Sponsorship activities

PGE, Poland’s largest energy company, has adopted a new sponsorship strategy in 2021. It streamlines PGE’s sponsorship projects, creating more effective promotional conditions that are consistent with the vision and scale of PGE Group’s business and supportive of partners and the PGE brand.

The key avenues of sponsorship involvement have been reformulated to better implement the objectives of the Group’s current business strategy leading to the energy transition and PGE’s becoming climate-neutral by 2050. A sponsorship strategy has been adopted that singles out sponsorship programs where specific activities in the area of sponsoring culture, sport and industry events will be implemented in the coming years.

Support for Polish high culture is an important element of PGE’s commitment to the promotion of Polish music and the preservation of Polish traditions. In 2021, PGE Group supported 14 philharmonics across Poland, making it one of the most recognisable patrons of high culture in the country. PGE supports the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, where it has been Patron of the Year since 2012.

This year, together with the National Philharmonic, PGE began celebrating the 120th anniversary of the philharmonic. Within the framework of the anniversary artistic season the philharmonic offered its listeners many exceptional events, not only musical ones. One of them was the Polish Tour of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, in the framework of which the musicians visited philharmonics all over the country popularising Polish classical music. In 2021 PGE started cooperation with the Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice and the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic – European Centre for the Arts in Białystok named after Stanisław Moniuszko. 

PGE Energia Ciepła continued its cooperation with the Polish Baltic Philharmonic in Gdańsk, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Toruń Symphony Orchestra, the Tadeusz Baird Philharmonic in Zielona Góra, Podkarpackie Philharmonic named after A. Malawski in Rzeszów, Gorzów Philharmonic – Centre for Artistic Education in Kielce, and the Henryk Wieniawski Philharmonic in Lublin. Malawski in Rzeszów, Gorzów Philharmonic – Centre for Artistic Education, Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce, and the Henryk Wieniawski Philharmonic in Lublin, while PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna supported the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic in Szczecin and the Opole Philharmonic.

fot. Cezary Aszkiełowicz Fil. Szczecińska

In 2021, PGE became Patron of the 19th Century Art Gallery of the National Museum in Warsaw, which houses some of the most important works of Polish national heritage. With PGE’s support, it was possible to rearrange the gallery. Currently, the exhibition features masterpieces of Polish painting (including Wyspiański’s pastels, which have not been exhibited for a long time) and sculptures – around 300 objects in total, presented in a new colour and infographic setting.

Since 2015, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna has been the title partner of the PGE Narodowy stadium, which hosts the largest sport, cultural and business events. In 2021, the sponsorship of the facility was extended for a further five years. At the same time, the arena was named after legendary football coach Kazimierz Górski.

In 2021, the cooperation with clubs playing in the highest competition classes of the most popular disciplines: Stalowa Mielec (PKO BP Ekstraklasa) and Spójnia Stargard (Energa Basket Liga, basketball), was extended. Within the scope of signed agreements for titular sponsoring, these teams participate in matches under names containing the PGE brand – PGE FKS Stal Mielec and PGE Spójnia Stargard, similarly to one of the best volleyball teams in Poland – PGE Skra Bełchatów, with which PGE has cooperated since 2009.

The brand of the largest energy company in Poland for the seventh time accompanied speedway racers competing in the best speedway league in the world – PGE Ekstralia. In the 2021 season the cooperation with the organiser of these competitions covered many pro-environmental CSR actions. Special video spots were prepared in which the speedway racers talked about ecological aspects of their profession, such as utilisation of used oil or composition of the track surface. The PGE Ekstraliga clubs also conducted educational campaigns for young speedway fans. A logo for „EKO PGE Ekstraliga” has been developed and it will be used for pro-ecological activities in subsequent seasons of the competition. They can also be followed on a special website https://speedwayekstraliga.pl/eko/

2021 was a breakthrough year for PGE’s sponsoring activities due to a new sponsoring area – esports. The company gained its first experience in this field in 2020, when it became the sponsor of the e-sports section of PGE Turów Zgorzelec. In February 2021 the company’s involvement in this dynamically developing sector was significantly expanded – PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna became the title sponsor of the Champions Division of the Polish Esports League, becoming one of the most important sponsors of e-sports in Poland and opening up to modern ICT services and solutions in business, in line with its business strategy.

The PGE brand was also promoted in 2021 on the basketball courts of the Suzuki 1 Men’s League. The PGE Turów Zgorzelec team, supported by PGE since the season 2021/2022, plays in this league. PGE also established cooperation with Stalowa Wola, becoming a strategic sponsor of the club participating in the 3rd Football League.

PGE’s aim is to support the sporting development of children and youth. This is realised by sponsoring children’s sports clubs, mainly in regions where PGE does business.

In 2021, under the PGE Junior project, PGE supported 16 amateur clubs in various disciplines. The company continued its cooperation with the GKS Bełchatów Academy (football, wrestling), where approx. 350 young players are trained. Further sponsorship contracts were signed with PGE Turów Zgorzelec (basketball, e-sport), Akademia Widzewa Łódź (football), TS Legionovia (girls’ volleyball), Młode Żubry Białystok (basketball) and MKS Avia Świdnik (football, boxing section). The support of young athletes continues to be an important element of the sponsorship agreements concluded with PGE Spójnia Stargard (basketball), PGE Stal Mielec (football) and PGE Skra Bełchatów (volleyball).

An exceptional event which has been supported by PGE for several years now is the „PGE Biggest PhysEd Lesson.” The project is addressed to primary school pupils from all over Poland. The idea behind the event, which is organised by the Akademia Sportu Artur Siódmiak Association, is to give children and young people from all over the country the opportunity to participate in interdisciplinary sports competition. The long-term goal – to encourage the youngest to participate regularly in school PE classes and to improve their general fitness, to become interested in practising sports and being physically active. In 2021, a total of 4,000 participants appeared at the „PGE Biggest PhysEd Lesson” in rounds. The students were divided into a dozen or so groups, training in the form of station circuits, thanks to which everyone could try their hand at many competitions and prove themselves in various tasks. The proper course of the training was supervised by coaches and volunteers led by Artur Siódmiak, a former Polish handball representative.

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna has signed an agreement to support the first Winter PGE National tour in 2021. Project implementation commenced in 2022. The event, which has so far been hosted at PGE Narodowy, has been moved to 10 cities in Poland: Kielce, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Bydgoszcz, Toruń, Białystok, Szczecin, Gdańsk, Lublin, Rzeszów and Łódź. The goal of the „Winter PGE National Tour” is to promote health and sports activities among Poles. Winter attractions include „Mornings for Children with PGE”, during which skating classes for the youngest are held. All classes are conducted under the supervision of professional trainers and in a sanitary regime. At the ice rinks, an information and awareness campaign #SzczepimySię, aimed at promoting vaccination against COVID-19, is conducted in parallel.

Together with the Polish Figure Skating Federation, PGE Energia Ciepła implemented the „Come on Skates” program for children and young people from primary schools.

Professional sport, amateur sport for children and youth, and high culture – these are the three pillars of PGE Group’s Sponsorship Report 2021, published in May 2022. PGE streamlined its sponsorship projects to improve their effectiveness, increase support for local communities and engage in new areas like e-sports. As a result, the effectiveness of sponsorship contracts in 2021 reached 863%, which in practice means that every zloty spent by PGE on sponsorship returned almost nine times that amount.