According to the draft budget for 2025, the government plans to subsidize Polish coal mining companies (Polska Grupa Górnicza, Południowy Koncern Węglowy and Węglokoks Kraj) for a total amount of PLN 9 billion. The funds are “accumulated” in several budgetary establishments.
Subsidies, grants, bonds… How do we subsidize coal mining?
In the draft budget for next year, which the Cabinet of Ministers adopted last week, PLN 2.4 billion was earmarked for the reduction of coal mining in the form of subsidies and subsidies. Another PLN 1 billion is hidden in specific subsidies. This gives a total amount of PLN 3.55 billion in the form of subsidies and subsidies alone.
This is the implementation of the provisions of the Law on Support for the Coal Industry, which provides for the injection of a total of PLN 28.8 billion into the industry by the end of 2031. The money will flow to Polish mines from 2022 (except in 2023, when the energy crisis allowed them to make profits) without the formal, although necessary, consent of the European Commission. The notification is in progress, there is no consent yet, but the money is flowing. This year it is PLN 7 billion, and next year it will be close to PLN 9 billion.
Where will the remaining PLN 5.4 billion come from? These funds, in turn, are included in the draft budget law. The subsidies for capacity reduction planned for 2025 may exceed the amounts included in the Budget Law. Mining companies are again generating billions of dollars in losses.
