The payout is likely to help finance Australia’s GreenX Metals’ Tannenberg copper project in western Germany, after the company exited coal and shifted toward metals tied to Europe’s energy transition. Polish Radio 24 reported that that could create a potential competitor to Polish copper producer KGHM.
Enforcement efforts are already under way. In March 2026, Poland paid AUD 1.6 million (EUR 957,488) to cover the company’s legal costs in proceedings before a court in Singapore. At the same time, GreenX’s lawyers began identifying Polish state assets, including foreign holdings and transport-related property, to secure any possible enforcement action.
GreenX, then known as Prairie Mining, entered Poland in 2012-2013 and focused on two projects: the planned Jan Karski mine in eastern Poland and the revival of the closed Dębieńsko mine in Upper Silesia.
In July 2015, the Environment Ministry approved the company’s geological documentation for Jan Karski, giving it a three-year priority right to seek a mining-use agreement and final extraction license.
After Poland’s 2015 change of government, the project ran into resistance as the state moved to strengthen control over strategic sectors and support state-owned miners.
“There will be no strong Polish economy without strong mining”, then-Prime Minister Beata Szydło said in 2016.
When the investor filed a formal application in December 2017 for a mining-use agreement, the Environment Ministry failed to issue a decision within the legal three-month deadline. Despite favorable rulings for the company by Poland’s top administrative court, the Climate Ministry in December 2019 ultimately granted the license for the disputed deposit to state-run Bogdanka.
In October 2024, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague unanimously ruled that Poland had violated treaty obligations in relation to Jan Karski, while dismissing the investor’s claims over Dębieńsko.
Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the case was effectively lost because the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government had mishandled it.
“This case is rather hopeless, because a lost arbitration is a lost arbitration. The PiS government messed this up,” Tusk said.
Although Poland acknowledged mistakes politically, the Climate Ministry challenged the ruling in court, arguing it had a duty to protect public funds. But in January 2026, the Singapore International Commercial Court rejected Poland’s attempt to overturn the award under the Energy Charter Treaty.
Poland formally withdrew from that treaty in December 2023, citing conflict with EU climate goals, but the move did not cancel its obligation to pay because of the treaty’s so-called sunset clause, which protects existing investments for 20 years.
GreenX has since abandoned coal and concentrated on its German copper project.
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio 24