The new polymer plant was launched at a special ceremony on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference: “Today we are launching Poland’s biggest industrial project in recent years.”
He added that Grupa Azoty’s new polymer factory was “of key importance to the Polish economy.”
Thousands of new jobs
The new plant cost over PLN 7.2 billion (EUR 1.6 billion) to build and will produce two polymers, propene and polypropylene (PP), the Parkiet newspaper reported on its website.
In terms of manufacturing capacity, it is the biggest factory of its type in Central and Eastern Europe, according to Grupa Azoty.
Morawiecki told reporters: “It’s an investment in the Polish chemicals industry. At the moment, Poland is buying more chemicals than we are selling, and the trade deficit stands at PLN 18 billion (EUR 4.1 billion).”
The prime minister added that the new plant would help create “thousands of new jobs” in Poland, for “people with high qualifications in manufacturing and new technology.”
Morawiecki stated that the new factory would produce polymers “for decades to come,” serving “many generations of Polish people.”
Boost to 'our independence in terms of energy and raw materials': deputy PM
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński issued a letter to mark the occasion, thanking “every person and organisation” that helped launch the plant.
He said the new factory was “extremely important for Poland … bolstering our independence in terms of energy and raw materials.”
Kaczyński added: “It’s also one of the crucial projects in our policy to re-industrialise Poland based on innovation and modern technology.”
The deputy prime minister also said in his message that “Poland needs a proactive industrial policy, because it’s the industrial sector that serves as the engine for the economy and its technological development,” the PAP news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Polsat News, Parkiet