Industry
Arkadiusz Siwko, President of the PGZ Company Resigns. Błażej Wojnicz Becomes the New Head of the Group
Arkadiusz Siwko, President of the Board of the PGZ S.A. Company, resigned from his position within the management board. The Supervisory Board has appointed Błażej Wojnicz to take over this post. Wojnicz, so far, has been working as the President of the Management Board at the Polish Defence Holding (Polski Holding Obronny – PHO).
Polish Armaments Group (PGZ – Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa) has announced that the PGZ’s Supervisory Board accepted the Arkadiusz Siwko’s resignation from the position of the President of the Group. Błażej Wojnicz, who so far has been acting as the President of the Polish Defence Holding, has been appointed to take over the Siwko’s responsibilities. Earlier yesterday, PGZ had not confirmed the rumours suggesting that the President has resigned, however an official release was issued in the afternoon.
Błażej Wojnicz, since August 2016, has been the President of the Management Board at the Polish Defence Holding. Before that, he was working, starting from December 2015, as a member of the supervisory board at PHO. Wojnicz has also gathered many years of experience, during his work at the Polish Ministry of Defence, National Security Bureau, Polish Naval Academy (as a member of the Supervisory Board between 2007 and 2008) and at the Presidential Office. As Defence24.pl was informed by Monika Koniecko, PHO's Spokesperson, Błażej Wojnicz is going to retain his position of President of the Board at the PHO company, and he is going to act jointly, both at the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), as well as at the Polish Defence Holding (PHO).
The new President of the Management Board is a lawyer, and back in 2013 he has completed legal (attorney) apprenticeship. He is specialized, among other areas, in the domains of security and armament industry. Wojnicz is also a graduate of postgraduate course with a social-economic profile at the Warsaw School of Economics, he has also accomplished the studies at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University – UKSW in Warsaw.
Arkadiusz Siwko was appointed to become the President of the Board in December 2015, shortly after the Polish Ministry of Defence began to monitor the Group’s activities. Before that, he had been working as the President of the Board at the Grosvenor House Institute for Strategic Studies, and as a President of the Board of the OLPP Sp. z o. o. company, dealing with fuel storage management. In the period between 1991 and 1992 he was acting as the Staff Director for the Minister of Interior, when the said Ministry was being led by the current Minister of Defence, Antoni Macierewicz.
President Arkadiusz Siwko, when managing the Group, was focused on preparing and implementing the modernization programmes for the Polish Armed Forces. Among the most significant contracts signed by PGZ and/or the affiliated companies, under the guidance of Arkadiusz Siwko, one should definitely list the agreements concerning the acquisition of the Regina artillery elements (including the Krab SPHs), agreements related to modernization of the Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, up to the Leopard 2PL standard, procurement of Pilica and Piorun anti aircraft systems, as well as purchase of optronics (for the Territorial Defence component) and of 26 thousand Beryl rifles.
PGZ has also signed a number of letters of intent, with several foreign partners, creating a basis for implementation of the individual Army modernization programmes, as a part of industrial cooperation, following the decisions related to selection of those foreign entities by the Polish Ministry of Defence. For example, when it comes to the air defence systems, letters of intent have been signed with the Raytheon, MEADS, MBDA, Kongsberg or Northrop Grumman companies.
In the recent interview published by the wSieci weekly, Siwko also informed that PGZ has recorded a 100% growth of export sales throughout the year 2016. The Supervisory Board spoke highly of the actions undertaken by the former President of the Management Board at PGZ.
Polish Armaments Group has been formed back in 2013, within a process, the goal of which was to consolidate the domestic defence industry potential. The group gathers more than 60 companies, giving jobs to more than 17500 employees. Annual income is defined as PLN 5 billion.