Located in the heart of Europe, Poland has a long and rich history of its development. Currently, Poland is a member of the EU and NATO, as well as part of the Schengen zone.

In the second half of the 20th century Poland was a socialist country, and therefore in the 90th years of the 20 century Poland faced severe political and economic difficulties.

The economic crisis caused serious problems in the development of industry, and privatization of state property covered all areas of production.

The economic breakdown has led to increasing unemployment and the downswing of production. Nevertheless the disintegration of the USSR in the early 90’s allowed Poland to regain its political and economic independence. Poland has been a bridge between East and West for centuries.

At the present time the country’s economy is based on agriculture, industry and mining.

Positive economic and social results of reforms are already noticeable in Poland at the moment.

The major part of the economic potential of Poland is based on the processing of mineral resources: the country has one of the leading places in Europe for the extraction of coal, silver, steel smelting, sulfur. It has also significant reserves of zinc lead, natural gas, salt and other minerals.

Coal, gas, sulfur (the first-largest in the world), salt, copper, zinc and lead are mined in Poland. Industry in Poland includes machine building, metal forming, chemical industry, textile industry, etc.

Moreover, Poland is considered one of the most important investment markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Poland is a country with market economy and it belongs to the countries with favorable economic climate and high level of economic freedom.

Poland has a favorable geographical position in the economic sense. Poland has good conditions for export and import. It is located at the crossroads between Western and Eastern Europe, which gives excellent conditions for international exchange. This country has the best roads and communication system in Central and Eastern Europe.

Poland is a country where relatively rapid economic growth is observed, furthermore it is expected and that it will remain at the same high level in the future.

Adaptation to the EU legislation has allowed Poland to realize profound transformation in the regulation of the economy and limit governmental interference in the private sector.

Reforms of financial markets, corporate and competition law, financial reporting and intellectual property rights have contributed to improving the business climate and economic growth.

Poland has also benefited from the access to the EU structural funds, which allow to improve public infrastructure.

The positive perception of Poland’s accession to the EU and how it affected the country as well as personal well-being of citizens prevail in all socio-demographic and political groups.

This is particularly noticeable among the wealthy youth with higher education, living in cities. According to public opinion, the most important benefits obtained as a result of Poland joining the EU - is the opportunity to work legally in other countries - EU member states, open borders, support of agriculture and the availability of EU funds.