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Polish Firms Chase Ukraine's $524bn Rebuild, Ignoring Spat
BGK sees rising demand for Ukraine reconstruction funding despite diplomatic tensions. First energy pacts expected soon as Polish firms secure early contracts.
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Polish companies are accelerating expansion plans in Ukraine, brushing aside a diplomatic row over World War II history that erupted last month. The corporate push comes as state development bank BGK SA reports a surge in demand for financing of mature infrastructure and energy projects, according to Deputy Chief Executive Officer Marta Postula.
The pipeline of proposals has grown since BGK launched a contact point last year, gathering initial project ideas valued between 500 million zloty ($134 million) and 600 million zloty. Now, with a new €195 million financing guarantee from the European Commission, firms are returning with concrete plans, Postula said in an interview at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk. “The entrepreneurs are coming back to us and currently the pipeline of projects is even bigger,” she said. “They have done the market reconnaissance, they often have a Ukrainian partner and they have knowledge about energy and infrastructure projects.”
The World Bank estimates Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction will cost $524 billion, a figure that has drawn Polish companies despite political tensions that culminated in Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripping Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s highest state honor. Zelenskyy skipped the Gdansk summit in response. For businesses, the friction is background noise. “We’re just doing business and during the meetings nobody mentioned politics,” Postula said. “Everybody’s looking at numbers.”