Cezary Kocik, CEO of mBank, has proposed exempting loans for the defense sector and dual-use technologies from the Polish bank tax. The move, he argues, would directly lower financing costs for strategic military investments.
Under current rules, when a bank grants a loan to expand a Polish arms factory, it immediately pays a tax on the increase in assets. This cost is factored into the price of financing, making the credit more expensive for defense companies. According to Kocik, a targeted exemption would automatically reduce the cost of lending for such strategic projects by roughly 0.5 percentage points.
Tangible savings for industry
The difference becomes significant over multi-year projects. For an investment worth PLN 1 billion realized over one year, lowering the cost of capital by that margin would result in approximately PLN 5 million in savings that remain directly in the company’s cash. The bank estimates that this sum could be used to purchase about a thousand FPV drones or to invest in additional production capacity, such as new assembly lines or hiring engineers.
A simple, proven mechanism
Kocik stresses that this is a straightforward, measurable solution requiring no complex subsidy schemes. The state has already applied similar logic by exempting treasury bonds from the bank tax to reduce the cost of servicing public debt. The CEO argues that the same principle should now be extended to the defense industry to ensure Poland can efficiently produce the equipment it orders.
– We want to make it clear: these saved funds will not stay in the banks; they will work in Polish factories. The military buys security, but it is our economy that must first efficiently manufacture the ordered equipment. Polish companies need contracts, that is true, but without access to capital on preferential terms and without proper liquidity, not a single drone or tank will be produced – said mBank CEO Cezary Kocik.
Źródło: wnp.pl, Fot. Karolis Kavolelis / Shutterstock
