Warsaw, Poland, September 13, 2023—To help unlock the power of the private sector and scale up development impact while supporting climate commitments, IFC invested and mobilized a record investment volume of $745 million in Poland in fiscal (FY) year 2023—between July 2022 and June 2023.
Poland has been one of the most successful countries in Europe over the past 30 years. The country's GDP (gross domestic product) per capita stood at 79 percent of the European Union average in 2022, from merely 40 percent in 1990. Yet to continue growing the country's economy, it is key that Poland leverages the green transition to boost private investment, further strengthen human capital, and keep improving productivity. IFC aims to address these long-term goals along with new challenges created by higher interest rates, inflation, capital market volatility, and the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
IFC's transactions in FY 23 include a $300 million green financing package for SK Poland, Europe's first and largest producer of lithium-ion battery separators. The aim is to build a robust electric vehicle (EV) value chain while generating hundreds of jobs—both direct and indirect—in the Silesia region. With Poland emerging as a manufacturing hub for EV batteries worldwide, the investment will help position the nation as a leader in electromobility-related manufacturing.
In alignment with Poland's decarbonization efforts, IFC also invested 435 million zloty ($99 million equivalent) in the 2.67-billion zloty-denominated sustainability-linked bond (SLB) issued by Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. As an anchor investor, IFC played a key counter-cyclical role in Poland's first corporate SLB and the largest local market private sector issuance to date.
To support sustainable waste management and promote the country's move toward a circular economy, IFC invested $90 million of fresh equity in Elemental Holding—a leading Polish group operating in the metal recycling sector—to help the company expand in Poland as well as globally. As part of its "Upstream" strategy—proactive, early-stage market and project preparation work—to generate new and innovative investment opportunities, IFC is also working with Polenergia, Poland's largest private energy group, to develop the country's green hydrogen production capacity.
For IFC, strengthening local capital markets remains a key objective to support Poland's economic development and green transition agendas. Accordingly, IFC continues to invest in the private equity sector, which plays a major role in fostering better corporate governance, sustainable growth, and internationalization, while also providing exits to local capital markets.
"Building on this momentum, we hope to ramp up activities and continue to make a strong impact where IFC is most needed—from increasing access to finance for Poland's green transition to helping address the spillover effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," said Ary Naïm, IFC Manager for Central and South Europe. "IFC will also prioritize the development of new services, supporting refugees while helping Polish investors forge new partnerships within Ukraine or with Ukrainian partners in Poland."
IFC launched the Digital Data Corridors initiative in 2022. The initiative brings together a coalition of credit information providers, financial institutions, and industry experts to allow financial institutions to work electronically across borders and receive international credit histories, identity verification, and bank transaction data in real time. With this information, Ukrainian refugees in host countries will be able to get easier access to credit cards, loans, and other services. The data exchange mechanism is already operational in Poland.
In July 2023, IFC's office in Warsaw was converted into a sub-regional hub to service IFC operations in Central and South Europe. IFC has backed private sector development in Poland for over three decades, investing more than $1 billion between 1986 and 2022.
About IFC
IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record $43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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