International activity by the National Bank of Poland
For several years now, the activities of the World Bank in relation to Poland have primarily focussed on the
power and energy sector, transport infrastructure, privatization, transformation in the public sector and self government reform, agriculture and rural economic activity, and social projects. In 1996 the World Bank extended
three loans to Poland, which refer to the power sector, transport and municipal services.
Collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 1996 was marked
by a surge in its investment in the development of Poland’s private sector. The prioritised areas of activity for the
EBRD in Poland were mapped out in a new “Strategy for Poland” drawn up in mid-1996; these comprise: further
involvement in financing private-sector ventures of local significance in order to bolster the economics of particular
regions and reduce the disparities in their level of development; participation in corporate privatisation and
restructuring; further support to the development of the financial sector, including insurance companies and the
cooperative banking system; new capital investment in infrastructure projects, above all in telecommunication and
transport; and the financing of environmentally friendly projects in industries that are detrimental to the natural
environment. In all, the EBRD is financing 51 projects in Poland to the total value of 790mn Ecu.
In 1996 the European Investment Bank (EIB) extended three loans to Poland: the Highways Project
(100mn Ecu), the Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNG) – Second Gas Project (180mn Ecu), and Polish
Telecommunication I & II (100mn Ecu). Altogether, the EIB has granted 18 loans to Poland totalling 1 384mn Ecu.