In the January Kugiel returned to Polonia, with whom he again helped to win promotion from the third tier into the second tier. In his second attempt with Polonia in the II liga he was not as successful individually, scoring only 6 times in 26 league games, but was a part of a much better Polonia side which finished 5th in the league that season. At the end of the season Polonia were involved in a merger with Lechia Gdańsk creating the Lechia-Polonia Gdańsk team which took Polonia's position in the II liga. Kugiel made his Lechia-Polonia debut on 8 August 1998 against Śląsk Wrocław, scoring on his debut in a 2–1 win. Kugiel spent the following four seasons with Lechia-Polonia leaving the club when the merger team was dissolved in 2002, being one of the few players to stay in the team for its entire four year duration as a club. During his time with the club, Lechia-Polonia suffered relegation twice, in 2000–01 and 2001–02. Kugiel made a total of 122 appearances and scored 25 goals while at the club, of which 113 appearances and 23 goals came in the league.
