Poland’s trade contacts with Austria in the years 1945-1990

After the end of World War II, Poland and Austria relatively quickly established mutual trade relations. The first post-war trade agreement was concluded in 1946. According to its terms, Poland was to supply coal to Austria in exchange for machinery industry products. The next year a general trade agreement was signed, allowing annually concluded detailed bilateral contracts until 1954. During the Cold War causing increasing confrontation between the Soviet bloc and the Western world, Austria’s neutrality allowed it became Poland’s the third biggest trade partner in economical exchange with capitalist countries. The first multi-year economic agreement between the two countries was signed in 1962. From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the value of exports of machinery from Poland to Austria more than tripled. The developing industry of Poland offered more and more products, often of a quality comparable to Western products, but at lower prices. In 1973, a 10-year bilateral agreement was signed, greatly widening the economic relations, including even a possibility of joint industrial ventures in partner countries. A severe economic depression of the 1980s in Poland affected considerably our country’s cooperation with Austria. After the political changes that took place in Poland in the beginning of the 1990s, Bank Austria emerged as one of the largest foreign investors. In a postwar period, Austria proved to be very important trading partner for Poland. This enabled our industry to acquire a number of modern technologies and technical solutions, difficult to obtain for countries belonging to the Soviet bloc.