Local authorities distribute cheap coal to households

Samorządy dystrybuują tani węgiel dla gospodarstw domowych

Country	Poland , applies nationwide
Time period	Temporary, 28 October 2022 – 30 April 2023
Context	War in Ukraine, Cost of Living Crisis
Type	Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category	Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery into a green future – Support for fuel expenses
Author	Monika Helak (Polityka Insight) and Eurofound
Measure added	21 February 2023 (updated 11 July 2023)

Background information

The Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the availability and price of hard coal in Poland. Before 24 February 2022, a significant proportion of the coal used to heat homes in Poland came from Russia. However, in April 2022, the Polish government decided to introduce an embargo on Russian coal.

On 28 October 2022, the Act on the Preferential Purchase of Solid Fuels for Households (Dz.U. 2022 poz. 2236) entered into force. The act allows municipalities to participate in the purchase, distribution and sale of coal at preferential prices.

Content of measure

The measure contains provisions that allow local governments to purchase coal from state companies at a fixed price of max. PLN 1,500 gross (€335.55) and resell it at a preferential price of max. PLN 2,000 gross (€447.40) to residents entitled to the coal subsidy .

According to an additional regulation prepared by the Ministry of State Assets, the amount of coal available to a household under preferential purchase is 1,500 kg until 31 December 2022 and 1,500 kg from 1 January 2023.

Coal importers will be able to apply for compensation. The money to pay them will come from the COVID-19 fund. The maximum amount of compensation to be paid from the fund in 2023 has been set at PLN 4.9 billion (€1.97 trillion).

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

03 June 2023

The end date of the validity of the Act is 30 April 2023. Until that date, the marketing entity may sell solid fuel to municipalities, intended for sale under preferential purchase.

Use of measure

Precise figures are not yet available. In 2021, the number of households in Poland that use coal as their main heating source was about 3.8 million. A similar number of households could benefit from reduced priced coal.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Applies to all citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies Local / regional government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

No involvement
Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement.

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