Poland is preparing another round of changes across its state-owned corporate sector, but the government is presenting the plan as consolidation rather than privatisation. The Ministry of State Assets wants selected assets and companies to be moved within the public sector, with the goal of creating stronger groups in areas considered strategically important. One of the main priorities is the Polish Armaments Group, PGZ.
State Assets Minister Wojciech Balczun has said that acquisitions and asset transfers between state-controlled companies are likely over the coming years. The government argues that the current portfolio can be reorganised to improve synergies, investment capacity and returns to the state budget without reducing public control over strategic assets.
The approach reflects a broader shift in Poland’s economic policy. Energy security, defence production and financial resilience have become more important since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while the scale of planned public investment has increased sharply.
PGZ is becoming a central industrial policy project
The Polish Armaments Group occupies a special place in the plan. PGZ brings together dozens of companies active in ammunition, armoured vehicles, artillery, electronics, shipbuilding and military maintenance. Its importance has increased as Poland has raised defence spending and tried to expand the domestic share of military procurement.
The government now wants to simplify and strengthen PGZ’s ownership structure. The objective is to give the group better access to capital and make it easier to carry out large investment programmes, while allowing other state-controlled entities to participate in its future growth.
For foreign investors and defence suppliers, this matters because PGZ is increasingly becoming the key industrial partner in Poland’s effort to build more defence capacity at home. A stronger balance sheet and clearer ownership structure could influence how future joint ventures, licence-production projects and technology-transfer agreements are organised.
The reshuffle goes beyond defence
The planned changes are not limited to PGZ. The Ministry of State Assets has also pointed to energy, finance and insurance as sectors where the state intends to maintain strong influence.
Instead of selling strategic companies, the government is considering transfers of assets to state groups that may be better placed to develop them. In theory, this can reduce duplication and create larger companies with stronger investment capacity. In practice, the success of the strategy will depend on whether transactions are driven by industrial logic rather than short-term budget needs.
The government also expects higher dividend income from state-controlled companies in the coming years. That creates a tension familiar in many public-sector portfolios: companies are expected to finance major investments while also generating cash for the state budget.
Security is changing the role of the state in the economy
Poland’s current policy differs from the privatisation-driven model that shaped much of Central Europe after the 1990s. The government is now openly treating selected companies as instruments of economic and national-security policy.
That is especially visible in defence and energy, where investment decisions are increasingly judged not only by financial returns but also by supply security, domestic production capability and resilience in a crisis.
The Ministry of State Assets has made local content one of its priorities, encouraging state-controlled companies to increase the participation of Polish suppliers in large investment programmes. If implemented consistently, this could create more opportunities for domestic manufacturers and engineering companies, although it may also complicate procurement where foreign technology remains essential.
Investors will watch governance as closely as strategy
For listed state-controlled companies, ownership reshuffles can have a direct impact on minority shareholders. Investors will therefore be watching the valuation of transferred assets, the financial terms of transactions and whether the changes improve long-term profitability.
The government’s argument is that a more active ownership policy can increase the value of state assets while strengthening strategic sectors. The risk is that frequent restructuring can create uncertainty if the objectives of the state as owner are not clearly separated from political or fiscal priorities.
PGZ will be the most visible test. Poland is spending heavily on defence and wants a larger share of that expenditure to build domestic industrial capacity. Whether the planned consolidation succeeds will depend on turning higher defence budgets into sustainable production, technology and export capability rather than simply expanding the size of the state-owned sector.
Sources: Ministry of State Assets; statements by Minister Wojciech Balczun and Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański; PAP.
