New canal to by-pass Russian waters

Elbląg Canal: photo - wiki/CC

The Ministry of Infrastructure is working on the project involving the construction of a canal that would connect the Vistula Lagoon and the Gdańsk Bay in the Baltic Sea, across the Vistula Spit, a narrow piece of land that separates them.

Both the lagoon and the spit are divided between Poland and Russia. This means that any ships leaving the port of Elbląg now have to cross Russian waters to get to the Baltic Sea.

Poland currently has an agreement with Russia on navigation across the lagoon.

However, due to the present international situation, there are fears that it may fail to be extended past this year, when it expires.

The current plan is to build a canal at the cost of almost 880 million zloty (about 209 million euro), the Ministry of Infrastructure told business daily Puls Biznesu. Construction is preliminarily scheduled for 2015-2022, provided that the project gains approval.

Further financing, coming largely from EU funds, would be used to develop the port of Elbląg, which would heavily gain in importance once the canal is in operation.

The project sees Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government returning to plans that had been brought up several times since the fall of communism in Poland, most recently in 2006.

The current situation, after Russia has banned agricultural produce imports from Poland in response to sanctions, gives more political ground for its completion. (kw/pg)