2025-11-14 12:55, updated 2025-11-14 13:05
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2025-11-14 12:55
update
2025-11-14 13:05
The construction of a new shaft by KGHM gives hope for very significant profits – said Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Friday at the site of the Retków shaft (Lower Silesia). As he emphasized, copper is a strategic raw material and is gaining geopolitical importance.
– We have to think in a strategic, long-term perspective. Our copper smelters must have something to do in the future, said Tusk. As he noted, offshore wind farms will be an important source of energy for Poland, and a single offshore turbine requires almost 5 tons of copper. Building a combustion car requires about 30 kg of copper, and an electric car – over 80 kg.
The head of government emphasized that Polish companies would be responsible for practically the entire construction of the new shaft.
The president of KGHM, Andrzej Szydło, emphasized that the construction of the Retków shaft, which will reach over a kilometer into the ground, will be “long and expensive.” He also thanked the government for “optimizing the minerals tax.”
What next with the copper tax?
According to Donald Tusk, the tax on copper and silver has always been an “overwhelming burden” for KGHM, but – as he pointed out – it is not a Polish invention. – KGHM must develop and that is why we decided to reduce the tax burden – added the head of government.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that he is open to talks to make the tax context more and more favorable for KGHM in the future.
“We are aware that, on the one hand, this tax, which has always been a bit of an overwhelming burden for KGHM, is nothing original. It is not a Polish invention, and copper is the property of the entire nation, so somehow all of Poland must use this copper. But on the other hand, KGHM must develop. That is why we have already made the decision to make the tax less of a burden for KGHM. And I am absolutely open to a conversation so that in the long run, as the works progress, this context tax was more and more favorable from the point of view of KGHM. This is in the interest not only of the company, but in the interest of all of us,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk at a press briefing at the KGHM shaft construction site in Retkowo.
The Prime Minister pointed out that copper has recently been gaining geopolitical importance.
“(…) We have to think in a strategic category, not in the perspective of a year, not even five years. Our smelters that process Polish copper must have something to do also in the future, not only in two or three years, but copper is also an absolutely strategic raw material,” Tusk said, pointing to the great importance of copper, among others. in energy.
In recent months, the management board of KGHM decided to start work on geological and hydrogeological reconnaissance for the following projects: Retków, Gaworzyce and GG-2 “Odra”. This is the first stage of the construction of three new mining shafts in the Copper Basin, which – according to the company – would ensure the stable operation of the company in the long term. As reported, the estimated investment cost is at least PLN 9 billion.
The first hole has already been drilled in Retkowo.
Tusk pointed out that, according to the assurances of the KGHM management board, almost entirely Polish companies will be responsible for the investment.
In October, the government adopted a draft amendment to the Act on the tax on the extraction of certain minerals, which provides for changes in the rules for calculating the tax on copper mining, and currently its sole payer is KGHM. The copper company has been paying over PLN 3 billion in tax annually in recent years, and over PLN 30 billion since its introduction in 2012.
The government plans to reduce the copper tax from 2026 by changing the formula for its calculation, and the cost of this reduction for the budget is PLN 500 million in 2026, PLN 750 million in 2027 and PLN 750 million in 2028. The changes also assume the introduction of a mechanism for tax deduction of part of investment expenditure from 2029.
The president of KGHM, Andrzej Szydło, informed in October in an interview for PAP Biznes that he was sure that the dialogue initiated with the Ministry of Finance would continue in the future.
