Polish Security Printing Works
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Polish state-owned security-printing enterprise producing banknotes, identity documents, secure paper, cards, and document-management technologies.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Polish Security Printing Works, formally Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych S.A. and commonly abbreviated as PWPW, is a Polish state-owned security-printing enterprise headquartered in Warsaw. Its activities cover the manufacture of banknotes, identity and travel documents, vehicle documents, secure paper, tax and postage materials, plastic and polycarbonate cards, and information systems supporting document issuance and verification. The company is a sole-shareholder company of the Polish State Treasury. Since January 2017, corporate supervision has been exercised by Poland’s Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration. The enterprise was created in the period when the newly re-established Polish state was consolidating its currency and administrative systems after the First World War. On 25 January 1919, the government of Prime Minister Ignacy Jan Paderewski approved the creation of State Graphic Works. The new organization drew on several existing printing and paper-making facilities. Its purpose was not merely commercial: domestic production of banknotes, identity papers, and other official documents helped express state sovereignty and reduce dependence on printing infrastructure inherited from the partitioning powers. In 1920, the plant produced its first banknote, a 100 Polish mark note. A further institutional change took place in 1926, when State Graphic Works was transformed into Polish Security Printing Works following an agreement involving the Polish Bank and the State Treasury. A purpose-built headquarters was constructed on Romana Sanguszki Street in Warsaw between 1926 and 1929. By the eve of the Second World War, the organization employed approximately 560 people. During the German occupation, the premises became associated with the Polish Underground State. From 1940, the clandestine Underground Banknote Factory operated there, producing counterfeit or underground-use banknotes and legalization documents. In 1944, the unit became the combat formation PWB/17/S. During the Warsaw Uprising, the factory was seized by insurgents and served as one of the resistance positions in the Old Town. German forces attacked the site on 27 August 1944 with troops and armored vehicles. After heavy fighting, the insurgents withdrew from the building on 28 August. After the war, the enterprise was re-established under the state system. A decree of 10 November 1945 created the State Security Printing Works, while a 1947 Treasury order provided the state enterprise with a formal statute. The Warsaw premises, damaged during the conflict, were reconstructed from 1946 to 1950; production temporarily moved to Łódź and later returned to Warsaw. In the postwar period, PWPW printed Polish circulation banknotes and a broad range of official documents, including materials introduced after monetary reforms. The company became particularly associated with Polish banknote design through the Great Poles series, introduced in 1975, and the Rulers of Poland series, printed from 1998. PWPW also produces collector banknotes and has manufactured notes for foreign central banks. Since 2006, it has appeared on the European Central Bank’s list of accredited euro-banknote producers, although accreditation does not mean that every accredited producer prints euro banknotes continuously. Modern PWPW combines conventional security printing with document engineering, electronic services, personalization technologies, and information systems. Its products include Polish identity-card blanks, biometric passport booklets, residence cards, driving licences, vehicle-registration documents, tachograph cards, excise stamps, postage stamps, bonds, diplomas, vouchers, and secure paper. It has also supplied passports and vehicle-related documents for foreign customers, including Lithuania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and other markets mentioned in company reference material. Its technology portfolio includes microchip-bearing polycarbonate pages, laser engraving, color personalization, and security features intended to make alteration or counterfeiting more difficult. PWPW’s activities extend beyond physical production. Through its own operations and subsidiaries, it has participated in electronic-signature services, procurement platforms, passport and document-information systems, vehicle and driver services, and football-fan identification infrastructure. The company also supports research and professional discussion through the specialist quarterly Człowiek i Dokumenty, published since 2016. Its historical and patriotic identity was further institutionalized through the Reduta Foundation, founded in 2016 to preserve the memory of the factory’s wartime role and the Polish Underground State. PWPW remains an active strategic supplier for the Polish public administration and an international provider of secure document and paper technologies.
