Did Tusk keep his promise regarding the KPO? Opinions are divided

“I am happy to announce that Poland has just received EUR 5 billion from the RePowerEU program, which is part of the KPO,” Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, announced in December. This is the announcement we have been waiting for for several months. As in similar situations, success has many fathers. Mateusz Morawiecki argues that obtaining the money can be added to the list of his achievements, because it was his government’s officials who filed the petition for payment. Donald Tusk takes credit for the honor and reminds that he has fulfilled his promise to launch payments.

Who received money from KPO?

Poles were asked whether they shared the opinion that Donald Tusk was responsible for obtaining funds from the KPO. 28.7 percent respondents are convinced that the head of the new government “probably” or “definitely” kept his promise to quickly obtain money from the KPO. It is worth emphasizing that among the supporters of PiS and Confederation, none of the respondents gave such an answer – says “Rzeczpospolita”.

54.3 percent respondents believe that the promise is still far from being fulfilled. In the group of people supporting the previous ruling camp, as many as 100 percent respondents answered that “probably” or “definitely” the head of government did not keep his word. Among the undecided, it is 57 percent. Voters of the current government are more optimistic: among them, only 25 percent respondents believe that the promise has not been fulfilled.

“Rz” wonders what could have determined such a distribution of opinions in the survey. “In the group of PiS voters, the main factor may be the name of Donald Tusk appearing in the question – he is a politician who is very disliked, even hated, in this group of voters. However, it is also a fact that the new prime minister did not manage to release the funds “the next day”, as he promised before the elections. However, the matter is undoubtedly a priority for the government,” it was explained.

EUR 5 billion from KPO

EUR 5 billion for Poland is an advance payment approved by the European Commission at the beginning of December. These funds come from the RePowerEu program, which is part of the KPO. This fund is intended for the construction of solar, wind and nuclear power plants, as well as for building insulation. This money – as RMF FM reminds – is to be used to become energy independent from Russia, but also from coal.

Agreement on this matter was reached at the summit of European Union finance ministers held on December 7-8. Poland was also represented there by a representative of Mateusz Morawiecki’s government. The decision also applies to other member states. The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) approved, with amendments, the national recovery plans of Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Romania.