On July 8, 2016, the CEF Transport Coordination Committee approved a list of transport projects for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which included as many as 3 projects submitted by the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A.
According to information from the European Commission, 16 Polish projects were qualified for recommendation, with a total funding amount of nearly EUR 1.9 billion. The beneficiaries included transport industry entities such as: the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (administrator of national road infrastructure), PKP PLK (administrator of national railway infrastructure), Cargotor, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, and the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A., which is the only entity representing the maritime industry on the recommended list.
Two infrastructure projects from the approved list are ZMPG investments worth over PLN 600 million, covering the modernization of the fairway along with the expansion of quays and the improvement of navigation conditions in the Inner Port, as well as the expansion and modernization of the road and rail network in the Outer Port. Both projects received the highest possible funding under this program, at a level of 85%.
The third approved project is a study project, which includes the preparation of design and environmental documentation for road and rail tasks, which will be implemented jointly with the Municipality of the City of Gdańsk.
In total, nearly EUR 119 million will flow to the Port of Gdańsk from the CEF fund, which will be the highest EU subsidy in the port’s history to date. According to the adopted procedure, the grant agreements, which were prepared by the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), will be signed by the Port of Gdańsk Authority S.A. in the second half of 2016. Preparatory work aimed at implementing these massive infrastructure projects has been ongoing for over three years. Their progress was overseen by Task Forces specifically appointed for this purpose, consisting of dozens of specialists from many fields. Currently, procedures for issuing building permits for most of the tasks are already underway.
The projects that have obtained the status of being recommended by the Union are key infrastructure undertakings allowing for the modernization of infrastructure that improves access to the port from both the land and water sides. Their importance cannot be overestimated, as they will contribute to improving navigation safety in the Port of Gdańsk, but will also streamline land traffic. The latter, especially in the recent period, has been particularly intense due to the increased, even record-breaking transshipments recorded at the quays of the Gdańsk port, which in 2015 amounted to nearly 36 million tons. This year’s transshipment dynamics, however, indicate a real possibility of ending the current year with a result of even 40 million tons. The decision made by the CEF Transport Coordination Committee to fund ZMPG projects is all the more optimistic, as the port’s analyses contained in the Development Strategy until 2027, based on global data, show that in 2030 the transshipment volume of the Port of Gdańsk could amount to approximately 100 million tons.
All recommended projects are very extensive and multi-disciplinary undertakings that will be implemented until 2020, likely based on 9 building permits.
The scope of hydrotechnical projects worth over EUR 110.2 million (with a subsidy of EUR 93.7 million) includes deepening the fairway and modernizing the Obrońców Poczty Polskiej Quay, the Mew Quay, the Oliwski Quay, the Zbożowy Quay, and the Dworzec Drzewny Quay. Although the implementation of the investment, due to the necessity of carrying out dredging works, will also not bypass other quays, including the Wiślany Quay. Applications for building permits have already been submitted for all tasks, and the last of them are to be issued in September 2016.
The second project, covering the expansion and modernization of the road and rail network in the Outer Port, is an undertaking worth over EUR 28.7 million (with a subsidy at the level of EUR 24.4 million), which will include the construction and reconstruction of streets with a total length of 7.2 km and tracks with a total length of 10 km.
The last project on the recommendation list is a study project worth EUR 1 million (with a subsidy of EUR 0.5 million) planned for implementation in partnership with the Municipality of the City of Gdańsk. It will include the creation of design and environmental documentation for railway infrastructure for areas behind the Dworzec Drzewny Quay and road infrastructure concerning Ku Ujściu Street.
The decision of the CEF Transport Coordination Committee to grant funds for the projects of the Port of Gdańsk Authority is not the only undertaking on the recommendation list of which the Port of Gdańsk will be a beneficiary. Among the recommended projects was also a project submitted by PKP PLK, aimed at improving railway infrastructure to the Port of Gdańsk, worth EUR 141.5 million, of which nearly EUR 116 million will be an EU contribution. This, in turn, means that soon over PLN 1 billion in EU funds will flow to the Port of Gdańsk, of which over PLN 0.5 billion for projects implemented directly by the Port of Gdańsk Authority. Such a decision by the European Commission is a confirmation of the significant importance of the Port of Gdańsk on the map of the Trans-European Transport Network of the European Union and its prospective importance in the context of the development of the logistics map of the old continent.