History
PWPW’s institutional origins date to the creation of State Graphic Works by a Polish government resolution of 25 January 1919. The organization was established as part of the Second Polish Republic’s effort to replace monetary and administrative materials inherited from the former partitioning powers with documents expressing the authority of an independent Polish state. It was assembled from existing printing houses and a paper mill connected with the Mokotów Prison. Its first reported banknote was a 100 Polish mark note produced in 1920. On 26 May 1925, Treasury Minister Władysław Grabski concluded an agreement with the Polish Bank concerning a company involving the central bank and the State Treasury. On 10 July 1926, State Graphic Works was reorganized as Polish Security Printing Works. A new headquarters was built on Sanguszki Street in Warsaw from 1926 to 1929 according to a design by Antoni Dygat. The company had around 560 employees by July 1939. The factory acquired a major wartime role under German occupation. Beginning in 1940, the Underground Banknote Factory operated covertly on the premises and supplied the Polish Underground State with banknotes and legalization documents. In early 1944, it was reorganized as the PWB/17/S combat unit. During the Warsaw Uprising, Polish insurgents captured the factory, taking weapons and supplies and turning the building into a fortified resistance position. A German assault involving approximately 1,600 soldiers and armored vehicles began on 27 August 1944. The defenders, numbering roughly 200 insurgents, held the building through intense fighting before leaving it on 28 August. The postwar state recreated the institution through a decree of 10 November 1945 establishing the State Security Printing Works. A Treasury order dated 28 April 1947 gave the enterprise a statute. Because the Warsaw plant had suffered wartime damage, reconstruction began in 1946 and production was temporarily transferred to Łódź. Work on the Warsaw building was completed in 1950, allowing operations to return to the capital. The company then produced banknotes, security documents, and other state-controlled printed materials required after postwar monetary changes. PWPW’s banknote history includes the Great Poles series, whose first note was a 500 złoty denomination featuring Tadeusz Kościuszko in 1975. Further denominations followed until 1994, ending with a 2,000,000 złoty note depicting Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Andrzej Heidrich designed the series. From 1998, PWPW printed banknotes in the Rulers of Poland series. The company also expanded into collector notes and production for foreign central banks. Since 2006, it has been listed among producers accredited by the European Central Bank for euro-banknote production. Its contemporary business is broader than banknote printing. PWPW manufactures blanks and secure components for Polish identity cards, biometric passports, residence documents, driving licences, registration certificates, tachograph cards, and related administrative documents. It also produces stamps, bonds, shares, diplomas, vouchers, cards, and watermarked security paper. Foreign document work has included passports and vehicle documents for customers in countries such as Lithuania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. The company’s electronic and information-technology activities include trust services, procurement tools, passport-information systems, vehicle and driver services, and football-fan identification systems. Research and development has produced technologies including e-DataPage, a rigid polycarbonate personalized page with an embedded chip; Extreme ID, incorporating a heat-resistant metal identification component; PCP, a method for embedding a color image within a polycarbonate card structure; and TLE, or transparent laser engraving. PWPW has also maintained a professional publishing role through Człowiek i Dokumenty, a quarterly addressing document security and administrative systems since 2016. The company’s historical identity was reinforced in 2016 when its board signed the founding act of the Reduta Foundation in the presence of Juliusz Kulesza, a Home Army soldier and participant in the fighting at PWPW during the Warsaw Uprising. The foundation later received the Pro Patria Medal in 2023. PWPW continues to operate as a state-owned Polish security-printing and document-technology organization.
- 2023
Reduta Foundation awarded Pro Patria Medal
[1]The foundation received the Pro Patria Medal for its commemorative and patriotic work.
- 2017
Ministerial corporate supervision begins
[1]The Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration assumed corporate supervision over the company.
- 2016
Reduta Foundation established
[1]PWPW’s board signed the founding act of a foundation dedicated to the site’s wartime history and patriotic legacy.
- 2006
Added to ECB-accredited euro-banknote producer list
[1]PWPW joined the European Central Bank’s list of accredited euro-banknote producers.
- 1998
Rulers of Poland series begins
[1]PWPW began printing a new Polish banknote series known as Rulers of Poland.
- 1975
Great Poles banknote series begins
[1]The first denomination in the Great Poles series, a 500 złoty note featuring Tadeusz Kościuszko, was issued.
