Without repayment of the loan for up to 4 months

"We are extending the system that allows those who have taken out a loan and have problems with repayment for various reasons to take advantage of the so-called credit holidays," said Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a press conference after the meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The government has adopted a bill that assumes, m.in, that it will be possible to suspend the repayment of loan installments in May and June 2024.

The availability and extent of assistance for the most deprived people is also being increased.

"For those who find themselves in the most difficult situation, we have prepared an extended range of possibilities to write off part of the aid. This assistance may consist in the fact that the state is ready to pay a loan installment for people who find themselves in a particularly difficult situation, explained the head of the government.

Detailed information on the terms and conditions of credit holidays is available on our website.

Better credit conditions for farmers

The previous government introduced solutions to help farmers take out loans. In the end, however, the application of the provisions on consumer credit turned out to be misguided. That is why the current government has adopted a bill that reverses these solutions and introduces really beneficial changes for farmers.

"Exaggerated consumer protection has turned out to be a barrier and a de facto obstacle for farmers. Banks are less willing and more expensive to grant loans when the so-called consumer protection is overscaled, said the Prime Minister.

The head of the government expressed his hope that the parliamentary work will lead to farmers having easier access to cheaper credit.

– I hope that in the course of parliamentary work we will achieve exactly the effect we want. That is, easier access to credit, and to a loan that is cheaper than at the moment, when it comes to farmers who want to take these loans for their direct activity, explained Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

 

Another meeting with farmers

During a press conference, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the continuation of talks with farmers. During the next meeting, the head of the government is to present the actions that the government is taking to meet the needs of the Polish countryside

"I have arranged a meeting with farmers on Saturday at 10.00 a.m. at the Dialog Centre to report to them on the actions I have taken since the last meeting," announced the Prime Minister.

The head of the government pointed out that the Green Deal in its current form was promoted by the previous government. It is against these EU rules that Polish farmers are protesting today.

– Politicians of the Law and Justice party have been boasting for many months that this is in fact their project, that it is exactly like the agricultural policy of the Law and Justice party, which the chairman Kaczyński also promoted for many months. Decisions on this matter, both in terms of opening the border to agricultural products from Ukraine and the Green Deal, were made by the government of Mateusz Morawiecki. We are cleaning up now, because I know that the problems of Polish farmers are not made up out of thin air," said Donald Tusk.

Sanctions on food imports from Russia and Belarus – draft resolution

The government is taking steps to draw the European Commission's attention to the problem of importing Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products.

"I will send to the Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia a draft resolution of the Sejm, in which we call on the European Commission, as the Polish Sejm, to submit a proposal to impose sanctions on the import of Russian and Belarusian food and agricultural products to the European Union," said Donald Tusk.

Latvia has already decided to introduce such sanctions on its own.

"In such situations, we need to act together and we need to act as the European Union. That is why I am proposing a resolution on sanctions and the negative impact of trade with Russia and Belarus on the single market," said the Prime Minister.

The draft resolution also includes issues related to changes in trade with Ukraine.

"We will expect the European Commission to urgently undertake work aimed at returning to the application of only the rules resulting from the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in trade relations with Ukraine as soon as possible," said the head of the government.

The idea is to return the rules of trade with Ukraine to pre-war norms. Helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia cannot be based on making it easier for a relatively narrow group of people to do big business at the expense of Polish and European farmers.

The draft resolution of the Sejm also includes an appeal to the EU institutions on the need to immediately verify the provisions of the Green Deal.

"Actions for climate protection cannot be in such a brutal conflict with the real needs and capabilities of European farmers," admitted Donald Tusk.

 

Millions for salaries and surveillance of the former opposition

The Prime Minister also spoke about irregularities in the operations of OTS, established by PKN Orlen during the times of Daniel Obajtek, and other irregularities.

"There are justified fears that Poland will be exposed to very serious problems as a result of the company's activities. On the other hand, the members of the company's governing bodies will not be exposed to problems. They have guaranteed themselves a salary at the end of February 2024 in the amount of PLN 2 million per year for each member of the Management Board," said Donald Tusk.

The former CEO of PKN Orlen signed, among other things, an order for a detective whose formal task was to "identify and document the activities of unfair competition against PKN Orlen, including the identification of sources of disclosure of information concerning the operation of the concern".

– We also have documentation which shows what the detective hired by Mr Obajtek was doing, that is, mainly constant tracking of the opposition MPs – in this case Mr Marcin Kierwiński, Jan Grabec – today's ministers of the government – or the MEP Andrzej Halicki. (...) It is not only Hermes, Pegasus Ziobro, Kamiński, Wąsiki, but even the companies of the State Treasury that participated in this process of total surveillance of the opposition MPs – stressed Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Orlen spent more than one million zlotys on "detective services", i.e. daily observation of opposition belts, by Daniel Obajtek's decision.

Restoring the rule of law

The government plans to resume the activities of two codification commissions and to establish two new commissions.

- The Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar continues his work - I am talking about the restoration of the legal order, the rule of law and the rule of law. He prepared and we accepted it without unnecessary discussion several draft regulations on the establishment of the organization and mode of operation of the Codification Commissions," said the Prime Minister.

In total, there will be 4 codification commissions dealing with the system of the judiciary and the prosecutor's office, as well as civil and family criminal law.