2022-04-07 11:30 update: 2022-04-08, 18:00
Photo PAP/Darek Delmanowicz
Poland's central government has transferred PLN 500 million (EUR 108 million) to local governments to help them handle the Ukrainian refugee crisis, Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister, has said.
"As we had promised earlier, we transferred over PLN 500 million to local governments today to be spent in line with the agreed schedule and procedure," Morawiecki said at a meeting devoted to cooperation between central and local governments on Thursday.
According to the prime minister, refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and finding a new home in Poland could help relieve labour shortages in Poland.
"This group of refugees is a great benefit for the Polish economy," Morawiecki said.
"It is not only that we are helping them," he went on to say. "But they need our support in these first weeks."
Morawiecki pledged further support for local governments and said the government would be taking on "huge tasks related to the education system, healthcare and a number of public services."
Since February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, 2.548 million people have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border into Poland, the Border Guard (SG) tweeted on Thursday morning. (PAP)
jd/mrb/ej
