WARSAW, Sept 13 (Askume) – Poland has submitted two requests totalling 40 billion zlotys ($10.34 billion) to the European Union pandemic recovery fund, a government minister said on Friday, 10 billion more than originally planned.
Poland has secured billions of dollars in grants aimed at helping EU members recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in return for support from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who came to power last year promising to improve law and order.
The funds, which were previously suspended over concerns about judicial independence, will support Poland’s economy, which the European Commission estimates will grow by 2.8% this year, outperforming other countries in central Europe.
“This is a significant amount that we will be investing next year,” Finance and Regional Development Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nalez said.
The minister said the funds, to be distributed by the end of December, would be used for residential insulation, modernisation of rail infrastructure, small and medium-sized farms and health care.
He said Poland could submit another double application to the EU Recovery Fund before the end of 2024, aiming to invest around 70 billion zlotys from the fund’s total allocation next year.
Appropriation of PolandThis includes grants of over 25 billion euros and concessional loans of approximately 35 billion euros.
The country is attempting to spend most of the funds available to carry out necessary reforms and modernise the economy before the August 2026 deadline.
(1 USD = 3.8677 PLN)
