Microsoft Plans Big Data Center Investment In Poland

The Tech Giant has announced it will spend $700 million building data centers in Poland to provide cloud and AI services. This investment is in addition to the existing three Microsoft data centers in the Warsaw cloud region. Price tag for those three data centers was a billion dollars. Poland and fellow former Iron Curtain countries comprise the EU's poorest region. 

Microsoft's deal appears to be motivated in large part by strong regional demand for cybersecurity services given those pesky Russian hackers many of whom work under contract for Russia's Federal Security Agency.  Russian cyber attacks  against Eastern European states are common. In particular, the Baltic states have been hard hit. Putin has openly expressed the desire to create a greater Russia consisting of Russian speaking peoples and the Baltics have significant Russian minorities. 

I am not an expert, but I am not aware of any existing Eastern European hyperscaler facilities outside of Microsoft's three Warsaw data centres which provide its Central European cloud region. Microsoft is a pioneer in the region along with Google to a lesser extent. Eastern Europe's power costs are low due to a reliance on nuclear and fossil fuels making it appealing for data center operations. But proximity to Russia and the region's low level of economic development has hindered the development of regional telecom hubs and large data center facilities. There is a very strong government bias among former Iron Curtain states in favor of industries that produce tangible goods. Governments tend to focus on encouraging manufacturing. Indeed, in Hungary tech industries are regarded as centers of political subversion. 😀  For more details on Microsoft's Poland's investments.