Topics of coins
The Central Industrial District
The Central Industrial District (Polish acronym:
COP) was the biggest economic endeavour
to take place in the Second Polish Republic.
It was carried out in 1936-1939 by civilian and
military Domestic Planning Offices, according
to the ideas of the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of the Treasury, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski.
The investment plan covered the territories
of four provinces centred around the cities
of Kielce, Krakow, Lublin and Lvov (i.e. over
15 per cent of Poland’s territory inhabited
by 18 per cent of its population). Altogether
this area encompassed almost 60,000 square
kilometres and 6 million people, most of them
dwelling in poor, overpopulated villages, and in
need of employment.
The COP plan consisted in joining under the state’s
umbrella a number of strategic investments with
varying functions and scale of economic impact.
It envisaged the establishment of new enterprises
meeting the military production needs,
the development and establishment of civilian
enterprises as well as modern infrastructural,
energy and communication projects.
The establishment of COP aimed to beef
up Poland’s defence potential, reduce
unemployment, and bring up the level of life in
neglected regions of the country contributing
to and capitalizing on the favourable economic
climate at the end of the 1930s. Some of the plans
for the development of the region extended well
into the future.
Unfortunately, the implementation of many
projects was interrupted by the outbreak of
the Second World War. Construction investments
that had been started included the steel works and
town of Stalowa Wola, the munitions factory and
town of Nowa Dęba (previously Dęba), the munitions
factory and town of Kraśnik Fabryczny, the gun
powder factory in Krajowice, the factory and town
of Poniatowa, aircraft plants in Mielec and Rzeszów,
the chemical plant in Nowa Sarzyna (previously
Sarzyna) and the factory of synthetic rubber and
tyres in Dębica.
As part of the Central Industrial District a central
gas pipeline was built (linking the towns and cities
of Roztoki, Rzeszów, Sandomierz and Starachowice
with Warsaw), so were hydroelectric powerplants
(e.g. Rożnów, Porąbka, Czchów), power stations, power grids (e.g. the 150 kV power line running
from Mościce to Starachowice), roads, railways,
ports, etc. The projects were carefully prepared
by the most eminent specialists across various
fields of industrial expertise.
Dr Hab. Eng. Arch. Marcin Furtak