The Sejm’s National Defense Committee adopted the financial plans of the Armed Forces Support Fund for 2022 and 2023, established under the Act on the Defense of the Homeland which is in force since April this year. The Fund is operated by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and its funds will be allocated to the modernization of the Polish army.

At a press conference, the new Deputy Prime Minister for Security, Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak, presented details related to the launch of the Armed Forces Support Fund.

The goal of the Fund will significantly increase expenditure on the modernization of the Polish Armed Forces. The minister informed the public that in the financial plan for 2022, the planned inflows to the Fund will amount to almost PLN 20.5 billion, and next year it will be almost PLN 49 billion. Almost all of the funds will be allocated to the modernization of the equipment of the Polish Army.

°Our activities are focused on the development of the Polish Army. This development is possible only with a financial foundation. This foundation is the law on the defense of the Fatherland. At least 3% of our GDP we will spend on defense next year. This year it will be 2.4 % of GDP. We also agreed on the financial plan for the Armed Forces Support Fund. I am talking about it to show that our effort is real°, stressed the Deputy Prime Minister.

In May 2022, the head of the Ministry of National Defense signed an agreement with the President of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) regarding the management of the Armed Forces Support Fund.

The fund will be supplied with money from treasury securities, bonds issued by BGK covered by the State Treasury guarantee, the state budget and payments from the profit of the National Bank of Poland. The fund will also receive money from the financial support provided to foreign troops e.g. training grounds or specialized military services.

Adrian Andrzejewski