Blocking the construction of the mine. Another billion-dollar fine for Poland

An international arbitration tribunal ordered Poland to pay nearly PLN 1.4 billion in compensation with interest for unlawfully blocking the construction of the Jan Karski coal mine in the Lublin region, even though the investor had previously obtained the necessary documentation and priority rights.

Moreover, the court’s verdict shows that the PiS government deliberately withheld the issuance of permits to the Australian company GreenX Metals (formerly Prairie Mining Limited) in order to finally transfer the disputed deposits to the state-owned Bogdanka mine. In March In March 2026, Poland returned 1.6 million Australian dollars to the company as reimbursement for the costs of legal procedures before the court in Singapore.

Penalty for openly favoring a Polish company

In 2012-2013 (PO-PSL government), the Australian company obtained four exploration licenses in the Lublin Coal Basin. It planned to build the Jan Karski coking coal mine from scratch in the Lublin region and revitalize the Dębieńsko mine in Upper Silesia, closed in 2000. The Lublin deposit was purchased by Prairie Mining Limited in 2016.

After the change of government, when the United Right came to power, Poland’s strategy changed. It was no longer about the inflow of foreign capital and modern technologies to the Polish mining sector, but about re-Polonizing and strengthening state-owned companies. – There will be no strong Polish economy without a strong mining industry – said the then Prime Minister Beata Szydło in 2016. The Australian company became a competitor to Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa and the Bogdanka mine.

– The duty of the Polish authorities, who want to protect the sovereignty of our country, its prosperity and its security, is to fight for Polish coal. We cannot afford to steal this coal, even if only by telling us to leave it in the ground and not mine it. This would be a historical mistake – Krzysztof Tchórzewski, then Minister of Energy, argued in the media – We act consistently in the interest of Bogdanka. Expanding our resource base is part of the announced development strategy, he admitted in 2018.

Poland will finance the copper competition for KGHM

At the end of 2017 The Ministry of the Environment did not issue a decision on concluding a mining usufruct agreement within the planned three-month period. The case went to court.

Despite the judgments of the Supreme Administrative Court in 2019, which were favorable to the company The Ministry of Climate granted a license for the Jan Karski deposit to the state-owned Bogdanka mine. The government’s refusal to negotiate this matter forced the Australian company to enter international arbitration, which Poland lost.

– The PiS government failed on this issue. The Australians, as you know, were promised that their mine would be built there. They were misled for years and the commitment was later withdrawn. It was quite obvious that they would go to arbitration and it was rather obvious that they would win the arbitration, Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on the verdict.

The Ministry of Climate appealed against the verdict, but lost the case. The result is not only a loss of trust in Poland on international markets. In the meantime, the company GreenX Metals has abandoned investments in coal and is focusing on German coal Tannenberg copper project – competition for KGHM.