At the request of the organization Lebensraum Vorpommern from the island of Uznam and the Association of Green Islands Świnoujście, the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw suspended the GDOŚ environmental decision for the Świnoujście container terminal. The deputy minister of infrastructure ensures that the investment will be implemented.
Construction of a deep -water container terminal in Świnoujście, in the form of the so -called The external port is one of the largest projects of the Polish maritime economy. The investor is the management of the sea ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście, and the undertaking is coordinated by the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The terminal is to be built until 2029 in February this year. The General Directorate for Environmental Protection issued an environmental decision enabling the implementation of the investment. At the end of March, it was appealed by the German organization Bürgerinitiative Lebensraum Vorpommern from the island of Uznam. On May 7, the case went to the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw; The trial took place on July 21. Lebensraum Vorpommern not only appealed against the decision, but also submitted an application to suspend its enforceability.
The application was examined, the court suspended the decision – Dominik Niewirowski from the WSA press office in Warsaw informed PAP on Thursday. – I don't know the motives that the court was guided by. A written justification for the issued order is drawn up – he added.
The judge hearing the case has 14 days. A copy of the order will be sent to the parties to the proceedings. As Niewirowski explained, there were two applicants in the case, in addition to the German Lebensraum Vorpommern, the Polish Association of Green Islands Świnoujście was also.
The orchard considered two applications to suspend the decisions, the German and Polish association – said Niewirowski.
He also informed that on August 4 a deadline for the hearing is set, during which the judgment is to be taken – the WSA will recognize the complaint and set aside the environmental decision or rejected the complaint of ecological organizations. However, the judgment will not be final. There will be 30 days to challenge it to the Supreme Administrative Court – said Niewirowski.
Deputy Minister of Infrastructure responsible for the maritime economy, Arkadiusz Marchewka, MP from Szczecin, in an interview with PAP admitted that he was taking into account three scenarios.
– Rejection of the complaint, annulment of the environmental decision or calling the port board to supplement the documentation on the basis of which the decision is issued – said Marchewka. – We are not surprised by complaints or references. We are aware that we are fighting with an opponent of the development of our ports – Marchewka emphasized.
When asked who is the opponent, he cited reports of German media in which Świnoujście is referred to as dangerous competition. The deputy minister assessed that “the importance of Polish ports is increasing.” He reminded that container transhipments are growing from year to year. Last year they exceeded 3.3 million TEU. The value of calculated in tax ports (customs, excise duty, VAT) reached PLN 56 billion, including PLN 40 billion at the Port of Gdańsk, where there is the largest container terminal on the Baltic.
The container terminal in Świnoujście will be created, whether you like it or not – emphasized carrots. He announced that the “west coast” will be the largest container container in the world, and Poland will “take over the increasing part of the transport market in the region.”
The deputy minister emphasized that the Provincial Administrative Court suspended the implementation of an environmental decision for the terminal, and not the entire investment. Carrot reminded that many preparatory works for the investment in Świnoujście are completed.
Last year, we did a piece of documentary work: soil research for road and rail infrastructure, marine DNA ferromagnetic tests, the functional and use program of the approach track-calculated carrot in an interview with PAP.
He reminded that in 2023 Lebensraum Vorpommern appealed to the first environmental decision on the terminal in Świnoujście issued by RDOŚ in Szczecin. It was argued that the impact of investment on the Baltic Sea and the sea protected areas were not taken into account. In the appeal proceedings conducted by GDOŚ in 2024, ZMPsiś had to complete the documentation. – They were made, among others Underwater noise research – pointed out carrots.
The deputy minister announced that in the next complaint the German organization wrote, among others about the threats associated with unexploded bombs on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
The area of the planned investment has been examined. If any unexploded bills were discovered, of course our war navy will take care of them. I consider the arguments raised by the applicant to be absurd – assessed carrots.
The deputy minister emphasized that the decision of the Provincial Administrative Court to suspend the enforceability of the environmental decision and the judgment expected on August 4, but it cannot be said that they “suspend the construction” of the container terminal.
We plan to enter the shovel under the technical road at the turn of the third and fourth quarter of this year – explained Marchewka. – The complaint in no way at this stage does not stop our work related to the terminal, which belongs to the priority investments of the government – summed up the deputy minister.
Chairman of the Maritime Economy Committee, PiS MP Kacper Płażyński, during a press conference on Thursday, announced that he sent to the Minister of Infrastructure “a number of questions” regarding the construction of a terminal in Świnoujście.
That he would urgently explain what this process looks like, what further moves on our part – said Płażyński.
He assessed that the suspension of the construction of the terminal in Świnoujście would be “a crime on our economy.” Płażyński pointed out that the opposite of investment is, among others President of Świnoujście Joanna Agatowska.
Bürgerinitiative Lebensraum Vorpommern is a “civic initiative for living space in Western Pomerania.” The organization's website reads that “Mass Industrialization of Coastal Waters of Uznam and Wollin leads to an ecological disaster! The Polish government is in the process of destroyed by the nature of the Baltic Sea Wolin coast – with dramatic consequences for the Zachodniopomorska bay and people who live and work here.”
The headquarters of BLV is located in ückeritz, the commune of Uznam island, in the Vorpommern-Greifswald poviat, less than 20 km from Świnoujście. German media point out that BLV is supported by, among others Heringsdorf commune, adjacent to Świnoujście, which can not formally be a party to the proceedings before a Polish court.
The Green Islands Association Świnoujście was registered in 2017. Its president is Karolina Kwdzielewska. The headquarters of the association is located at Świnoujście. The goals of the Association, described in the National Court Register, are environmental protection, activities for ecology, protection of animated and inanimate nature, as well as the landscape, animal protection and conducting scientific, educational, didactic and tourist activities.
The container port in Świnoujście is expected to cost over PLN 10 billion. It will support the largest transoceanic ships (up to 400 m) that affect the Baltic. Together with the outer port, a new approach track will also be created to Świnoujście, 65 km long and 17 m deep. The terminal infrastructure is to build a consortium of companies from Qatar and Belgium. The sea part will implement the Maritime Office in Szczecin. (PAP)
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