Ladies and Gentlemen, since you have come here, you have probably had the opportunity to read further absurd theories of two editors who attribute to me an unspecified role of being a pawn in the Russian network of influence in Poland. This is not the first – and probably not the last time – when Mr. Grzegorz Rzeczkowski and Tomasz Piątek pull new conspiracy theories out of their hats. The editorial team of “Polityka” already had to correct Mr. Rzeczkowski’s slander in 2018. And I am convinced that now the editors of “Newsweek” will have to correct the next ones. This time I decided not to leave the matter solely to long-term court disputes.
Why?
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am a man for whom honor is a very important thing in life. As Władysław Boziewicz, author of the famous Polish code of honor, wrote in 1919, there are people who are unworthy of being recognized as deserving of honorary satisfaction. A lot has certainly changed in the definition of honor and law over the last century, but I still agree with Władysław Boziewicz unquestionably – “a lampooner and a member of the editorial staff of a lampoon magazine” and a “spreader of lampoons” is a person who is excluded from the community of honorable people. Therefore, I am asking people close to me to forgive me for not reacting to various slander against me in the media for so many years. Each case was handled by a law firm, and I personally did not think it was advisable to engage in public discourse with conspiracy theorist fanatics. The problem is that court cases drag on for years, and absurd slander is constantly repeated in the context of new scandals, by people who, in my opinion, have some interest in it at a given moment: political, media, business, personal or maybe even geopolitical. .
So what has changed now?
In the last publication in Newsweek, mud was thrown not only at me – but also at my family. I could have remained publicly silent when my alleged involvement in subsequent scandals was attributed to me. However, I will not wait for years for the results of lawsuits if my family is attacked and insulted.
So let’s get the facts straight.
The main source of the manipulations used is time distortion and the adoption of the thesis that if once, a very long time ago, I – Robert Szustkowski, did business with people from the former USSR, now, today – me, my entire family, friends, but also everyone who entered from me into closer relationships – he belongs to some alleged mafia network of influence covering politics, media, business and even organized crime. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is not the case. My business cooperation with entities from the former USSR ended in 2008. Since then, I have not benefited from this direction nor do I represent anyone’s interests. I am a free and independent person.
And how did it start?
As a very young person, a student, I already had a family and worked. The late 1980s were different times. I did not come from a wealthy family, but I had one talent – the ability to learn foreign languages. I am able to communicate in seven languages. For someone who understands and knows how our education system worked at that time, it is probably clear that one of the languages you had to know back then was Russian. In 1986, I got a job at Almatur, where I handled foreign trips. At that time it was a dream job. I had the opportunity not only to travel, but also, like many people at that time, to use these trips to transport and trade various goods. Anyone who remembers the craze for flared jeans from Turkey or the atmosphere of the bazaar at the 10th Anniversary Stadium knows what “business” looked like at that time. Cooperation with companies and people from the then Soviet Union was obvious. For me too, that’s why I started selling computers in Russia. The activity actually took place in a kind of gray zone and some people today may think it was a serious “crime”, but you have to understand the business of that time – were sales from camp beds regulated by law? Many people of my generation who are today portrayed as very successful entrepreneurs from the front pages of newspapers began their professional adventures exactly like that. These were the times when business was ahead and building a new reality. Thanks to my knowledge of languages, resourcefulness and entrepreneurship, I quickly made a good business selling computers. Back then, you could earn $3,000 on one computer. At that time, the average monthly salary in Poland was approximately USD 100, and the profit from selling one computer could mean buying a 3-room apartment in Warsaw. If you sold hundreds of computers, it was easy to calculate how much you could earn. After some time, I decided to import computer parts and assemble them on site. I achieved a smaller margin per computer, but it gave me a larger business scale.
That’s how I earned my first million dollars – the equivalent of $10 million today.
This was the time when I met many Russians. None of them was called an oligarch at that time – each of them developed their activities and tried to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the changes in the political system. Then I met, among others, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who at that time was also a computer trader, and today is an anti-Putin activist and former political prisoner. At that time, I was unable to predict how the fate of the people I worked with would unfold, much less what shape geopolitics would take after 2014. Does this justify the thesis that I have “obscure connections with Russian oligarchs”? I suggest you carefully analyze the facts and context! When I started, the term “Kremlin oligarch” did not exist in the public space. There was no internet and no sources of information like today. Putin’s name became known only in 1999, when he took over as prime minister. And even then it was a different Putin than the one the world knows today.
I was young and already familiar with both Western and Eastern realities. I knew foreign languages and was not afraid of new challenges. In the first half of the 1990s, I received a proposal to establish and manage a representative office of the Russian MontażSpecBank in Poland, under the supervision – importantly – of its German delegation. The bank got to know the developing Polish market and explored the possibility of cooperation with KUKE (Export Credit Insurance Corporation) in the field of trade services. German and Austrian banks, such as Commerzbank and Raiffaisen, entered Poland in the same way. The representative of the MSB in Berlin and my boss was a German citizen, not a Russian. Ultimately, my professional career evolved into areas related to financial and corporate consulting, as well as structuring and supervising business transactions. I ran an independent business, I didn’t have a boss, I didn’t follow anyone’s orders, I provided completely legal services that were in demand. At the same time, I invested the money I earned, including: in Poland.
Around 2008, after carrying out high-value capital transactions, I decided to change my approach to life. I decided that I was wealthy enough and could devote more time to my family and passions. In hindsight, it is easy to claim that I chose my business partners incorrectly. If I had been able to predict the events that would take place a few decades later, I probably would not have cooperated with Russian entities – that’s obvious. I probably wouldn’t help Gambia open a diplomatic mission in Moscow either. I recommend to anyone who has doubts a quick analysis of the facts located on the timeline. It is also worth making a short analysis of the history of foreign trade of Poland, Great Britain, Germany or other European Union countries with Russia – until 2014, and at least for a moment consider whether it is fair to make someone out of a person – to quote Rzeczkowski – “strongly connected with Russia and her state-owned business…” – only because a dozen or several dozen years ago he earned, among others, on services provided to Russian entities long before the annexation of Crimea. I believe that I have the right to demand, above all, diligence and reliability from journalists. And one could talk about its lack – in my case – for a long time.
Some people don’t understand that business also means good contacts. The fact that I knew many Russians does not mean that I am currently creating some mythical networks of influence on behalf of foreign countries. This is absurd! I have five children who live in Poland. I want them to grow up and pursue their goals and passions in a free and democratic society. Anyone who doesn’t understand this certainly doesn’t know me, my history and the many activities in which I helped and will help not only my friends in Africa, but also the victims of the war in Ukraine and those in need in Poland.
I do not agree to further slander against me, my family and friends. Journalists who are interested in facts are welcome to contact me. I am currently strongly considering making public the details of the cases concerning the protection of my good name and the cases that I have already won with the media. I think that the broader aspect of the competitive war for the renewable energy business in Poland may also be interesting. Maybe then it will also become clear to the wider community why attacks on people close to me have occurred now.
I know that I am not the only victim of the media campaign, which is why I want to create a legal aid fund for people injured by unreliable journalists and who do not have sufficient funds to conduct long-term court proceedings.
Robert Szustkowski, March 22, 2024