President Nawrocki starts term with Poland’s highest-ever administration budget
Around 850,000 PLN (€200,000) a day – that is the cost to Polish taxpayers for just one day of President Nawrocki’s administration, with some of his staff positions already being paid for before he was officially sworn in on 6 August.
Poland’s newly elected President Karol Nawrocki at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw during the swearing-in of his advisors. According to one of Poland’s economic news services, his administration’s daily budget costs taxpayers around 850,000 złoty (€200,000). Photo: PAP/Albert Zawada
In 2025, Poland is expected to spend 38 million PLN (€8.95m) more on the presidential administration than the previous year, representing an increase of nearly 14%, according to Strefa Biznesu, one of Poland’s economic news services.
Poland’s presidential budget set to rise nearly 14% in 2025
The increase is explained by rising salaries and administrative expenses, as well as 10 new positions, which were already being paid for before Nawrocki took office.
The cost of these additional roles alone is estimated at 840,000 PLN (€197,858). Severance payments for advisors of outgoing President Duda amounted to 310,000 PLN (€73,019), while raises for civil servants and the president himself added another 3.2 million PLN (€753,744) to the budget.
Renovation works have also been planned, with an extra 6 million PLN (€1.41m) earmarked for 2025.
Presidential spending climbs under Nawrocki, surpassing Duda’s final budget
According to Michał Piękoś, the author of the Strefa Biznesu article, although President Duda began with a budget of 133 million złoty (€31.3m) in 2015, annual spending exceeded 300 million złoty (€70.7m) in his final years. Nawrocki, however, is starting from an even higher level – 312 million złoty (€73.5m) for 2025.
“This means that, on average, each Polish citizen contributes about 8 złoty (just under €2) annually to maintain the President’s Chancellery,” Piękoś notes. While this may seem small, multiplied by Poland’s 38 million citizens, it amounts to several hundred million złoty flowing into the palace’s accounts.
In the context of a public finance crisis, with Poland’s budget deficit exceeding 200 billion złoty (€47.1bn), such spending begins to look more like a luxury than a necessity.
Polish daily, Fakt, reached similar conclusions, finding that the presidential “empire” stretches from the 17th-century Presidential Palace in Warsaw to a modernist castle in the Beskid mountains.
President Nawrocki will have at his disposal multiple residences, an army of several hundred officials, armoured cars, helicopters, and a rooftop helipad on one of Warsaw’s buildings.
Closed-door cabinet council to discuss state finances
On Tuesday, the Office of the President announced that a Cabinet Council will be convened on 27 August to discuss, behind closed doors, among other things, the state of the national budget and public finances.
(mp)
Source: strefabiznesu.pl/X/@prezydentpl
