The Danish president of Poldanor: Tom Axelgaard, is going to recieve an award from the Polish president, but the Danish parliament is demanding an investigation into how Poldanor recieved illegal loans from the Danish government. MEP Margrethe Auken calls Poldanors environmental record: ”Shameful and cynical”

Margrethe Auken, member of the European Parliament for the Danish party SF, has raised the matter of Poldanors illegal manure-containers with the European commisioner of the environment Stavros Dimas, and is demanding immediate action.

”I have also asked the Danish Commisioner of Agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel, wheteher the danish pigfarms in Poland is consistent with her vision for European agriculture”, The Danish MEP said Thursday.

Mariann Fischer Boel’s husband is one of the owners of Poldanor, a company that has recieved illegal interest free loans from ”The Investment Fund for Eastern Europe”

The Commisioner of agriculture must also inform the European Parliament of how many subsidies Poldanor, and it’s subsidiaries have recieved from the European Union.
”If Danish and European taxpayers have supported the company financially, I will demand that Poldanor will pay back every cent”, said Margrethe Auken.

She is also demanding that the manure-containers in Poland will be covered immediately.
”The completely open manure-lagoons that Fagbladet (A danish magazine) has photographed are completely illegal according to Danish and European environmental law. It is shameless and cynical. The main motivation of the farmers that own Poldanor is greed. We are talking about the largest and richest hog-producers in Denmark”, said Auken, who was contacted by the Polish Green Party regarding Poldanor in July.
”They wanted me to do somethng about it, but I wasn’t aware of how serious the situation was. What Poldanor is doing is simply awful”

Political fury over manure lagoons.

The Danish Parliament demands an investigation into the interest-free loans that has helped fund Hog-farmers ”Poldanor’s” Environmental disaster. The Social-Democratic party is insisting that the matter should be raised in the European Union.

After Fagbladet’s (Danish Magazine) story of the Danish manure-lagoons in Poland, the opposition in the Danish parliament, as well as the Danish governments support-party is demanding an investigation into The Investment Fund for Eastern Europe.

The fund has given Poldanor over 91 million Danish Kroner, in interest-free loans and stock purchases, but this investment is illegal according to the Fund’s charter, which states that companies that the fund invests in must uphold Danish environmental laws.

Despite this promise of not exporting environmental problems, the fund has invested Danish taxpayers money in Poldanor’s hog-factories in Poland, where Danish farmers ignore the environmental laws the are obliged to uphold.

Pernille Blach Hansen, spokesperson for environmental matters of the Danish Socialdemocratic party, is demanding a thorough investigation of the Fund.
”Poldanors manure lagoons is among the worst cases of blatant disregard for the environment that I have seen. It is embarassing that Danish taxpayers, and some of the largest hog-producers in Denmark are behind this. If the Fund is used to ship Danish jobs abroad, and at the same time create an environmental disaster, it means that the good intentions behind the Fund, has drowned in the manure lagoons.”
She intends to call a meeting with Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moller, and to question the Danish minister of agriculture Hans Christian Schmidt and minister of the Environment Connie Hedegaard.

This opinion is shared by most of her colleagues, but member of the European Parliament for the Socialdemocratic party goes even further:”We have political and moral obligations towards the new member countries, especially concerning the environment. When we see how Danish opportunists act in Poland, we have to act. That this has taken place with the taxpayers money makes the matter even worse”.

Danish Fund for Investments in Eastern Europe admits that Poldanor has broken its rules.

The Danish IO fund, the Fund for Investments in Eastern Europe, has admitted today that the farming company ”Poldanor” has not upheld the demands of Danish environmental law.
”The Fund is aware that Poldanors manure-lagoons have not been covered, and that theuy should have been covered, according to Danish law. We are not satisfied with this, and we are trying to pressure Poldanor into covering its manure-lagoons”, said Frank Norman Larsen.
Poldanors four gigantic manure-lagoons in the little Polish city of Koczala are as big as Poldanors 15 other lagoons put together.
The hog-factory in Koczala produces 200.000 hogs, and 150.000 tons of manure yearly.
The Fund for Investments in Eastern Europe, will now hire outside advisors to review Poldanors farms in Poland.