As Marta Postuła reminds in an interview with Business Insider, last year the government decided to transfer PLN 22 billion from the National Reconstruction Plan to the Security and Defense Fund (FBiO). FBiO consists of two parts – loan (approximately PLN 16 billion) and capital.
BGK will be responsible for managing the Security and Defense Fund.
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— Due to EU requirements, A special special purpose vehicle is to be established by BGK to manage FBiO. Its initial name is Chrobry SA – says Marta Postuła.
He adds that the company will be established immediately after BGK signs an agreement with the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. – BGK is ready for this – he emphasizes.
— We hope that the contract will be signed in March, then the money should be available to beneficiaries from mid-yearand the company will entrust BGK with lending tasks. Thanks to this, these funds will be easily available to local governments – emphasizes the first vice-president of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.
According to her, investment policies are currently being established for both parts of the FBiO. These arrangements are to resolve, among others: whether some beneficiaries will be able to partially count on the write-off of support.
As announced by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, In addition to loans, those using FBiO will have the option of capital investments, which will be conducted by a special company established by BGK (Chrobry SA – ed.).
Loans for local government units are to be interest-free and spread over many years. Enterprises will be able to benefit from the most preferential financing conditions, consistent with the provisions on state aid.
The Security and Defense Fund has four priorities
Under the Act, FBiO has a so-called steering committee consisting of the ministers of funds and regional policy, national defense, digitalization, finance and economy, infrastructure and interior affairs and administration. On January 26, the committee met and outlined the FBiO's priorities – the main one is defense, but funds are also provided for cybersecurity and dual-use infrastructure.
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According to the announcement of the Ministry of Funds, money from the Security and Defense Fund will go to support Poland's defense potential and protect the population. It will benefit innovative technology companies from the defense sector and local governments.
The Committee planned to finance investments covering four priorities, including: development of collective protection facilities and civil protection infrastructure, That is construction of shelters, places of refuge, wells, water intakes and local wells, as well as telecommunications infrastructure related to crisis management. Investments in this area are expected to cost approximately PLN 9.65 billion.
The second priority is the construction and modernization of dual-use infrastructure (defense and civilian). About PLN 6.26 billion is to be spent on the construction and modernization of roads, bridges and tunnels belonging to local governments and railway infrastructure..
Another priority area includes investments in cybersecurity. Approximately PLN 2.46 billion is to be allocated to increasing the level of security and reliability of digital infrastructure collecting data and supporting the management of water intakes, sewage installations, public transport and energy networks.
The last priority concerns modern industry. To increase production capacity in the Polish arms sector, support includes, among others: construction and modernization of production infrastructure, purchase of software and IT services, machines and equipment useful in crisis situations and necessary to conduct industrial research and development work, approximately PLN 4.05 billion was planned.
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As stated by the Ministry of Funds, “the final distribution of funds will depend on the interest of entities in the loan recruitment process and the openness to admitting an investor (the Chrobry company – ed.) to the ownership structure.”
There will also be guarantees for defense companies
In addition, as Marta Postuła announces, together with the Ministry of Finance and Economy, BGK will begin to offer, on very good terms, guarantees for defense and dual-use investments.
As Marta Postuła explained during a meeting with the media in March, the need for such an instrument results from the fact that the topic of defense, in particular, is unknown to the banking sector so far. — We will want to offer a product with a guarantee of up to 80%. loan value for zero fee – she explained.
As she said, the addressees of this solution are small and medium-sized companies that would like to be contractors or subcontractors of defense and dual-use investments. In the case of dual-use, however, access to financing is easier and therefore investments in this area are to have guarantees of 70%.
According to Marta Postuła, up to eight thousand people may benefit from the guarantee. companies.
— We want to help small and medium-sized entrepreneurs so that they do not go out of business – Postuła pointed out. She added that this initiative is intended to support the so-called local content in the defense sector. As well as make it easier for Polish business to build an exporter position.
According to the statement of the first vice-president of BGK, the guarantees will be available from May. She did not specify the amount reserved for this instrument. However, she emphasized: – There will be enough guarantee money for all small and medium-sized enterprises that want to get involved in strengthening our defense sector, also at the local level.
