Polish PM Tusk signs local content code to boost domestic firms in state investments
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has signed a set of recommendations aimed at increasing the share of Polish companies in large investment projects, particularly those by state-controlled entities. The document, prepared by the Ministry of State Assets under Minister Wojciech Balczun, introduces a points-based system to measure a company's domestic character.
Signing of the recommendations
During a government meeting and a concurrent event called "Poland Inwestuje" at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Prime Minister Donald Tusk signed the long-awaited local content recommendations. Prepared by a team led by Minister of State Assets Wojciech Balczun, the document aims to increase the share of Polish companies in strategic investments, particularly those by state-controlled entities. Tusk acknowledged the complexity of the mechanism.
The prime minister expressed conviction that the practices would spread beyond state-owned firms.Today we are finalizing the process of building recommendations for Polish companies, recommendations related to local content. Minister Balczun has just reported to me the completion of all this work.
I am convinced that these good practices will become widespread and will not only apply to State Treasury companies.
Defining local content
The "Local content. With benefit for Poland" project originated from Tusk's April 2025 call for "re-Polonization" of the economy. Its core is a non-binding code of good practices designed to bolster domestic supply chains, technology, and employment in large public and semi-public projects. Despite the nationalist framing, Tusk stressed that the recommendations were not meant to discourage foreign investors. He cited Lumina Metals, a major investor whose debut coincided with the event, as an example of partners unalarmed by the policy.
There were concerns that this is economic nationalism. I said then: yes, it is economic nationalism, but in a good sense of the word.
Measuring "Polishness"
A key challenge was defining what constitutes a Polish company in a transnational economy. The Ministry of State Assets unveiled a points-based system in April 2026. A company's "Polishness" is scored through six weighted components: location of the owner's or parent company's headquarters (25%), the place where main activity is conducted (25%), tax residency in Poland (15%), employment – more than half of staff must be Polish citizens or pay taxes and social security in Poland (15%), registration length – at least three years of existence (10%), and domestic revenues exceeding half of annual income (10%). The Central Statistical Office (GUS) will carry out the measurement.
- Owner location
- 25 %
- Main activity location
- 25 %
- Tax residency
- 15 %
- Employment
- 15 %
- Registration length
- 10 %
- Domestic revenue
- 10 %
Pilot phase and future expansion
A pilot program is set to begin in June 2026, initially targeting the energy sector. Subsequent phases will extend the metric to armaments, transport and infrastructure, and digital technologies. The government hopes the transparent scoring will encourage all companies, not just state-controlled ones, to adopt the recommendations.
- Prime Minister Tusk announces 're-Polonization' of the economy, pledging to support Polish firms in public investments.
- Ministry of State Assets presents the results of the local content measurement team, including a points-based system.
- Pilot measurement of local content begins in the energy sector.
- Tusk signs the local content recommendations during a government meeting and the 'Poland Inwestuje' event.
