Less than a year ago – on April 15, 2025, during the spring edition of the European Forum for New Ideas in Warsaw organized by the Lewiatan Confederation, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the so-called re-Polonization. The implementation of this concept is to promote the highest possible share of local content (national component) in investments carried out on the Vistula River.
To facilitate the implementation of these declarations, the government, including the Ministry of State Assets, is preparing a set of tools. One of them is the definition of local content.
— We plan to announce the definition of local content in the week after Easter. In one of the industrial plants in Poland – the Minister of Assets tells us.
As we wrote, this definition was originally supposed to be announced on March 2 in Szczecin, but this date was postponed.
The minister adds that “the agreement signed there will be another example of how the way of thinking in companies with State Treasury shareholding has changed in recent months.”
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Five elements of local content
— The local content package will consist of five elements, says Wojciech Balczun.
— It will include one prepared by MAP definition of local content, which will not, however, be a formal change in law. The next element will be KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), i.e. indicators that will measure the degree to which this goal is achieved by State Treasury companies. In addition, the methodology for counting local content will also be defined, which will involve companies submitting reports to the Central Statistical Office, says the head of MAP.
The fourth area, as he indicates, will be the code of good practices in the field of local content prepared by the Ministry of Assets. Finally, this package will also include the State Purchasing Policy, developed by the Public Procurement Office and adopted this week by the government.
— KPIs will be a formal influence tool for us to assess companies in terms of how well they take into account the element of the domestic component for management purposes. They will be in the form of our guidelines for supervisory boards that approve KPIs for management boards, he emphasizes.
He adds: – We are in constant contact with the companies, they know what our expectations are. Some companies have already appointed, for example, representatives for local content. Companies are trying to fit into the ownership strategy.
According to Balczun, even though the government – in order to re-Polonize – does not plan to change the Public Procurement Law, “this package will influence the market through various instruments.” It is to be, among others, a solution to the current situation in which “in practice, the results of tenders are still usually determined by the price criterion.” – We want this to change – emphasizes the minister.
What effects does he expect from these actions? — Organizing the situation, setting directions and formalizing certain actions. The next stage will be for the market to learn these mechanisms, which is a long-term process, says the head of MAP.
“We will also monitor how these solutions work and modify them if necessary,” he continues.
The goal is also to change the Polish mentality
— These actions will certainly have an impact on the market and its practices, but First of all, we want to give an impulse to change thinking and mentality. In the countries of the so-called in old Europe, it is obvious that priority is given to domestic suppliers. At the same time, local content is not enshrined in law in any EU country, although it is, for example, in Great Britain – explains Wojciech Balczun.
In his opinion, thanks to the announcements of actions regarding local content, we are witnessing, firstly, a national debate on this topic, and secondly, attention being paid to how many local contractors there are in contracts. “The change in mentality is already taking place from the bottom up,” he argues.
Re-Polonization is one of the priorities of Donald Tusk's government
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Jacek Szydłowski / Forum / Forum Polish Photographers Agency
What is causing the shift towards local content? The minister explains that this is due to the fact that “Poland is becoming an economically powerful player, a leader when it comes to economic growth in the EU, with the prospect of admission to the G20.”
— Therefore, we are no longer just an assembly plant and a supplier of cheap labor. The fact that State Treasury companies are currently implementing huge investment projects also contributes to increasing awareness of this issue, he emphasizes.
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This, in turn, in his opinion, “contributes to a change in approach and striving to be – of course, with all respect for EU regulations – a beneficiary of large investment projects were Polish companies as much as possible.
– Thanks to this, technology will develop, companies will grow, and as a result, it will have a positive impact on our economic growth – argues Balczun.
How not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater”?
— We also analyze how the definition of local content will affect individual planned large investments. The idea is “not to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” says the head of MAP.
As he informs, “the definition of local content will also refer to how to treat companies based in Poland that pay taxes here but have parent companies abroad”. – The answer to this will not be zero-one, because it cannot be clearly determined – he reveals.
Balczun also admits: – There is a lot of tension as to whether our actions will result in the exclusion of individual companies or the deterioration of their starting position in public tenders organized by State Treasury companies.
— We also encounter negative market reactions that “such good foreign companies may have a harder time in Poland” or even lobbying attempts. They will not influence our decisions – assures the minister.
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And he concludes: – The last thing we want to do is harm business and the Polish economy, but we want to equalize the opportunities for Polish business, especially small and medium-sized domestic companies.
