Poland: new Minister of Agriculture
During a press conference of Prime Minister Morawiecki on Tuesday October 26, it was announced that mr Henryk Kowalczyk will take over the function of Minister of Agriculture from mr Grzegorz Puda. He will also be deputy Prime Minister. Henryk Kowalczyk will be inaugurated on Tuesday November 2.
Profile Henryk Kowalczyk
Henryk Kowalczyk was born 15 July 1956 in Żabianka near Gdańsk.
He graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Warsaw. He was a mathematics teacher at a school in Gołądkowo (Mazovia). In the 1980s, he joined a nationwide trade union opposing the communist authorities - Solidarity (“Solidarność”).
He was the mayor of the Winnica (located 60 km from Warsaw) for 15 years from 1990 till 2005. Since 2005, he has been active member in PiS.
In 2006 he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. He acted the duties of the Minister of the State Treasury (2016). Kowalczyk was also the Minister of Environment in the current government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in 2018-2019.
In September 2020, he was temporarely suspended as a party member of PiS for breaking club discipline, voting against the law on animal protection “5 dla zwierząt”.
In 2021, he was appointed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to the Council of Political Advisors.
It was announced that Henryk Kowalczyk will be inaugurated by President Duda as new Minister of Agriculture on Tuesday November 2. He will also be deputy Prime Minister.
Grzegorz Puda
Grzegorz Puda was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in October 2020. He took over the position of former minister Ardanowski. During the press conference on October 26, 2021 by Prime Minister Morawiecki, it was announced that Grzegorz Puda was asked to move to the position of Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy.