Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the past year, we have fought together to ensure that our economy suffers as little damage as possible as a result of the pandemic. We fought to save jobs and businesses, and to ensure the continued survival of Polish families. 

This, I would like to express gratitude to the millions of hard-working Poles and to the thousands of entrepreneurs who did not give up despite difficulties, as well as to my colleagues from the Ministry, as well as to inform you that we have very positive data concerning Poland’s GDP in 2020. In spite of the extreme circumstances we found ourselves in, in spite of the fact that part of our economy was restricted amid recurring lockdowns, our GDP contracted only by 2.8 percent, which is an outstanding result compared to other European countries. Germany currently evaluates its decline at around 5%, while the European Union as a whole lost as much as 7.5%.

These results allow us to look into the future with more optimism. All domestic and international financial institutions forecast our GDP to rise in 2021 by as much as 4%. We managed to save millions of jobs, and we have already earmarked nearly 176 billion PLN to support entrepreneurs, which makes Poland one of the European leaders in this respect. Aid for the sectors affected by the pandemic represents more than 9% of our GDP, which puts us on the third place among EU Member States, second only to Denmark and Austria.
I am also very pleased that my Ministry's recommendations have been accepted and that shopping malls and shopping centres will be able to resume their operations starting on 1 February. I would like to thank the industry representatives for their cooperation, patience and for taking sanitary restrictions seriously. This is also our collective success. Step by step, as the number of vaccinated people increase, we will be able to restart more and more sectors.

I am well-aware of the fact that many entrepreneurs are still in a tough spot. I can assure you that we will not only continue our financial support, but also extend and boost it even further, if it is possible.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
once again I want to thank you all for your hard work, dedication and patience during these difficult months. Concrete data show us that all of our efforts have not been in vain – in fact, they bring the strength and hope we all need.