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Quick facts for kids Jan Krzysztof Bielecki
Jan Krzysztof Bielecki in 1991, during his term as Prime Minister of Poland

Prime Minister of Poland
In office 4 January 1991 – 5 December 1991
President	Lech Wałęsa
Deputy	Leszek Balcerowicz
Preceded by	Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Succeeded by	Jan Olszewski

Personal details
Born	(1951-05-03) 3 May 1951 (age 74) Bydgoszcz, Poland
Political party	Solidarity Citizens' Committee (1988–1991) Liberal Democratic Congress (1991–1994) Freedom Union (1994–2001) Civic Platform (2001–present)
Alma mater	University of Gdańsk
Awards

Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (born 3 May 1951) is a Polish politician and economist. He was a key leader of the Liberal Democratic Congress party in the early 1990s. Bielecki served as the Prime Minister of Poland for most of 1991.

After his time as Prime Minister, Bielecki worked as the president of Bank Pekao from 2003 to 2010. He also led the Polish Institute of International Affairs from 2009 to 2015. Since the early 2000s, Bielecki has been a member of the Civic Platform party. In 2010, the Warsaw Business Journal called him one of Poland's most respected economists.

Early Life and Activism
- Starting a Business and Entering Politics
Prime Minister: 1991
- Economic and Foreign Policy
- Challenges in Parliament
After Being Prime Minister
- Parliamentary Career
- Banking and Later Career
Personal Life
Honours and Awards
See also

Early Life and Activism

Jan Krzysztof Bielecki was born in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on 3 May 1951. He studied economics at the University of Gdańsk and graduated in 1973. For several years in the late 1970s, he worked as an economist in Gdańsk.

In 1980, Bielecki joined the Solidarity movement. This was a large social movement that fought for workers' rights and political change in Poland. He helped the movement with supplies and organization. When the government declared martial law in December 1981, Bielecki was arrested and held for a short time.

Because of his role in Solidarity, he lost his job and was not allowed to work for the state. After being unemployed for eight months, he found work as a truck driver. He also secretly continued to help Solidarity by publishing leaflets and watching police activities. In 2009, Bielecki spoke about how hard it was for activists during this time. He said many left the country, but he chose to stay and fight for pride.

Starting a Business and Entering Politics

While still secretly supporting Solidarity, Bielecki and his friends from the University of Gdańsk started a private business. This was possible because the communist government made some new economic rules in the mid-1980s. These rules allowed private consulting firms to help state-owned businesses.

Bielecki created a company called Doradca, which means 'advisor'. He started it with very little money. His company helped state businesses with tax advice. The tax rules were often confusing, and Doradca helped businesses understand them and save money. They even created software to help with tax planning.

In 1988, the government made it easier for Western companies to work with Polish businesses. Doradca was ready to help these new companies with Poland's tax and banking rules. This was because few other consulting firms existed, and even fewer Poles spoke English and understood Western finance. During this time, Bielecki also continued to help Solidarity members find jobs.

As the communist government weakened, Bielecki and other liberal thinkers from Gdańsk formed a group. They were called the "Congress Liberals." In the partially free 1989 elections, Bielecki was elected to the Sejm (the Polish parliament). He was part of the Solidarity Citizens' Committee.

In 1990, Bielecki and other Gdańsk intellectuals wanted to reform Poland's economy using liberal ideas. They created the Liberal Democratic Congress (KLD) party in June 1990. This new party supported privatization (selling state-owned businesses to private owners), a free market, and closer ties with Europe. The party also supported Lech Wałęsa in the 1990 presidential election.

Prime Minister: 1991

Bielecki (right) on Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski's talk show in July 1993

After Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki resigned in November 1990, newly elected President Lech Wałęsa needed a new prime minister. Wałęsa chose Bielecki, who was not very well known in politics at the time.

Bielecki agreed to Wałęsa's plans for the government. He kept five ministers from the previous government. This included Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz, who continued his "shock therapy" plan for the Polish economy. This plan aimed to quickly change Poland from a communist economy to a free market one. Bielecki formed a government with his Liberal Democratic Congress and other parties that supported Wałęsa.

Bielecki became Prime Minister on 4 January 1991. His government was the first in 47 years where none of its members had worked under the communist system before.

Economic and Foreign Policy

Bielecki's government quickly focused on Poland's international economic situation. In February 1991, he attended the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He asked Western countries to forgive 80 percent of Poland's large foreign debt. Because of these talks, Western European governments agreed to forgive 50 percent of the debt. The United States forgave 70 percent of its share, and Brazil forgave 50 percent.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank also agreed to give Poland loans to help modernize its economy. At home, Bielecki's government worked to break down the old "command economy" (where the state controlled everything). In June, his government proposed a huge plan to sell 400 state-owned businesses. This was about 25 percent of Poland's industrial sales. The plan also suggested that every adult citizen would get shares from a national wealth fund.

