Growth without champions: Poland’s corporate gap

Energy, transport, and energy-intensive industries remain the preserve of Polish capital only thanks to state-controlled companies. In sectors such as automotive or home appliances, domestic firms are virtually absent from the ranks of leaders. This represents a structural barrier to innovation and long-term growth.

Poland has achieved economic success, yet it has failed to build many large companies rooted in domestic capital. This argument frequently resurfaces in debates about the state of the Polish economy. Some time ago, I pointed out that the phenomenon is evident even in the case of Polish brands. A similar picture emerges when we examine the market shares of companies with Polish versus foreign capital among the leaders in individual sectors. This is not always a problem in itself, but without strong domestic firms, maintaining the pace of growth will become increasingly difficult.

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Where are the large domestic companies?

Among the sectors compared, the highest share of companies with Polish capital was recorded in energy. In 2024, domestic entities accounted for as much as 95% of the revenues of the top ten firms – all with a dominant state-ownership stake, such as Orlen, PGE, Enea, Tauron, and PSE. The only foreign company in this group was Aramco Fuels Poland.

The share of Polish-capital companies was also high in transport and logistics, at 82%. This reflects the significant role of state-owned companies (PKP Intercity, PKP PLK – railways, LOT Polish airlines, Poczta Polska –Polish Post), as well as the presence of private firms (InPost, Enter Air).

Sectors in which domestic companies account for more than half of the top ten include energy-intensive industries. Here, Polish entities represented 65% of the leading firms’ revenues, thanks both to private companies (Synthos) and state-owned enterprises (JSW - mining, Basell Orlen Polyolefins).

Sectors with a roughly equal mix of domestic and foreign companies include banking, as well as agriculture and the food industry. In banking, this balance reflects the presence of two state-controlled giants (PKO BP and Pekao) alongside the smaller Alior. In agriculture and food, the key players are private companies (Wipasz, Cedrob) and cooperatives (Mlekovita, Mlekpol – milk producers).

Where foreign capital dominates

The share of foreign capital is significantly higher in the remaining sectors analyzed. In the aerospace and defense industry, it accounts for 29%, despite the presence of Polish-capital companies such as PGZ and WB Electronics. In food production, foreign capital represents 26%, largely due to Maspex. Among retail chains, the share reaches 25% (Dino, Terg – owner of Media Expert, Pelion – owner of DOZ pharmacies), and in telecommunications, 22% (Cyfrowy Polsat together with Polkomtel).

Polish companies are virtually absent in the broader automotive sector. The only domestic firm in the top ten is Inter Cars, with a 9% share of revenues. The situation is even weaker in home appliance production, where not a single company with Polish capital appears among the ten largest players.

Not all sectors are equal

These data largely confirm a thesis that often arises in discussions of Poland’s economic success: the country has built few large firms based on private domestic capital. Excluding state-owned companies from the analysis, the share of Polish firms would not exceed 50% in any of the sectors studied. This is a real issue, though one that requires a more nuanced assessment.

The low share of domestic firms is particularly striking in sectors where Poland has potential for global competitiveness, such as home appliances – furniture and consumer electronics. Some domestic companies have achieved success in these areas, like Amica. Poland possesses the knowledge, technology, and access to key raw materials, such as wood. Yet no domestic giant has emerged.

A similar picture appears in food production and agriculture. There are seeds of potential European champions – most notably Maspex – but this remains insufficient relative to the economy’s potential.

By contrast, sectors such as automotive or aerospace should be assessed differently. In these industries, domestic capabilities – especially technological ones – are limited. Foreign investment is therefore necessary if these sectors are to develop in Poland. What is crucial, however, is that a so-called spillover effect occurs, spreading knowledge to Polish suppliers. Opportunities to build domestic champions in these sectors remain limited for now, although in the aerospace industry, they cannot be ruled out in the longer term.

Large companies are key to driving innovation

One consequence of the limited number of large private firms is low investment in innovation. The scale of this problem is well illustrated by a recent report from the International Monetary Fund, summarizing its annual mission in Poland. The report compared the number of patent applications per 1 million inhabitants at the same stage of economic development in South Korea and Poland.

While differences were not significant at a GDP-per-capita level of around 35% of the U.S., they are now enormous. At Poland’s current stage of development, the number of patent applications in South Korea was roughly 20 times higher.

How can the creation of large domestic companies be supported?

The ball is in the government’s court – broadly understood as the public administration. The most sensible approach appears to be building the scale of companies through public procurement, especially in strategic sectors such as defense. This is the path through which Western European states have historically developed their champions.

A second route is to create incentives for corporate consolidation. An opportunity may arise from the wave of retirements among founders of companies established in the early 1990s. Where succession exists, enterprises could acquire other Polish companies, building scale through market mechanisms.

What should the state not do? Attempt to build such companies itself. There are already many state-owned enterprises, and their efficiency is a topic for another analysis. What is certain, however, is that public resources are limited and should not be wasted competing with private capital. From this perspective, the idea of acquiring Carrefour through the state-owned Krajowa Grupa Spożywcza should be judged clearly negatively.

Even critics of so-called liberal economics, such as Prof. Kazimierz Łaski, emphasized the limits of state activity. “The experience of a centrally planned economy shows that the state should not sell parsley – it does it far worse than the private sector – but it should act where the private sector either does not operate at all or is inefficient,” he said in an interview in 2013. Rather than competing directly with private companies, the state should focus on stimulating innovation.

Key Takeaways

1. The absence of large private champions limits economic innovation. A small number of large firms translates into weaker investment in research and development, evident, for example, in the very low number of patent applications compared with South Korea at the same stage of development. The state should therefore support the building of private company scale through public procurement and incentives for consolidation, rather than by directly competing with the private sector.
2. The share of Polish firms in key sectors is limited and often state-dependent. The highest share of domestic capital is visible in energy, transport, and energy-intensive industries, largely due to state-owned enterprises. Without them, the share of Polish companies in none of the analyzed sectors would exceed 50%.
3. Foreign capital dominates many important sectors. This is particularly true in automotive and home appliance manufacturing, where Polish companies are virtually absent among the leaders, despite the country’s real competitive potential. In other sectors, such as banking or the food industry, the shares of domestic and foreign capital are roughly balanced, yet the scale of Polish companies remains insufficient.