Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa’s ammunition specialists have submitted three applications under the EU ASAP program, totaling 11 million euros, according to a PGZ press release published on Monday.
The company group explained that the grant request reflects the need to cover co-financing from its own resources. One application, valued at 2.1 million euros, received approval from the EU Qualification Commission, meaning Poland would receive 20 percent of the requested amount. The funds are planned mainly for automating production lines at Dezamet SA. In line with EU rules, the submissions were kept confidential, so exact terms cannot be disclosed publicly.
The ASAP program serves as a financing channel to rapidly expand ammunition production, a path PGZ companies pursue to boost capacity. The government program of the National Ammunition Reserve, which is worth 2 billion PLN, remains the primary source of expansion funding for PGZ’s ammunition activities. Companies await the first tranche of these funds.
– the statement concluded.
Recently, the European Commission announced 500 million euros available to arms manufacturers to raise artillery ammunition output. The goal is to supply more missiles to Ukraine and replenish EU stockpiles. The EC expects defense industry production to rise to 2 million missiles per year by the end of 2025, up from just over 1 million today. Beneficiaries include Rheinmetall, Nammo, Chemring Nobel, Hellenic Defense Systems, Eurenco and others, with supplementary investments driven by co financing, projected to total around 1.4 billion euros.
Among the recipients is a Polish plant, Dezamet, part of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, which will receive roughly 2.1 million euros from this pool. EU funds are also allocated to companies in other member states and Norway, as listed by the European Commission. For example, German firms will receive about 85 million euros, Norwegian firms 87.6 million, Hungarian 27 million, Finnish 32.5 million, French 38 million, Spanish 23.8 million, and Swedish 19 million. There are also cross border consortia from several Member States and Norway benefiting from these funds, such as a Italian-French-Norwegian-Finnish-Latvian collaboration receiving around 41.3 million euros.
Błaszczak’s note
Former Defense Minister and PiS MP Mariusz Błaszczak wrote on the X platform on Saturday, questioning the distribution:
Donald “King of Europe” Tusk arranged merely 0.42 percent of the EU ammunition program for Poland. The Commission’s move is correct and necessary, but Poland is set to receive only about 2.1 million euros of the 500 million euros allocated to European arms makers for artillery ammunition, he commented.
– he added that German firms will receive around 85 million euros and Hungarian firms 27 million euros.
Janusz Sejmej, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, responded on Saturday to the inequality claim.
Błaszczak argued that Poland has as many subsidies for ammunition production as the current Polish arms industry receives, Sejmej replied. He noted that it is a disappointment to see only one Polish company succeed, given that offers were accepted for two months from October 2023 and the minister personally joined the process in March 2023, during the PiS government’s term. The program was announced while that government was in power, he asserted.
Sejmej added that the focus should be on supporting Polish businesses rather than replacing chief executives, and that current outcomes reflect that ongoing policy. Of the three PGZ-affiliated projects, only Dezamet qualified so far. The broader picture remains as described by the ministry’s spokesperson.
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mly/PAP
Source: wPolityce