Krzysztof Węgrzyn

Krzysztof Ludwik Węgrzyn (born 1950) is a Polish businessman, engineer and civil servant who served as the Deputy Defense Minister between 1996–1997.

Life and career In 1974, he graduated with a degree in organic engineering at the Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology in Kraków. He enjoyed success in his field of chemistry and claims to have taken out several "profitable" chemistry-related patents over the years. Wegrzyn served on the board of directors of Gamrat SA, one of Poland's largest manufacturers of plastics, and has also served as the president of Organika Vilniu in Lithuania. In 1993, became the founder and the first president of the Union of Employers of Defense and Aviation Industry Enterprises.

From 10 May 10, 1996 to 17 November 1997, he served as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of National Defence, responsible for armaments and infrastructure. As deputy defense minister, he played a key role in preparing Poland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by buying weapons from the Western nations. His notable act as deputy defense minister was to buy 29 PT-91 Twardy tanks from the state-owned defense company Bumar. In 1996, during a visit to the United States to purchase American aircraft for the Polish Air Force, he stated: "We simply cannot afford to buy arms in such a way that we just take cash out of the bank. The euphoria of suddenly getting modern aircraft has subsided. We have now become very calculating." In 1997, he stated it would cost the Treasury some 10 billion zlotys per year for the next five years to make the Polish armed forces ready for NATO, but that he had only a tenth of what was required, thus requiring careful investments. Wegrzyn stated his focus was on improving command and control in the armed forces by buying communications gear compatible with other NATO forces. After leaving public office, he became a manager in TopGaN, a company that produces specialized lasers. Besides for being Dadak's business partner, Wegrzyn has been described in the media as his patron who introduced him to influential figures. From October 2014 onward, Dadak who lived in Ibiza was under investigation by the Spanish National Police Corps under the suspicion of fraud, money laundering and gunrunning into South Sudan (which placed under a European Union embargo in 2011). The investigators believe that the stolen arms may have been sold by Rosevar Holdings. Wegrzyn stated he went into business with Dadak "to help Polish industry conquer new markets", but he claimed he only provided him with "consulting services".

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