Polish PM pledges to fast-track key infrastructure projects

Poland will radically accelerate strategic infrastructure projects important to the economy as well as national security and defence, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Speaking before a Cabinet meeting, Tusk said the government was proposing legislation to "radically accelerate the process of preparing and carrying out key infrastructure projects that have a direct impact on Poland's defence, security and economy."

Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak said after the meeting that the government had approved a draft law aimed at speeding up the preparation and construction of strategic infrastructure projects.

The proposed measures include simplified administrative procedures, shorter processing times and priority consideration of applications by government agencies, Klimczak said on X.

Tusk said the measures would apply to specific projects, including construction of a national road connecting the Baltic port of Gdynia with its public ferry terminal.

He said the project would help integrate the port into national and European transport networks.

The list also includes maritime infrastructure projects, such as the expansion of the outer port in Świnoujście in the country's northwest and construction and expansion of infrastructure providing sea access to the port as part of the Cape Pomerania project.

Construction of an outer port in Gdynia and infrastructure providing sea access to the port will also be accelerated.

Other projects include the construction of new rail and cargo-handling infrastructure in the port of Gdańsk, along with a rail-road crossing over the Martwa Wisła river, and a new section of railway around an oil refinery and its connection to the existing rail network.

He told reporters that the Gdańsk seaport handled a record 7.9 million tonnes of cargo in July, adding that it had become the largest container port on the Baltic Sea and the sixth-largest port in the European Union.

"We are really creating an entire system that will give Poland an absolutely leading, key role in the Baltic," Tusk said.

"Poland is taking first place on the podium when it comes to the Baltic and is becoming a major maritime power, particularly in terms of container handling," he told reporters.

Rail projects linked to the maritime sector will also be fast-tracked, including routes connecting the northwestern ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście with Wrocław in the southwest, as well as rail links toward Warsaw and the Upper Silesia industrial region, he said.

Tusk also called for speeding up projects directly or indirectly linked to Poland's nuclear energy programme, including water infrastructure to support the country's first planned nuclear power plant.

Other strategic projects include a gas terminal in Gdańsk, which Tusk said would be capable of covering about 30 percent of Poland's annual gas demand.

A regasification unit, one of the key components of the project, was completed in May, he noted.

Construction of an installation terminal for offshore wind farms is also nearing completion, while an expansion of the Naftoport oil terminal is expected to allow it to handle the largest tankers and increase annual handling capacity to 9 million tonnes, Tusk said.

Klimczak said the proposal would cover strategic infrastructure projects important for energy security and flood protection.

The proposed legislation also calls for the expansion of four strategic airports: Warsaw's Chopin Airport, Warsaw-Modlin north of the capital, Kraków-Balice in the country's south and Rzeszów-Jasionka near the border with Ukraine.

Tusk said in February that investment in Poland would rise nearly 10 percent this year, calling 2026 a period of "turbo acceleration” for the economy despite geopolitical uncertainty and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

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Source: TVP Info, IAR, PAP