Published 25 Jun, 2018

Study visit of European Coordinators: Kurt Bodewig and Brian Simpson in Poland and Sweden

The first study visit of two EU coordinators: Prof. Kurt Bodewig (Baltic-Adriatic Core Network Corridor TEN-T) and Brian Simpson (Motorways of the Sea) in Gdynia (11.06.2018) and Karlskrona (12.06.2018) attracted the attention of many stakeholders of both EU projects and the media. The visit was accompanied by many associated events that held on the first day in the Tri-City (Gdańsk and Gdynia), while the second one happened in Blekinge in the Southern Sweden - mainly in Karlskrona and Alvesta.

The main goal of the study visit - recognition of the potential of extending the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor deep into Sweden via the Motorway of the Sea Gdynia-Karlskrona - has been achieved. Both coordinators supported the initiative of consolidating cross-border and economic cooperation for an effective Polish-Swedish request for the extension of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor in 2023 for the so-called Baltic Link - a multimodal communication route Karlskrona-Alvesta-Goeteborg.

The co-hosts of the visit were: Wojciech Szczurek - Mayor of the City of Gdynia and Chairman of the Amber Road Cities Association (ARCA), Ryszard Świlski - Member of the Pomorskie Voivodeship Board and Chairman of the Association of Polish Regions of the Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor, Adam Meller - President of the Managing Board / CEO Port of Gdynia, Christina Mattisson - Chair of the Regional Council, Region Blekinge, Lead Partner of the TENTacle flagship project, Patrik Hansson - Mayor of the City of Karlskrona, Chairman of Baltic Link Association. The Swedish co-organizers participated in the study visit in Gdynia. They were greeted at the City Hall by Katarzyna Gruszecka-Spychała - the Deputy Mayor of Gdynia of the economic policy. In the Gdynia Information Box the delegation from Karlskrona was informed about the vision of a new city district in the coastal zone and an activity of the Economic Foundation and the Business Incubator.

The delegation of the Blekinge region met with Ryszard Świlski, a Member of the Pomorskie Voivodeship Board and Grzegorz  Mocarski, Chairman of the PMR, in the main office of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway in Gdańsk.

The visit resulted from the fact that PMR has the status of the executive project of the Work Plan of the Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor with the potential of the flagship project. During the meeting, public transport was the main theme of a conversation. R. Świlski presented PMR as the key development project of the regional self-government. He emphasized that Pomerania is the only region in Poland where the local government built the new railway line, which was previously the responsibility of the state.

The Swedish delegation participated in the signing of an Agreement on establishing a cooperation platform between ARCA and the Baltic Link Association. At the same time, the partners of the Local Government Agreement for the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor: ARCA, Association of Vistula River Towns, the Association of Sea Cities and Municipalities and Self-Government Association for the A-1 Motorway signed a petition to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland to recognize the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor as the "Great Project for Poland".

During the study visit in Gdynia, organized at the Emigration Museum (Maritime Station), 93 representatives from over 30 institutions and organizations participated, including three ministries (Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, Infrastructure, Investment and Development), four voivodeship self-governments (Pomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, West Pomeranian and Wielkopolskie), local government and business associations, mayors and chairmen of ports of Gdynia and Gdańsk, Tri-City universities, infrastructure operators. Also 12 representatives of Swedish cities and regions met with K. Bodewig and B. Simpson.

After a press conference, a representative of Marek Gróbarczyk, Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, read the letter to the participants of the conference. Also a letter of Kosma Złotowski from the European Parliament and Łukasz Szrajber (MP) was made available.

Wiktor Szydarowski, the TENTacle project coordinator presented the basic principles of the project. EU coordinators discussed the plans for the development of the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor and Motorways of the Sea. Representatives of the Polish ministries: Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation, Investment and Development and Infrastructure also had their performance. Speeches were prepared by the Port of Gdynia, Polish State Railways Ltd., Stena Line Poland, the office of the Rail Freight Corridor (No. 5) and Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship. Case studies were presented by representatives of the Board of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship (a presentation on the multimodal platform in Solec Kujawski) and a representative of the Design Office of Municipal Engineering (a presentation on the connections of the first / last mile from / to the port of Gdynia).

Participants of the conference in the Maritime Station in Gdynia joined the dinner together on the ferry to Karlskrona.

On the second day of the visit, apart from the participants of the conference in Gdynia, representatives of the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation and the Swedish Transport Administration - a total of 45 people participated in the conference held at the Naval Museum in Karlskrona. Representatives of co-organizers of the study visit expressed their intention to address the ministries of both countries through seaports (Gdynia and Karlskrona), cities (Gdynia and Karlskrona) and regions (Pomorskie and Blekinge) to settle common interests for the idea of ​​extending the Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor to Sweden. After the conference, the Polish-Swedish delegation together with the EU coordinators - visited the intermodal terminal in Alvesta, built as part of the EU project Baltic Link - Motorway of the Sea Gdynia-Karlskrona, which can connect the Baltic-Adriatic and Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridors.

The visit was organized under the media patronage of the bi-weekly "Namiary na Morze i Handel

Contact for further information:

Marta Myszor – City Hall of Gdynia – Dept. of Analyses and Cooperation

phone: +48 58 668 2110, wydz.wspolpracy.analiz@gdynia.pl

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