The Senate Committee on National Defense was engaged in the execution of the budget of the Ministry of National Defense for 2022. Detailed information at the meeting on Tuesday was presented by the director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of National Defense Pavel Barchak. He recalled that the budget of the Ministry of Defense was planned to be 2.2% of the country's GDP. This year it amounted to 57.8 billion zlotys ($12.8 billion).
In accordance with the Budget Law for 2022, the following priorities for the development of the Armed Forces were approved:
strengthening the operational capabilities of units in the east of the country;
technical modernization;
increase in the number of Polish armed forces;
creating conditions for the presence of Allied troops on the territory of the Republic of Poland;
conducting exercises and command and staff training;
formation of structures and increasing operational capabilities of defense units;
formation of structures and increasing the operational capabilities of the Defense Forces in cyberspace.
The planned expenditures on national defense after the changes amounted to 57.103 billion zlotys ($12.68 billion), including:
3.47 billion zlotys ($771 million) – grants and subsidies;
10.444 billion zlotys ($2.3 billion) – benefits;
29.376 billion zlotys ($6.5 billion) – current expenses;
14.237 billion zloty ($3.2 billion) – capital expenditures.
Of the planned expenditures in terms of national defense, almost 39 billion zlotys ($8.7 billion) were spent by October 31, which is 68.3%. In turn, the main plans were implemented in the amount of 9.5 billion zlotys ($2.1 billion), which is 51.9% of the total plan in the amount of almost 18.5 billion zlotys ($4.1 billion).
Including:
The technical modernization plan was implemented in the amount of 6.5 billion zlotys ($1.4 billion), which is 53% of the plan.
The plan for the purchase of material assets was completed in the amount of 1.7 billion zlotys (377.6 million dollars), which is 52.6% of the plan.
The plan of investments in construction in the amount of 1.363 billion zlotys ($ 302.7 million), which is 47.6%. This amount includes national investments ($225.4 million) and investments implemented under the NATO NSIP program in the amount of 349 million zlotys ($77.5 million).
By October 31, 96% of indefinite expenses were realized, i.e. 1.023 billion zlotys (226 million dollars) out of the planned 1.065 billion zlotys (236 million dollars). One of the important points of the latter is the motivational fund for military personnel and employees in the armed forces, from which 306 million zlotys (67.9 million dollars) out of 309 million zlotys (68.6 million dollars) were spent. The remaining funds could be spent before November 30.
In turn, additional funds from other sources of financing of the Ministry of Defense have been implemented in the following volumes:
1.438 billion zlotys, which is 319.4 million dollars - from the Fund for Modernization of the Armed Forces.
1.824 billion zlotys, which is 405.1 million dollars - from the Fund for the Support of the Armed Forces.
9.5 million zlotys, which is $ 2.1 million - by the military property agency from its own funds to finance housing investments.
Commenting on the budget information, Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz recalled that most of the funds are usually spent in the last months of the year, therefore, in his opinion, these data should be approached with optimism. He also added that we are currently dealing with a sharp increase in defense spending, and at the same time very large programs are being implemented, such as the purchase of F-35 fighters, HIMARS MLRS, Wisła air defense systems or Apache Guardian helicopters, which will be purchased in "impressive" quantities.
Minister Skurkevich also provided data on the number of professional soldiers, which is almost 116 thousand military personnel, as well as 45.5 thousand. civil servants. He noted that today the development of the Armed Forces is carried out according to the "Technical Modernization Plan for 2021-2035", taking into account 2020. It is also worth noting that work is already underway on a new plan for 2024-2039.
The Deputy head of the Armaments Agency, Colonel Romuald Maksimyuk, touched upon the purchase of equipment in the Republic of Korea.
"First of all, when implementing contracts with the Korean side, we will implement them with funds from the Armed Forces Support Fund," Maksimyuk said.
It is worth noting that this fund is independent of the budget of the Ministry of Defense.
"All the executive contracts that have already been signed this year with the Korean side on the procurement of K2 tanks, K9A1 howitzers, FA-50/FA-50PL light combat aircraft and K239 Chunmoo multiple launch rocket systems are financially secured." In turn, the funds are currently coming from the Armed Forces Support Fund," Maksimyuk added.
Nikolai Astrovsky
