The United States is one of the largest arms suppliers to Poland. We mainly buy missile systems, planes, armored vehicles and tanks from the USA. The most important purchases include: F-35 fighters, Patriot systems, AH-64E Apache helicopters, as well as Abrams tanks and Himars rocket artillery systems. Tens of billions of dollars have been spent on this over the past few years, with the volume of deliveries increasing especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to “Rzeczpospolita”, Poland could better manage the money spent on armament and save millions of zlotys.
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Weapons from the USA. The lack of these regulations is a loss for Poland
As “Rz” points out, arms purchases are usually carried out in the FMS formula, i.e. Foreign Military Sales, under which the purchase is made through the United States government. The FMS rules provide that Poland could transfer funds for deliveries to an interest-bearing account at the Federal Reserve Bank. The money could then “work” for our account. However, Poland still does not have such an account because it has not introduced appropriate regulations. The account to which Poland is currently transferring funds does not bear interest.
Another loss is caused by the inability to manage exchange rate risk, which is especially visible now, with the significant decline in the value of the dollar. The American currency is currently going through the most difficult period in years, losing nearly 11% over the last year. its value against a basket of currencies. Currently, the dollar exchange rate is approximately PLN 3.57, while a year ago it was close to PLN 4.
According to the regulations, the Armament Agency responsible for purchases should transfer the appropriate amount according to the schedule, regardless of the current exchange rate. Making the moment of payment dependent on the value of the dollar could bring savings to Poland, but there is no appropriate mechanism for this. As a man who has been involved in arms purchases for years explained in an interview with “Rz”, “this is to some extent due to the fear of officials.”who prefer to avoid being accused of mismanagement, e.g. saving 10 groszy on the dollar instead of 15 if the exchange rate changed overnight.
