Funds and Regional Policy Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz announced the payment during a news conference in the northwestern city of Szczecin.
"Nearly PLN 31 billion from the National Recovery Plan is flowing into Poland," she said. "This is the first of three installments we will receive in this record year."
Altogether, she said Poland would receive more than PLN 100 billion (around EUR 23.5 billion) for investment in 2026 under the National Recovery Plan.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said the latest tranche would support strategic investment projects aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of Poland's economy.
Planned spending includes energy-efficiency upgrades for buildings, water and wastewater infrastructure in rural areas, digital services, healthcare modernisation, low- and zero-emission public transport, railway upgrades and electricity transmission networks, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The funds will also help finance projects under Poland's Security and Defence Fund, including modernisation of industry, civil protection infrastructure, cybersecurity and transport networks important for military mobility.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz said the recovery plan had been effectively frozen for two years before Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government accelerated implementation efforts.
"After those two years, we undertook what seemed like an impossible mission—to carry out the largest investment and development project in modern Polish history in half the originally planned time," she said. "Today I can say that it has truly succeeded."
She added that the latest payment means Poland is now on track to use the vast majority of available grant funding under the programme.
Pełczyńska-Nałęcz told reporters that projects financed by the recovery plan "are already visible across the country," including new nurseries, public transport upgrades, railway projects and modernised hospitals.
The European Commission approved Poland's latest payment requested in April after determining that the country had met "30 milestones and 13 targets," including reforms expanding the powers of labour inspectors to better protect workers.
The National Recovery Plan is designed to strengthen Poland's economy through investment projects and reforms financed by the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Poland is set to receive around EUR 54.7 billion in total under the EU programme, including EUR 25.3 billion in grants and EUR 29.4 billion in preferential loans.
The European Commission in February 2024 said it was unblocking up to EUR 137 billion in aid for Poland under the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery and cohesion policy funds, calling the move "a landmark day" for the country.
The Commission says the previous government, which was in power from 2015 to 2023, brought courts and judges under political control and undermined democratic checks and balances.
Legal changes introduced by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and its allies put Poland on a collision course with the European Union and triggered a series of disputes between Warsaw and Brussels.
As a result, the EU executive withheld billions in funds intended for Poland under the bloc’s post-pandemic recovery package and cohesion policy.
Tusk's pro-EU government pledged to restore judicial independence and persuaded Brussels to unfreeze the funds.
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Source: IAR, PAP