During this time, the Warsaw Stock Exchange opened in April 1991. This was a big step towards a free market economy.

Bielecki's economic plan was very controversial. Many Solidarity activists and politicians did not like it. In May 1991, about 10,000 protesters gathered in Warsaw to protest the government's economic changes. Solidarity also organized strikes in different parts of the country.

In foreign policy, Bielecki's government continued to move Poland away from the Eastern Bloc and closer to the West. In February 1991, talks began with the Soviet Union to remove over 50,000 Soviet troops from Poland. Under Bielecki, Poland voted to dissolve Comecon (an economic organization of communist countries) and the Warsaw Pact (a military alliance of communist countries). Both organizations officially ended in mid-1991.

Negotiations with countries like Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands successfully removed visa requirements for Polish citizens. This made it easier for Poles to travel. In June, Bielecki and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl signed the Treaty of Good Neighbourship. This treaty confirmed the border between Poland and Germany. In November, Poland was invited to join the Council of Europe.

Challenges in Parliament

Bielecki's time as Prime Minister was difficult because his government was a "minority government." This meant his party did not have enough seats in parliament to pass laws easily. He often faced a parliament that opposed his economic and political reforms.

Without enough support in parliament, President Wałęsa suggested that the government should be given special powers to rule by decree (make laws without parliament's approval). However, Bielecki was hesitant. He instead proposed a "fast lane" for economic laws. But by June 1991, none of his government's 27 proposed laws had passed.

Bielecki offered to resign, but parliament voted against it. He then pushed for decree powers, but only for two months before the parliamentary elections in October. He also suggested giving the president special powers, like choosing and firing the prime minister. He said this would "prevent democracy from slipping into chaos."

Even though half of parliament supported his ideas, Bielecki did not have the two-thirds majority needed to pass these special powers. With accusations of corruption against some government members and a struggling economy, Bielecki's party had mixed results in the 1991 elections. The Liberal Democratic Congress won 37 seats, and Bielecki was re-elected to parliament.

However, no single party won a clear majority in the election. This meant Bielecki did not have enough support to continue leading the government. He remained Prime Minister until Jan Olszewski took over on 6 December 1991.

After Being Prime Minister

Parliamentary Career

As a member of the Sejm and a leader of the Liberal Democratic Congress, Bielecki continued to support Poland joining Europe more closely. He served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In May 1992, he spoke in parliament about Poland joining the European Economic Community. He said it would help Poland with security and allow people, goods, and money to move freely.

In the early 1990s, Bielecki also strongly supported the Visegrád Group (a group of Central European countries). He also wanted Poland to join NATO and learn from successful economies in Asia and Latin America. In July 1992, he supported Hanna Suchocka becoming prime minister. Suchocka later appointed Bielecki as a minister responsible for relations with the European Community from 1992 to 1993.

Banking and Later Career

Voters were unhappy with the economic difficulties caused by privatization. In the September 1993 parliamentary election, Bielecki's Liberal Democratic Congress lost all its seats in parliament. After this defeat, Bielecki was appointed to the board of directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in December 1993. He worked there until September 2003.

In 1994, Bielecki helped create the Freedom Union party. This was a centrist party that supported the European Union. In 2001, Bielecki joined the Civic Platform party. From 2003 to 2010, he was the president of Bank Pekao.

In 2010, Bielecki became the president of the Economic Council for the Prime Minister's Office. He held this role until 2014. He also served as the president of the Polish Institute of International Affairs from 2009 to 2015. Bielecki has written articles for well-known newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal and Rzeczpospolita.

Personal Life

Bielecki is married and has two children. He is known for his love of motorcycles. In September 2012, a newspaper photographed him arriving at work on a BMW F800R motorcycle. He was dressed in jeans and a black jacket. The newspaper noted that even though he could have used a free limousine, he preferred his motorcycle.

Bielecki also loves football (soccer). He sometimes gives comments about the game to the media. He is also known to play football with his friend and fellow former prime minister, Donald Tusk. Tusk and Bielecki have been close friends and political allies since their time in Solidarity in the 1980s. In 2010, he jokingly said about Polish football, "The only area where we are absolute idiots is football!"

Besides his native Polish, Bielecki speaks English fluently. He also knows some French and Russian.