On February 19th tender participants are to present their offers for the design, construction and exploitation of Gdynia’s outer port, which is to become the foundation of the installation terminal for Poland’s offshore wind farms. Most of the companies interested have ties to China, which may raise concerns – writes Wojciech Jakóbik, editor-in-chief at BiznesAlert.pl.
- BiznesAlert.pl has already written pieces on how China’s interest in building Gdynia’s outer port is important for the security of the country.
- The external Port of Gdynia may also be important for the energy sector.
- The counterintelligence is concerned that the expansion of the external port will not take place with enough consideration to the security of the state.
The European Union is considering imposing sanctions on the first four Chinese companies involved in helping Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine. Although the veto of Hungary, which has recently established cooperation with the Middle Kingdom in the security sector, may stand in the way, the awareness of EU countries about the dangers of becoming dependent on the Chinese is growing. In addition, Chinese companies openly provide the Russians with equipment and technology despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In this light, China’s interest in building an external port in Gdynia, already described by BiznesAlert.pl, is also important for the security of the country. The selected entity is to manage the transhipment, and therefore also supplies for the Polish army, NATO and Ukraine that is using Poland as the middleman. Meanwhile the companies that have submitted their tender offers are: China’s Hutchinson Ports already known in Gdynia, the state-owed CCCC that has been under American sanctions since 2020, the French ship owner CMA-CMG with ties to China Merchants, a company involved with Chinese investments in strategic ports. The fourth bidder is the Philippine’s ICTSI, unrelated to China, an operator of the BCT terminal in Gdańsk and holder of a contract with the Pentagon to handle transshipment of the US armed forces in Poland.
The external Port of Gdynia may also be important for the energy sector. It could potentially become the foundation for the construction of an offshore wind farm installation terminal. The Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy has put in considerable effort into launching the National Reconstruction Plan funds for the installation port. However, the delay of this project will force Polish companies to use alternatives at the beginning the offshore wind development projects. For now, Gdańsk is winning, but Gdynia may also have to be available for offshore projects. Therefore, the expansion of the external port is necessary and urgent.
However, the counterintelligence is concerned that the expansion of the external port will not be carried out with due care for the security of the state, especially with regard to the choice of partners. I already wrote about the fact that the Chinese would have a great view of the NATO war port in Gdynia. The new government in Poland should include in the project audit an assessment of how the potential entry of the Chinese into the outer port in Gdynia would impact the country’s security. The Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Arkadiusz Marchewka is responsible for the supervision of ports in the new government.
This issue is also of strategic importance due to the perpetual usufruct of the plot in the Port of Gdynia by Hutchinson Ports, which, like any Chinese company, is obliged to cooperate with the state security apparatus of the Middle Kingdom. This area will not be subject to the management of our port until 2089. Meanwhile, Hutchinson is expanding the port, and Chinese universities are establishing cooperation with the Maritime University of Gdynia. This interdependence would be economically desirable if there were no doubts about the security of the country.
Meanwhile, China’s intelligence activities and its cooperation with Russia and other controversial actors is intensifying. There are questions about the use of cargo information collection systems in ports and even about the operation of Chinese-made cranes. It is necessary to verify the impact of China’s presence in the external port of Gdynia on Poland’s security, especially in the face of the increasingly unstable geopolitical situation. Let’s hope it does not turn out that we let let in a Trojan horse again and subsidized it with the money from the National Reconstruction Plan to build offshore wind farms.