Gdansk - Kaliningrad
Little Russia is drawing closer

08.10.2012

The heads of diplomacy, Sikorski and Lavrov, signed an agreement on small border traffic at the close of 2011. However, due to the structuring of the conditions of sale of permissions, the visa-free crossing of the Polish-Russian border has only been possible since a few days ago. The agreement, which was signed in December, remains complementary to the one of 2009 on free shipping on the Vistula Lagoon. There were so many citizens of the Kaliningrad District applying for the Polish visa that it would take them a month of queuing at the Consulate to file an application. In order to cut the application process short, a bidding procedure was carried out and an external agent designated for accepting applications.

The border crossings in Gronowo, Grzechotki, Bezledy and Goldap have been well prepared for the increased border traffic. Two years ago, there were 1.5 million people crossing the border, and last year - nearly 2.5 million. Now, it is hard to predict the growing number of tourists and "neighbours" dealing in small-scale cross-border trade. The visa-free zone includes the districts of Puck, Gdansk, Nowy Dwor, Malbork, Elblag, Braniewo, Lidzbark, Bartoszyce, Olsztyn, Ketrzyn, Mragowo, Wegorzewo, Gizycko, Goldap and Olecko. The population of the Kaliningrad District has been estimated at about one million people, representing 97 nationalities and ethnic groups (including from 5 to 10 thousand Polish people, according to various sources). Across the border, on the area of the 15 Polish districts granted the privilege of visa-free border crossing, there can be several times more Polish citizens eager to take this opportunity.

In response to the growing interest in new possibilities of visiting Poland, The City of Gdansk has invited a group of journalists from Kaliningrad. The close cooperation between the cities, so far including mainly the exchange of youth, sports or arts groups, has continued since 1994. Several meetings were held, during which the participants expressed their hope that this cooperation would now become more varied and extended. The guests took a sightseeing tour of the Gdansk Old Town and visited a number of most distinctive newly built structures, as well as those currently under construction. The "PGE Arena" stadium, an also the projects still in progress, such as the European Solidarity Centre, Museum of World War II or Shakespeare Theatre aroused great interest among the visitors.

Much time in the study tour was devoted to visiting the Gdansk port. A cruise on board Strazak-4 from the Old Town, along the Motlawa river encirclement and the port canal, via Westerplatte, to DCT and to the Northern Port was more than just an attractive itinerary. In addition to the sightseeing tour of a variety of historic architecture - including both the reconstructed parts of the Old Town, as well as those awaiting restoration - the visitors took the opportunity to compare the perspectives of growth for the seaports in Gdansk and Kaliningrad. Detailed questions were asked concerning cargo operations on various quays, and also the technical and navigational conditions of accommodating ships. Besides the both seaports boasting their water regions free of ice even in severe winters, the port on Pregola - due to restrictions on the approach canal across the Vistula Lagoon - offers much less favourable navigational parameters as compared to Gdansk. It is also hard to compare directly the total quays length or the total area of warehouses and storage yards in both seaports since their differences are by a dozen times or so. Notwithstanding, Kaliningrad is capable of handling within a year a total volume of only 25 percent less cargo, as compared to Gdansk...

The port in Kaliningrad is well-known among the Polish people not only thanks to its cargo operations. The Gdansk Shipping Co. provided passenger services to Kaliningrad and to Baltiysk with various success and popularity. However, only some of the passengers took that offer with the tourist purpose in mind. Similarly to what was the case with the land border crossings, a trade flourished in cigarettes, alcohol and petrol on the one way, and in food products and nappies on the other. In all likelihood, a similar situation can be expected now. Referring to the journalists' reports, comments can be found claiming that: "Those who have seen the historic monuments of Leningrad or Sankt Petersburg will hardly find the Gdansk Old Town attractive. The opportunity of cheap shopping will be more important...". In my opinion, there is nothing wrong in cheap shopping - one cannot live on a good read alone... The occasion to spend a weekend in Little Russia will certainly draw the "Neighbours" closer to each other and help establish solid relations, which with time will pave the way for a better mutual understanding.

Janusz Kasprowicz
PGA SA PR Officer