Jan Kulczyk passed away at the age of 65 in a hospital in Vienna on July, 29. The richest Pole’s death was caused by complications following minor heart surgery, Polish media report.
The oligarch made the bulk of his fortune (which is estimated at $ 4.1 bn) on the privatization of state enterprises, including Telecommunications.
In 2010, Kulczyk intended to invest a significant amount of capital in constructing a CHP station in Zelva (Hrodna region, Belarus). The station was supposed to use the Polish coal, and the energy produced was to have been directed mainly to Poland. The Polish entrepreneur expected that the investment project would bring him a lot of money because the cost of production of electricity in Belarus is much cheaper than in the EU, where there are environmental constraints on carbon dioxide discharge in the air.
After the violent dispersal of the post-election rally in 2010 and further repressions against the Belarusian democratic forces, Jan Kulczyk dropped plans of investment, saying that the political and business climate are not favourable. However, later it turned out that the idea of investing in Belarus remained.
Last year, a political scandal rocked Poland: the public learned about recordings of private conversations of Polish politicians and businessmen. The recordings that were allegedly made by waiters at high-end restaurants in Warsaw revealed that Jan Kulczyk had discussed ‘interesting investment plans’ in relation to Ukraine and Belarus with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski.
Jakub Biernat, Maxim Yarashevich, MS
