Polish agriculture is underinvested. President of the Polish Bank Association: The gap amounts to approximately PLN 140 billion

Polish agriculture is underinvested; the gap is estimated at approximately PLN 140 billion, it can be filled, among others, by: through structural reforms in agriculture – said Tadeusz Białek, president of the Polish Bank Association, during the European Agribusiness Financing Forum 2026 on Wednesday.

The motto of this year's edition of the forum is “Financing agribusiness in a changing world.”

As the president of the Polish Bank Association pointed out, contemporary challenges require cooperation. Polish agribusiness, including farms, face many development challenges that will determine maintaining competitiveness on foreign agricultural markets. According to Białek, banking remains an important partner in the development of the agro sector.

Białek noted that the banking sector in Poland is very diversified, with both large international banks and small cooperative banks operating. They serve approximately 1.3 million farms and 70,000 agribusiness companies.

According to the head of the Polish Bank Association, over 250,000 people actively use loans. farmers, and over PLN 30 billion (at the end of 2025) of the entire loan portfolio of banks were loans to agriculture. Białek informed that approximately PLN 20 billion of credits and leasing loans are granted to farmers and agribusinesses annually. He added that over the last 30 years, banks, together with government institutions, have granted the industry 6 million preferential loans with a total value of PLN 143 billion.

He emphasized that farmers are a safe and stable customer for the banking sector, especially cooperative banks, just like agro companies, mainly from the SME sector.

According to Białek, Poland has a problem with a lack of investment. – The current investment gap is worrying, estimated at almost PLN 140 billion in individual agricultural sectors – emphasized the head of the Polish Bank Association. He added that without its liquidation there would be no agricultural development. He pointed out the need to carry out structural reforms in agriculture, which will allow, among others, for wider access to external investment.

Białek assessed that Polish agriculture also faces many threats; he calculated, among others, rising production costs, quality and sanitary requirements, low incomes of the rural population, “alarming” demography, bureaucracy.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Adam Nowak pointed out that work is currently underway on the new common agricultural policy for 2028-2034. Preliminary information from the EC shows that Poland may receive over PLN 200 billion, i.e. EUR 48 billion. – This year we must consider how to invest these funds in the best and most effective way possible, this is necessary because Poland is slowly losing its competitive advantage – said Nowak.

– We are in favor of this and will strive to ensure that the money goes to active farmers. We need to ensure access to technology, he emphasized.

Krzysztof Hetman, vice-chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) in the European Parliament, who connected remotely with the Forum participants, pointed out that the time has come for simplifications in the European Commission, also when it comes to the financial sector, especially in the case of cooperative banks. The MEP proposed organizing a conference of cooperative banks in Brussels to convince the EC that the regulations on the operation of small banks are over-regulated and it is necessary to reduce the burden. According to Hetman, this matter also applies to cooperative banks from other countries, e.g. Germany.

The European Agribusiness Financing Forum 2026 (EFFA 2026) is a nationwide two-day industry event devoted to agricultural financing, investments in agribusiness and risk management in the agri-food sector. The forum organized by the Polish Bank Association brings together representatives of banks, public institutions, farmers, entrepreneurs and agro market experts. (PAP)

awy/ mmu/