According to a survey conducted by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) in early August 2022, after the EU adopted its seventh package of sanctions against Russia, almost 80 % of Polish companies believe that sanctions imposed on Russia are needed and should be continued. Only 10% of companies hold the opposite view and 11% are undecided.

The highest support for sanctions is shown by micro (83 %) and small companies (79%). Among larger companies, there are slightly fewer supporters of sanctions, while at the same time around one-fifth of them are unable to take a position on the issue. This is due to the fact that larger entities are more likely to engage in international cooperation and the sudden cut-off of contacts with companies from Russia and Belarus is more upsetting for them than for smaller companies.

Sanctions against Russia are most supported by representatives of trade (84 %), services (82 %) and construction (81 %). Slightly less support, however, is expressed by the TSL industries – transport, freight forwarding, logistics (72%) and manufacturing (73 %). At the same time, these are the industries in which opponents of sanctions had a higher share (manufacturing 14 %, TSL 11 %).

The attitude of Polish entrepreneurs towards sanctions imposed on Russia is in line with the opinions of Poles. A survey conducted just after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine showed that 69 % of respondents believed that sanctions should be imposed on trade with Russia and that Russian goods should be boycotted.

A month after the start of the war, surveys were conducted by IPSOS and CBOS. The IPSOS survey indicated that as many as 70% of respondents agreed with the statement that additional economic sanctions should be introduced against Russia. The CBOS survey, on the other hand, indicated that 34% of respondents considered the sanctions imposed on Russia to be insufficient, with 80% supporting a ban on gas and oil imports from Russia.

Adrian Andrzejewski