Today’s news round-up in Poland

Start your day with a summary of today’s top stories from Poland’s leading news sites.

Wyborcza.pl – Pawel Wdowik, a Polish deputy family and social policy minister, has ordered the purchase of PLN 200 million (EUR 45 mln) worth of equipment for a rental facility for the disabled, the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza wrote on its website. The list, as seen by Wyborcza, contains 29 items, some of which are curious, including 130,000 hearing aids that are normally not rented out in other countries. Members of the government's council for the disabled complain they have not been consulted about the purchases, the newspaper wrote.

TVPInfo.pl – Poles returning to their homeland constituted as much as 62 percent of all immigrants that came to Poland seeking residency in 2022, the state-owned news broadcaster TVP Info wrote, quoting data from the country's Central Statistical Office. Compared to 2021, Poland has seen an increase in both immigration and emigration, TVP Info added.

Rp.pl – Trade unions at the financially-struggling mail operator Poczta Polska have warned that they will go on strike if they do not get pay rises this year. The unionists told the newspaper Rzeczpospolita that they were aware the state-owned company was in a dire financial situation, but they were not going to let go as 70 percent of Poczta Polska's over 60,000 employees are earning the minimum wage.

TVN24.pl – The number of mortgage applications sky-rocketed in August following the launch of the government's preferential mortgage programme. There were 213.8 percent more such applications in August compared to the same month of 2022, the TVN24 news channel wrote on its website, quoting data from the credit-scoring company BIK. Compared to July 2023, when the government's programme was launched, the number of applications dropped by 10.5 percent.