Enabling citizens to purchase affordable coal

The government has passed a bill that facilitates the distribution of coal by local governments, giving Polish citizens greater access to this raw material at a lower price.

Local governments can now buy coal for PLN 1,500 and sell it for no more than PLN 2,000. The difference between the purchase price charged by the importer and the price at which the coal is sold to residents is the municipality's income. This income is then used to cover the costs of coal distribution. We are doing everything to improve this and mitigate the impact that the crisis has on Poles.

"Our very first steps included giving the people a PLN 1,000 subsidy per tonne of coal, for purchases of up to three tonnes, and then further subsidies for local governments to buy coal", said the Prime Minister, summarising his government's actions so far.

The distribution of coal by municipalities and intermediary coal distributors — under the Act on preferential purchase of solid fuel by households — has brought a significant reduction in the market prices charged by private entities, lowering them from PLN 3,500–4,000 per tonne to around PLN 2,000 per tonne. Today, coal is available at affordable prices to everyone throughout Poland. Deliveries of coal to municipalities will continue until the end of the heating season as required.

Nearly one million tonnes of coal have been delivered to municipalities participating in the programme

Since last summer, state-owned enterprises worked with the government and local governments to secure coal supplies to Poland from many regions of the world. We are importing millions of tonnes of coal on an ongoing basis in response to the energy resources crisis triggered by Russia's criminal invasion of Ukraine.

We are systematically adapting the logistics of coal delivery based on the needs of specific municipalities. Moreover, we have established many new receipt locations so that coal can be collected more efficiently in areas with a higher number of purchase orders.

In 2022, state-owned enterprises handling coal imports imported around 14 million tonnes of coal into Poland, a record-breaking volume considering the capacity of Polish ports. While primarily meant to secure the needs of households, these coal deliveries will also be used in the heating and power industries.

"I know how hard it is today, now that Putinflation is straining all household budgets, which is why we have frozen electricity prices, as well as gas prices to a certain extent, even though they have gone up all over the world", the Prime Minister said, listing government measures to support citizens.

Regular meetings of the Coal Committee

The situation in the coal market is being analysed on an ongoing basis to quickly address the changing realities. The measures in this regard are focused on ensuring that all entities, including private customers, have the necessary supply of fuel-grade coal. To that end, the circumstances are being constantly monitored, taking into account import and mining plans compared to the demand for coal.

Since July 2022, regular meetings on coal procurement and distribution have been held at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. These are attended by representatives of state-owned enterprises, including representatives of the Ministry of State Assets, and other entities involved in the process, enabling efficient management in this area.