- 1945
Postwar state security works established
[1]A decree of 10 November created the State Security Printing Works.
- 1944
PWPW becomes a Warsaw Uprising strongpoint
[1]Insurgents captured the factory and defended it against a German assault before withdrawing on 28 August.
- 1940
Underground Banknote Factory begins operations
[1]A clandestine facility operating on the premises produced banknotes and legalization documents for the Polish Underground State.
- 1929
Warsaw headquarters completed
[1]The purpose-built facility on Romana Sanguszki Street was completed.
Products and positioning
A sovereign security-printing and document-technology provider combining state-assured production, banknote and secure-document expertise, advanced personalization, and public-administration systems.
Banknote printing · 1920
Banknotes
PWPW produces circulation and collector banknotes for Poland’s National Bank and has also printed banknotes for foreign central banks. Its historical work includes the Great Poles and Rulers of Poland series. The company is listed among European Central Bank-accredited euro-banknote producers and combines intaglio, security printing, specialized paper, and anti-counterfeiting features in its banknote work.
Secure identity documents
Identity and travel documents
The company manufactures blanks and secure components for Polish identity cards, biometric passport booklets, residence cards, and other foreigner documents. Its passport technology includes a polycarbonate page containing an embedded microchip, while card products can incorporate laser engraving, embedded images, and other features designed to resist alteration and forgery.
Transport documentation
Vehicle and driver documents
PWPW produces driving licences, vehicle-registration certificates, vehicle logs, legalization stickers, ADR certificates, digital tachograph cards, and related materials. It also operates or supports vehicle and driver information services. The company has supplied vehicle-document solutions in Poland and selected international markets.
Security paper
Secure paper and printed materials
The portfolio includes watermarked security paper, postage stamps, excise stamps, tax-band identification materials, shares, bonds, diplomas, and vouchers. Security paper has been exported to markets including Austria, Greece, the Netherlands, France, the United States, and Turkey.
Secure cards
Plastic and polycarbonate cards
PWPW manufactures plastic and polycarbonate cards, including identity cards and bank cards. Its proprietary card technologies include PCP color personalization, which embeds a color image within the multilayer structure, and TLE transparent laser engraving for secure personalization of identity and driving-licence cards.
Government technology services
Electronic and document-information systems
Beyond printing, PWPW and related entities provide electronic-signature trust services, procurement tools, passport-information infrastructure, vehicle and driver systems, and a central football-fan identification system used in Poland’s Ekstraklasa. These services extend the company’s role from document manufacture into secure public-administration technology.
Brand decisions
2016
Foundation of the Reduta FoundationOtherBackground
PWPW sought to preserve and communicate the historical significance of its role during the Polish Underground State and Warsaw Uprising.
Action taken
The board signed the founding act of the Reduta Foundation in the presence of wartime participant Juliusz Kulesza.
Aftermath
The foundation became an institutional vehicle for commemorative activity and later received the Pro Patria Medal.
1998
Introduction of the Rulers of Poland banknote seriesGeneration changeBackground
Poland replaced the earlier Great Poles banknote family with a new series based on historical rulers.
Action taken
PWPW began printing the Rulers of Poland series.
Aftermath
The series became the principal modern banknote family associated with Polish circulation currency.
1945
Postwar re-establishment as a state security printerStrategyBackground
The wartime destruction of the Warsaw plant and the creation of the postwar Polish state required reconstruction of the country’s official printing capacity.
Action taken
A November 1945 decree established the State Security Printing Works, followed by a formal enterprise statute in 1947.
Aftermath
Production was temporarily moved to Łódź while the Warsaw premises were rebuilt, returning to Warsaw after reconstruction was completed in 1950.
1926
Creation of a dedicated security-printing companyStrategyBackground
Poland needed a stable institutional base for producing national banknotes and official documents after the First World War.
Action taken
State Graphic Works was transformed into Polish Security Printing Works through an arrangement involving the Polish Bank and the State Treasury.
Aftermath
The reorganization created the institutional form associated with PWPW and was followed by construction of its Warsaw headquarters.
Sources1 sources
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