Polish arms exports billions of złoty. Minister reveals the figures

• The Polish army is intensifying preparations for an armed conflict that could occur by 2030.
• It is spending increasing amounts on arms. By 2025, this is expected to reach at least 186 billion złoty. In the first half of the year alone, defense spending reached almost 22 billion złoty.
• Experts believe this is still not enough to quickly eliminate the modernization shortcomings accumulated over the years. Some also believe we might not spend this money. Is this possible?

From January 1 to June 30, 2025, contracts for the purchase of military equipment and armaments worth PLN 21.889 billion were concluded from the Ministry of National Defense budget, through the Armaments Agency. Never before have we invested so much in the military. And this is only a portion of this year's defense budget of PLN 186.6 billion, planned for a globally unprecedented level of spending relative to GDP, i.e., 4.7 percent . The government has announced that this figure could be as high as 5 percent of GDP.

Data on the Ministry of National Defence’s expenditures were provided by Deputy Minister of National Defence Paweł Bejda in response to a parliamentary question from MP Mariusz Błaszczak, former head of the Ministry of Defence, who asked about the expenditures from the Ministry of National Defence budget on the modernisation of the military in the Polish industry in the first half of this year.

We also learned that of the total amount of nearly PLN 22 billion, PLN 6.995 billion went to companies within the Polish Armaments Group, while contracts with Polish companies outside of PGZ were valued at PLN 776 million. Orders with foreign entities totaling PLN 14.158 billion were placed.

In response to the inquiry, it was also stated that the largest contract with PGZ, worth PLN 6.5 billion, concerned the new Borsuk combat vehicle. Meanwhile, with foreign entities, it was a contract for support of the operation and training of the Wisła system, worth approximately USD 2 billion net, or approximately PLN 9-10 billion including VAT.

The Armaments Agency has signed, among other things , international contracts for continued purchases of Patriot systems and the delivery of precision-guided munitions , likely from South Korea and Norway. A contract for the modernization of Abrams tanks and numerous other agreements have also been concluded, the details of which are classified and can only be disclosed after approval by the Sejm or following a parliamentary question.

The largest amount of money flowed to foreign arms companies.

The Ministry of National Defense budget, excluding the Armaments Agency's activities, allocated approximately PLN 150 million to foreign defense contractors under a single contract concluded in the first half of 2025. The Ministry of National Defense's official response to the parliamentary question did not provide details about the contractor or the contract. It is possible that the contract concerned operational support or training related to defense systems.

It was reported, however, that an additional PLN 175.9 million was transferred to PGZ from the Ministry of National Defense budget under 10 contracts concluded with contractors outside the Armaments Agency. During the period, 97 contracts were also concluded with Polish defense plants not part of PGZ. Under these contracts, invoices totaling approximately PLN 413 million were paid.

It is worth adding that, traditionally , in the middle of the year, the government and the Supreme Audit Office presented reports on the implementation of the budget for the previous year, which were submitted to the Sejm .

In 2024, PLN 118.14 billion was allocated to financing defense expenditure.

The Ministry of National Defence’s expenditures covered by the Central Material Plans, including the Technical Modernisation Plan, the Material Purchase Plan and the Construction Investment Plan, amounted to a total of PLN 42.191 billion, which represents 99.8% of the plan.

In detail, PLN 117.52 billion was planned for "Part 29 – National Defense." However, during the year, this budget was increased by PLN 66.6 million from the state budget reserve and by an additional PLN 8.5 million thanks to the shift of expenditures from "Part 85 – Voivodeships." At the same time, the budget was reduced by PLN 2 billion.

This was due to financial shifts in "Part 55 – State Assets." This amount likely related to subsidies for ammunition production, which is not managed by the Ministry of National Defense. Outside of this part of the budget, in "Part 752 – National Defense," the amount was PLN 620 million.

There is broad public consent to increasing defense spending

It was also noted that there were no expenditures in 2024 that could expire, meaning they would return to the state budget if not spent by the end of the budget year. Their implementation amounted to PLN 115,491,043,000, representing nearly 100% of the plan's implementation after the changes.

The amount of unused funds in 2024 was only approximately PLN 104 million. These are mainly funds that have not been withdrawn from the account, not spent, returned by administrators, and blocked (PLN 63.6 million).

PLN 7.387 billion was spent on implementing tasks covered by central material plans. Among capital expenditures, the military spent the most money on purchasing equipment and armaments – a total of PLN 28.093 billion. Of these funds, PLN 0.5 billion was disbursed to the Government Road Development Fund and PLN 15.631 billion to the Armed Forces Support Fund.

It should be noted that expenditures related to the ongoing operation of military units last year amounted to PLN 44.66 billion. The majority, PLN 15.365 billion, were allocated to the salaries of professional soldiers.

Among the PLN 14.962 billion in spending on individuals, the largest sum was pension and disability benefits. In 2024, they amounted to PLN 10.824 billion. 158,300 people received them each month.

Other personnel expenses not included in remuneration include, among others, remuneration for non-professional soldiers, e.g. voluntary compulsory military service, active and passive reserves and Territorial Defence Forces, holiday allowances for professional soldiers, as well as scholarships.

This is a huge sum, and even more needs to be spent. Most politicians believe it's currently a necessity. There's also broad public consent. However, some experts believe that even this amount of money isn't enough to compensate for the modernization shortfalls that have accumulated over the years in the Polish army.

The Ministry of National Defense declares that it is opening up to civil partnerships

In this respect, the words of the Chief of the General Staff, General Wiesław Kukuła, were interesting. He said on Polskie Radio 24 that it is possible that Poland will not spend all the money on defense this year, because there are many challenges related to it, and one of the most important problems is that the equipment is not available for immediate purchase.

"To effectively build armed forces, the defense industry should develop in parallel with the armed forces. Currently, these processes are completely out of sync. We see the effects in the inadequacy of production processes to the pace of transformation of the armed forces," emphasized General Kukuła.

Such a declaration may come as a surprise, given the general's earlier statement that the Polish Army is intensifying preparations for an armed conflict that could occur by 2030. After all, we still don't have an air and missile defense system in place, and the army lacks combat vehicles, unmanned and anti-drone systems, as well as soldiers' personal equipment.

Much of this equipment can be produced in Poland. Arms factories with proven offerings, equally as good as Western products, are waiting for orders. Without placing orders and without providing sufficient funding to the defense industry, which has been neglected for years, to increase its production potential, it's no wonder that production at state-owned companies serving the military is so low.

The Ministry of National Defense declares that it is opening up to civilian companies. These companies can quickly and timely increase their production . However, they must be certain that the money they themselves invest in weapons production will result in contracts.

There's also another side to this coin. Skyrocketing defense spending is already causing (or will in the near future) significant financial cuts in other sectors of the economy. Poles agree to massive military buildup, but they also want the healthcare system, administration, and government offices to function efficiently.

If this isn't the case, it will be more difficult to convince them that security is priceless and requires sacrifice. This isn't just a Polish problem, by the way. It will be even more difficult to do so in other, Western, wealthier countries. One thing is certain: arms spending should be put to good use.

And we must do so flexibly and wisely. We are still a developing country, so there will always be reasons to invest—not only in armaments, but also in the construction of roads, bridges, defense infrastructure, and many other needs.