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Defence ministry ups orders from Polish arms industry

30.09.2019 14:20
Poland’s defence ministry will place over PLN 6.8 billion (EUR 1.5bn, USD 1.7bn) worth of orders with the country’s arms industry this year, far more than in previous years.
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak
Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak Photo: PAP/Piotr Polak

The announcement was made by Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on Monday during a visit to the Łucznik arms factory in Radom, 100 km south of Warsaw.

Amid fears of aggressive policies by Russia, Poland’s ruling conservative Law and Justice party, which swept to power in 2015, has named defence as a priority and embarked on a military modernisation drive.

Błaszczak said on Monday: "In recent years, orders of around PLN 3.5 billion to PLN 3.7 billion have usually been placed with the Polish arms industry.

“In 2018, they came to PLN 3.96 billion. This year … the defence ministry will place orders for contracts worth PLN 6.85 billion with the Polish arms industry."

The Polish president in October 2017 signed into law plans to steadily increase the country’s defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2030.

(pk/gs)

Source: PAP