Civil Protection and Civil Defense Program 2025-2026 (shelters and refuges)
The Civil Protection and Civil Defense Program for 2025-2026 is the first government program in modern Polish history to systematically rebuild civil defense capabilities. It was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 27 May 2025 at the request of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA). It fulfills the statutory obligation under Article 156(5) of the Act of 5 December 2024 on the protection of the population and civil defense. The program's overall envelope is approximately PLN 34 billion (PLN 16.7 billion in 2025 and PLN 17.2 billion in 2026) for all areas of civil protection — this is the value of a nationwide budget allocation, not the cost of a single investment. One of the priorities is the construction and renovation of shelters and places of refuge: for collective protection facilities, local governments receive nearly PLN 5 billion from the program, with grants potentially covering up to 100 percent of investment costs. This record reflects solely this separately allocated and separately documented pool for shelters/protective facilities transferred to local governments, not the full PLN 34 billion envelope. By September 2025, the State Fire Service (PSP) and the Construction Supervision Authority (PINB) had carried out more than 2,000 inspections of protective structures, of which more than 1,000 may be able to serve protective functions; renovations and investments are directed first to areas covered by the National Deterrence and Defense Program "Tarcza Wschód" (East Shield). This record is strictly strategic in nature — its cost is NOT counted toward the 'value by stage' aggregate: the approximately PLN 34 billion is the envelope of the entire program, and the approximately PLN 5 billion is a dispersed pool of grants for local governments for shelters/refuges, not a single investment with a distinct outlay.
Timeline
- Announced 27 May 2025
- Current date 2026
Change history
- 27 May 2025 stage: announced
Significance
For the first time in modern Polish history, the program launches systemic financing for the construction and renovation of shelters and places of refuge, addressing a long-standing deficit of collective protection facilities for the population. The transfer of nearly PLN 5 billion to local governments, together with grants covering up to 100 percent of costs, is intended to enable the reconstruction and modernization of protective structures — including adapting old shelters (among others, those under schools from the 1960s) to contemporary standards — and the preparation of places of emergency refuge. Directing investments first to border areas covered by "Tarcza Wschód" (East Shield) links the program to the national deterrence and defense system, and the review of more than 2,000 protective structures gives the state its first inventory of actual shelter capacity in decades.
Sources 4
Every fact on this card comes from the sources below. Next to each source — which fields it supports.
- Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji (gov.pl) 27 May 2025StatusStageStage historyAnnouncedCurrent dateInvestor
Status „27 maja br. Rada Ministrów uchwaliła Program Ochrony Ludności i Obrony Cywilnej na lata 2025-2026."
Current date „W latach 2025–2026 na realizację Programu przeznaczono odpowiednio 16,7 mld zł i 17,2 mld zł."
- Ministerstwo Spraw Wewnętrznych i Administracji (gov.pl) 18 Sep 2025CostStatus
Status „dotychczas PSP i PINB wspólnie przeprowadziły ponad 2 tys. takich wizytacji"
Investor „Budowa i remonty schronów jednym z priorytetów rządowego Programu Ochrony Ludności i Obrony Cywilnej"
Cost „Na ten cel samorządy otrzymują blisko 5 mld zł z rządowego programu OLiOC."
- PAP (Polska Agencja Prasowa, EN) 27 May 2025CostStatus
- Monitor Polski 2025StatusAnnounced