Embassy events 2008 

Former Minister Leszek Balcerowicz Receives 2008 Jan Nowak-Jezioranski Award 

20 March 2008

Ambassador Ashe and prof. Leszek Balcerowicz  (more photos)

On March 19, 2008, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Victor Ashe presented former Finance Minister and President of the National Bank of Poland Leszek Balcerowicz with the 2008 Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award for Public Service. Balcerowicz, an internationally recognized economist, is considered the father of Poland's economic transformation.  He was first an advisor to the Solidarity trade union and then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister under the new democratic government in Poland.  He introduced a program of economic shock therapy involving the first comprehensive implementation of market reforms in satellite countries of the former Soviet Union. This Balcerowicz Plan stabilized the Polish currency and was an important step toward developing a market economy. Ambassador Ashe presented this award to Balcerowicz during a reception attended by numerous VIPs from the finance and economic ministries and the banking sector; the reception was well-covered by print and television reporters. The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Award for Public Service is part of the American Ambassadorial Awards Program created by the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw in 2007 which also includes the annual Karski Freedom Award and Czesław Miłosz Award for Contributions to U.S-Polish Understanding.