The plan was announced by Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
EUR 630 benefit to buy coal for heating
The PLN 3,000 (EUR 630) allowance will be available to all families that use coal for home heating, Moskwa told a news conference.
She added that those eligible would be able to apply for the new benefit immediately after it is approved by parliament and signed into law by President Andrzej Duda.
They will have until November 30 to apply, reporters were told.
Moskwa said the new one-time allowance would replace an earlier measure whereby the government set a guaranteed price of PLN 996.60 (EUR 207) per tonne of coal purchased by households.
She told reporters that the new measure was fairer as it applied to those who had already bought coal as well as those who will do it later.
Total cost: EUR 2.4 billion
The government has earmarked some PLN 11.5 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) for the new allowance, officials told reporters.
Moskwa said Polish state-owned companies had ordered over 7 million tonnes of coal from the likes of Australia, Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, Tanzania and the United States.
Of this amount, more than 3 million tonnes had already reached Polish seaports, she added, noting that private companies were also importing coal.
Moskwa announced that the government was working on “a comprehensive measure” to help citizens cope with energy and heating bills.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, wiadomosci.onet.pl