Over 1,600 rural banks privatized in Poland

ACDI and VOCA launch a program to privatize Poland’s 1,665 rural cooperative banks. It helps Poland establish regional banks in Poznan, Wroclaw and Warsaw, rebuild cooperative banking after 45 years of stagnation, improve access to credit for Polish farmers. Under communism, the banks were state-run, heavily subsidized and practically bankrupt. However, by the end of the program many were achieving a return on assets that exceeded U.S. standards.