Poland has a chance to be a leader in modern fields

Bawi Nerada, Senior Vice President of the National Economy Board of the Bank for Transforming the Polish Economy.

Matthews Albin, journalist at “Super Biznes”: – We met during a 3D conference. This “WWW” has nothing to do with the Internet, does it?

Pawe Nierada, Vice President of BGK: – It’s not about the Internet, but about a certain affinity. These 3Ws are water, hydrogen and carbon. We use hydrogen as the fuel of the future, although in fact it is our present. The mission of BGK is to support the sustainable social and economic development of Poland, which is why we have created a program for the smooth and long-term transformation of our economy in these modern areas. Poland is already the fifth largest hydrogen producer in the world. Now it’s gray hydrogen. However, I see no obstacles for us in the fight to be the leader in green hydrogen production.

What about the rest of the “W”? While the modern use of hydrogen is self-evident, questions may arise about water, and above all about carbon.

Charcoal did not appear on this list by chance. Today we associate it with pollution, but our perspective is quite different. Coal is an essential component of the functioning of the economy. Carbon also consists of carbon fibers, pharmaceuticals, filters, nanotechnology and graphene. This is the future. I will say more There is no more waste than burning coal. What we want to change is to bring the scientific community closer to business and create a space for exchange between economic entities. It turns out that players who are fluent in modern technology find it difficult to find partners right away.

– What is the participation of the BGK in the agreement with Poland?

We are implementing a strategic investment program targeting local governments. We have just closed our first call for proposals in beta. Each office in the city had the opportunity to present three investment projects with the possibility of obtaining financing up to 95%. Project values.

Do people want to apply for this program?

– Nearly 8000 orders with a total value of over PLN 90 billion. In the first call for proposals, we expect funding of approximately PLN 20 billion. More importantly, the investments that will be implemented under this program will contribute to the development of investments in local governments. Intelligent development. This not only translates into the development of the economy, but also introduces us to the development of new technologies.

– What do you do with the money?

We have already identified 35 priority areas. It is divided into four categories. These are widely understood investments, ranging from investments in energy, roads, water and sewage infrastructure, but also water management issues, such as retention. Back to hydrogen, emission-free transport is very important.

What local governments are most willing to access this money?

– Taking into account the number of applications made, it can be said that they are all. From municipalities to counties. Our goal was to create an easy-to-use program. No bureaucratic hurdles. The entire process is electronic. Through our website, local government representatives can log in and obtain identification. Forms and requirements have been kept as simple as possible.

When will we see the effects of these investments?

– We wanted to quickly implement the submitted projects. The overall goal is for this to be a program that truly holds the potential for economic growth. Most importantly, that this program does not yet have, it must be cyclical. Now we close the first pilot. I think we will open the window for more applications in the fall. We anticipate that after the first two beta releases, the program will have the opportunity to become a permanent mechanism for financing local government investments.

During the pandemic, the BGK was one of the entities involved in combating the economic collapse that could be caused by the coronavirus. How do you assess the current situation?

CSO data is surprisingly good. But in my opinion, this is not the time to rest on our laurels, quite the contrary. For now, we must mobilize all the resources at our disposal and remember the design scheme. Ironically, the pandemic has opened up opportunities for our economy to reduce our potential, and we can take advantage of the chaos created by the disruption of traditional supply chains. This created space that our economy and our entrepreneurs can use to use the business elements our competitors have dealt with so far.

The financial partner is Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego