Second Polish Republic
The history of BGK dates back to 1924 when the President of the Republic of Poland, at the initiative of then Prime Minister and Treasury Minister Wladyslaw Grabski, issued a decree establishing BGK. It was created by a merger of three public banks from the Galicia region, the Bank Krajowy, the State Reconstruction Bank and the Credit Institution of Malopolska Cities.
The creation of BGK was a result of Grabski's economic concepts. Despite being opposed to statism in industry and trade, Grabski was at the same time a supporter of strong state banking. The Bank's main tasks included granting long-term loans through issuance of covered, municipal, railway and bank bonds and offering local government loans as well as providing loans to savings institutions and performing all other banking tasks. The Bank had special obligations towards state-owned and local government companies. Securities issued by BGK were guaranteed by the State Treasury.
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, in accordance with its statutory tasks, from the beginning of its existence financially supported the development of Polish economy. BGK was financially involved in all major investments of the Second Polish Republic. Among them is e.g. the seaport and shipyard in Gdynia. One of the forms of BGK's activity in this field were activities undertaken by BGK at the request of the government, aimed at financial protection and modernization of strategic enterprises of the economic and military interests of the state. This became the basis for the creation of the so-called BGK conglomerate, which included enterprises of great importance for the national economy and defense of the country: the Association of Starachowice Mining and Smelting Plants, Grodzisk Chemical Plant, Boruta Chemical Industry, The Association of Potassium Salt Mining and a number of other plants.
Starting from 1936, BGK was included in realization of state investment plan of creating the Central Industrial Region.
The Bank also administered the government's special purpose funds, including the Credit Institution Support Fund, State Construction Fund, State Credit Fund and Labour Fund.
At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, BGK became one of the biggest banks of inter-war Poland and served as the primary participant in the economic restructuring process.
Between 1928 and 1931, a BGK building designed by Rudolf Swierczynski was constructed in Warsaw's Aleje Jerozolimskie street.
