World Bank Group

The World Bank Group consists of five institutions

• The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)

• The International Development Association (IDA)

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC)

• The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and

• The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) - Poland is not a member of this institution.

Poland was one of the founders of the Bank, but left in 1950 and rejoined in 1986.

The IBRD currently has 189 member countries. Apart from the 6 main shareholders (United States, Japan, China, France, France, United Kingdom), the other member countries are grouped into constituencies. Poland belongs to the Constituency together with Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The institutions of the World Bank Group are all governed by a Board of Governors which meets once a year. Each member country appoints one governor.

By tradition, the President of the World Bank Group is always a U.S. citizen nominated by the President of the United States. Ajay Banga began his five-year term as President of the World Bank Group on June 2, 2023.

The constituency has been represented by Dominique Favre of Switzerland since November 2022.

The World Bank's vision and mission

World Bank shareholders at the Annual Meeting 2023 (October, 2023) endorsed a new vision statement: to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet and a new mission: to end extreme poverty and boost prosperity on a livable planet.

The Bank’s main products are financial loans and technical assistance:

Investment and Earmarked Loans,
Development Policy Loan (DPL),
Program for Results (PforR) - the financing instrument,
Trust Funds and Grants,
technical assistance and expert support, both free and paid (RAS)
Risk Management Services.

Poland at the World Bank

The Bank has been actively cooperated with Poland since 1990 providing loans analytical and advisory support in various areas. Between 1990 and 2022 the Bank provided Poland with a total of USD 14.7 billion in disbursed funds for 63 projects in areas such as health protection, environment, rail and road transport, infrastructure, restructuring of state-owned enterprises and privatization, energy efficiency and climate change mitigation.

One project is currently being implemented with the Bank’s loans in the area of flood management: Odra - Vistula Flood Protection Project for Poland (total cost of EUR 1.2 billion).