Radio was intended to put pressure on the government regarding changes in public media. However, he did not expect such a step - the Minister of Culture Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz went all in and due to the lack of money for public media, he decided to, among other things, to put TVP into liquidation, local media reported on Wednesday evening.

"Due to the decision of the President of the Republic of Poland to suspend financing of public media, I have decided to put into liquidation the companies Telewizja Polska SA, Polskie Radio SA and Polish Press Agency SA," said the Minister of Culture.

"In the current situation, such action will ensure the continued operation of these companies, carry out the necessary restructuring and prevent layoffs of employees in the above-mentioned companies due to lack of financing," said Sienkiewicz.

These words indicate that going into liquidation does not necessarily mean the end of TVP or Polskie Radio in the form in which they currently operate. All the more so because Minister Sienkiewicz's announcement contains one more important piece of information: "The state of liquidation may be withdrawn at any time by the owner, " it was stated. Therefore, it can also be treated as an attempt to put pressure on the opposition and convince them to stop blocking changes.

This possibility has been mentioned in recent days by lawyers who were wondering about the consequences of the presidential veto and Andrzej Duda's blocking of billions for public media.

"The lack of PLN 3 billion in the company's budget means insolvency or at least the threat of insolvency," said Prof. Katarzyna Bilewska from the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Warsaw. She suggested that this would be the basis for submitting a restructuring application, and as part of it, an application for the appointment of an administrator in the restructuring proceedings.

And this would open the door to personnel changes that would no longer raise doubts. "If the restructuring court appoints an administrator, the TVP management board will cease to function because the company is managed by an administrator," she commented. She added that the manager's mandate results from the court's ruling and is not affected by the dispute over control over TVP.

On Wednesday afternoon, Donald Tusk announced at a press conference that after President Andrzej Duda vetoed the budget-related bill, which included the possibility of granting up to PLN 2.95 billion from state funds to Polish Television and Polish Radio, a new project would be submitted. This amount will be available to the National Health Fund for pediatric oncology. The head of government explained that almost PLN 3 billion from the state budget was to support TVP and Polish Radio in their upcoming restructuring. “There are gigantic excesses of employment there, some people - those who served propaganda - earned enormous, unjustified money. This is really Augean's stable and there will be a lot of cleaning to be done there. Some will cost money,” he explained. He noted that as prime minister, he has a budget reserve at his disposal in the form of treasury bonds. “This is a large reserve, prepared by Morawiecki's government. So in case of any urgent needs - so as not to cause a heart attack - public media will receive support. But it won't be Byzantium - billions that later translated into absolutely astronomical earnings, bonuses for PiS officers in these media,” he said.

He assured that these actions were not solely based on political motives. “This is also about rational managerial and economic activities. Enormous funds were wasted there and appropriate decisions will have to be made, such as restructuring”, he emphasized.

“You cannot liquidate something that was liquidated eight years ago,” Donald Tusk said in mid-September when asked what PO intends to do with the public television. At the end of September, Tusk said during a meeting in Bydgoszcz that the opposition in power "within 24 hours and without a law" will make a revolution at Polish Television.

The head of the cabinet of the President of the Republic of Poland, Marcin Mastalerek, commented on the matter on X: “Minister Sienkiewicz's decision to liquidate TVP, Polskie Radio and PAP is an admission of defeat by the government majority. The Blitzkrieg failed… Minister Sienkiewicz behaves like a typical aggressor. First he attacked brutally, and now - in the face of effective resistance - he threatens to blow everything up. For the first time in the history of Polish media, someone decided to take such a step. This is proof of the complete powerlessness of the authorities, who have not found any legal way to change the authorities in these companies,” Mastalerek commented. PiS lawmaker Joanna Lichocka wrote in a post on X that "Tusk's government is destroying the Polish media".

On Tuesday, the National Broadcasting Council dominated by PiS designated a new television boss despite the current administration having appointed somebody else to the role. According to Maciej Świrski, chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Minister Sienkiewicz's decision "is an act to the detriment of companies, destruction of their market position and destruction of Poland's cultural heritage. I would like to state that I consider this decision to be completely illegal, because the Minister of Culture has no right to liquidate companies that are subject to their own lex specjalis laws,” emphasized Świrski on X. He also listed his questions regarding the state of liquidation: “1. Who will receive the assets of liquidated companies? 2. Who will be the owner of intangible property rights? This includes, for example, licenses for Polish series and films. 3. What about critical infrastructure systems and broadcasting systems that are part of the state security system? Who will they be sold to?”

The Minister of Culture's announcement was commented by Roman Giertych as well. “The owner's announcement of the liquidation of TVP ends the legal dispute. The National Court Register will enter a new liquidator and he will be the management board. It was thanks to President Andrzej Duda's decision to veto that the government was able to make such a decision. Brilliant play by Tusk and Sienkiewicz. Legally untouchable. Thank you president for your help!”- wrote Roman Giertych on the X platform.