As announced by the European Commission, Poland will receive EUR 43.7 billion in defence funds under the SAFE debt scheme. It will thus become the largest beneficiary of the EU fund, which totals EUR 150 billion. Money can be spent on air and rocket defence, drones and drone systems or military mobility. Representatives of the Polish defence manufacture believe that the usage of the funds from the programme could be a good chance for national actors, besides for greater expansion in the EU.
“The SAFE programme, designed to supply European resources for the improvement of the European defence industry, is simply a large chance for Poland. It is besides mostly the money of Polish taxpayers who, through Brussels, return to us. These are various types of financing instruments for the improvement of the defence manufacture as a strategical sector for the defence of Europe. – says Newseria Zbigniew Pisarski, president of the Kazimierz Pulaski Foundation. – We are guardians of the gates to Europe on the east flank, and Polish manufacture must besides be the origin of Polish defence autonomy.
The SAFE programme was adopted by the EU Council at the end of May. The EUR 150 billion loans in the form of competitive long-term loans can be utilized to finance urgent and broad actions for the European defence industry.
– The SAFE programme is addressed to the associate States, which means that companies do not study straight to the European Commission, but that associate State borrows to finance its purchases. Therefore, companies that have an offer for the Armed Forces in the categories listed in the SAFE Regulation, e.g. unmanned systems or drone systems, will be able to apply for orders and finance the acquisition of SAFE funds – This is Małgorzata Darowska, European coordinator at WB Electronics.
On 9 September, the European Commission informed about the allocation of funds under the programme. Poland will receive the largest share, which is just over EUR 43.7 billion. Romania was the second largest beneficiary, which will have nearly EUR 16.7 billion available. The 3rd was France and Hungary, which would receive EUR 16.2 billion in loans. Projects implemented from the SAFE fund will be based on joint procurement, covering at least 1 associate State, as well as Ukraine and EEA-EFTA countries.
– We can benefit from this if we can cooperate with global partners. The function of the Polish State here is crucial to support Polish state and private companies, including providing them with a backing and legal framework to compete with Western European partners, where this sector is more developed and more experienced in global cooperation. It's a large chance for us. – says Zbigniew Writerski.
As he points out, it is precisely the encouragement and support of the state to build global partnerships that will be crucial for us to take this opportunity.
– If this does not happen, Polish companies will be surpassed by abroad competitors who have this state support. Here, therefore, a large request and appeal to our ministries liable for supporting Polish industry, both the Ministry of State Assets and the Ministry of Development, to support these Polish state and private companies in building these consortia, for example through various types of task financing guarantees, purchasing guarantees, buying prototypes for Polish industry – mentions the president of the Kazimierz Pulaski Foundation.
– Polish companies can benefit greatly from the SAFE programme, especially if we participate in joint purchases – says Małgorzata Darowska.
According to the Ministry of Defence data, the budget for defence in 2025 amounts to 4.7% of GDP, resulting in PLN 186.6 billion. In 2026 it is expected to emergence to PLN 200 billion, which will account for 4.8% of GDP. In the light of the latest study "Macro Focus: Military expenditure – safety and development" prepared by the PKO BP Analysis Centre, Poland will allocate over PLN 640 billion to military equipment itself by 2035. It is crucial that as much of these orders as possible go to the Polish industry. From the estimates included in Deloitte's study "Foreign investments in Poland" it is clear that between 2024 and 2035 about 40% of arms purchases will be made in Poland. The remaining nearly 60% will come from imports.
“Polish companies frequently lose due to the fact that they are asked whether the Polish military uses Polish technological solutions. Even if Polish solutions are not active with the pilots, we lose at the start by not trusting our solutions. We can afford to support the improvement of the Polish industry, only we request to do this systematically – says Zbigniew Pisarski.
According to MON, the funds from SAFE will be used, inter alia, for air and rocket defence, artillery systems and ammunition, drones and drone systems, as well as cybersecurity, infrastructure protection and military mobility.
– The WB Group, which has a product offer perfectly composed under the priorities of the SAFE programme, not only wants to sale to the Polish army, but besides to the associate States, that is, alliance countries in the European Union as part of joint purchases – says Margaret Darowska. – This would benefit not only the company, but besides the state budget, due to the fact that the funds from SAFE first should be repaid, and secondly, if we benefit from joint purchases and our company grows, we will besides pay more taxes in Poland.
WB Electronics has been exporting proprietary solutions for many years, participating in EU and NATO projects. Half of the revenues last year came from exports, and its value is estimated at about PLN 1.5 billion. Its part was unmanned for Ukrainian armed forces. The group operates in respective twelve abroad markets, including the USA, South America, North Africa, India, Vietnam and Malaysia. In the ranking of the best companies in the planet active in drone production in 2025 published by the portal The Defence Post ranked 24th.
– In the SAFE programme, we see an chance to extend our presence in the European Union. To date, it has been rather closed to expansion of companies between associate States. We see that we can become the European champion in unmanned systems thanks to the SAFE programme and joint purchases – Considers the European Affairs Coordinator at WB Electronics.
