Minister Piotr Nowak accompanied Jacek Sasin, deputy prime minister and minister of state assets during his visit in the United States. The main point of their visit was an agreement signed on Monday in Washington between KGHM Polska Miedź and U.S.-based company NuScale Power on the deployment of small modular reactors in Poland (SMR).

Signature of the agreement between KGHM and NuScale Power is the good news for Polish economy. Nuclear reactors will be supplying power to the copper company’s production plants and will contribute to providing them with a stable source of electricity”,

said Piotr Nowak, minister of economic development and technology.

Investments in small modular reactors support green transformation in Poland and help reduce energy costs for consumers”,

emphasized the minister. 

Strengthening energy independence of Polish industry

NuScale Power is a U.S. leader among manufacturers of small modular reactors. KGHM is Poland’s second biggest energy consumer in Poland and copper mining is energy intensive business.

The agreement signed on 14 February 2022 between KGHM and NuScale Power relates to the deployment of four modules capable of generating 77 MW of electricity (MWe) each. The agreement is a part of the nuclear power development project to be pursued in Poland by the end of 2030.

Talks at the International Monetary Fund

During the first day of his visit to the USA, the head of the MDT met Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. The main topics of their talk included issues related to challenges facing world economy due to the pandemic, inflation and disturbances in supply chains. 

Minister Nowak emphasized that Poland is the European Union’s sixth largest economy. We have very good economic forecasts. The European Commission’s updated estimates for 2021 indicate that the Polish GDP will grow by 5.7 percent. In 2022 we expect GDP to grow by 4.4 percent, whereas it is estimated by the IMF at 4.6 percent, by the World Bank at 4.7 percent and by OECD and the European Commission at 5.2 percent. The estimates are followed by stable ratings issued for Polish economy by rating agencies. 

Our country remains one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investments. In 2021 they grew dynamically – by 46 percent during the first 11 months – up to a total of EUR 23.8 billion.\

Meeting with the United States Secretary of Energy

Minister Novak had a talk with the United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. He also met representatives of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association of nuclear power producers in the United States. The role of the Nuclear Energy Institute is to represent the interests of nuclear power producers before the United States Congress.

Poland attaches great important to economic relations with the USA”,

said the minister of economic development and technology. He emphasized that Poland is the main recipient of U.S. investments in Central and Eastern Europe. As many as 40 percent of capital invested by U.S. companies in that part of the continent go to Poland.

According to the data of the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland (a leading voice of international investors in Poland) the USA is the second most important source of investment capital in the Polish market, accounting for 11 percent of the total value of all foreign direct investments in our country.  

Minister Nowak emphasized that U.S. investors are already present in the most innovative sectors of Polish industry: IT, business services, telecommunication, space industry and aviation. Poland’s goal is to continue investments in strategic sectors including IT/ICT (cybersecurity), medtech, medical services, electromobility, green transformation, aviation and space.

By my visit to the United States I want to emphasize the potential of Polish economy and to hear what challenges are faced by U.S. companies when they plan their investments in Poland”,

said minister Nowak.

The head of the MDT emphasized that Poland is rapidly transforming into an centre of advanced technologies. We have the fourth highest number of STEM (Life Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates in the European Union. It means over a million of highly qualified scientists and engineers.

I am satisfied to see that Polish entrepreneurs are present in the U.S. market”,

said minister Nowak. A growing number of Polish companies not only export their products, but also invest and establish their offices in the United States. Many of them can boast of their successes in the U.S. market. It is another example proving that the economic cooperation between Poland and the USA is developing dynamically.