Polish arms industry to receive funding for ammunition production, sparks criticism from opposition

The Polish arms industry will receive about €2 million for ammunition production under the European Commission’s decision, compared to €170 million for German companies, an issue the Polish opposition says the government needs to explain.

The Commission’s Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) initiative aims to help EU member states replenish their stocks and supply ammunition to Ukraine by anticipating bottlenecks and shortages in defence supply chains.

The ASAP programme has currently identified projects with a budget in excess of €500 million to stimulate the production of ammunition, according to the Commission.

Among the beneficiaries of the programme is the Polish company Dezamet, which would receive €2.1 million. The Polish opposition party PiS (ECR) says this is far too little, given the total cost of the initiative.

“Donald Tusk, ‘king of Europe,’ makes Poland receive as much as 0.42% of (the money available under) the EU ammunition production programme,” PiS’ former defence Minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, said ironically on Saturday, referring to the mocking name PiS used to call Tusk, now the Poland’s prime minister, when he served as the European Council President between 2014 and 2019.

On Sunday morning, Deputy Defence Minister Cezary Tomczyk commented on the matter, saying that Polish companies had submitted applications to the EC for the production of ammunition for only €11 million.

“It is difficult to get €500 million in such a case,” he stressed, noting that the submissions were made before mid-December last year when PiS was still in power in Poland.

Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also echoes PiS’ arguments. “Applications were accepted until 13 December 2023. Three of our companies applied for 15 times less than Germany ultimately received. At least one of these Polish applications was submitted to the wrong program,” he tweeted on X on Sunday.

“Perfidious Teutons, evil EU,” he ironised, referring to the ancient German tribe whose name is often used in Polish to mock anything perceived as typically German.

It “aims at strengthening the responsiveness and ability of the Union defence industry to ensure the timely supply of ammunition and missiles in Europe,” the Commission explains.

The programme covers five areas: explosives, with a project portfolio budget of around €124 million; powder (€248 million); shells (€90 million); missiles (€50 million); and testing and refurbishment certification (€2 million).

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)