Poland gets the stones to build: 24.2 billion of EU funds in sight
Poland has welcomed a new round of EU funds that could possibly finance its ambitious road and railways projects. On Wednesday 2 March, the new financial perspective of EU funds was officially inaugurated. Poland has a chance to obtain around 29.3 billion euros, of which 24.2 billion for investments in the FEnIKS programme – the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment.
“Our country has obtained the approval for all cohesion policy programmes in the new programming period 2021-2027”, the Polish government said on Wednesday, adding that the funds for the years 2021-2027 will reach the citizens on national and regional levels. The approval does not necessarily mean that the funds will be obtained, but the intentions of the Polish government are good news for the rail industry.
Do you want to know more about Poland? Visit the RailFreight Summit Poland in Warsaw on 19 & 20 April.
Rail among the mentioned projects
“More than 50 per cent of public investments in Poland are made with resources obtained from EU funds. We allocate EU support for the efficient implementation of the most necessary investments for Poland such as roads, railways, support for enterprises, education, environmental protection and energy in accordance with EU and Polish regulations”, said the minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy Grzegorz Puda.
Polish media outlet Rynek Infrastruktury quoted him saying that the largest amount of funds would be dedicated to transport and energy. “Investments supported under the program will be implemented, among others, by enterprises, local governments, managers of national roads and railway lines, rescue services, non-governmental organisations, health care institutions and cultural institutions”, the quote reads.
FEnIKS
If 24.2 billion is indeed invested in the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment program (FEnIKS), it will come to the benefit of rail. According to Puda, it will support the process of modernising the country’s infrastructural infrastructure and will allow for the implementation of necessary investments. “We will focus on the construction of new and modernisation of existing railway lines and the network of expressways and national roads, including bypasses of cities”, he was quoted by the same media.
That this is indeed needed may not be a surprise. The quality of the Polish rail infrastructure has been a point of criticism for many years. The infrastructure manager, PKP PLK, says that the national railway programme includes a total of 77 billion Polish Zloty (16.4 billion euros) of investments and 240 railway projects.
RailFreight Summit Poland
Do you want to learn more about infrastructure in Poland? The RailFreight Summit Poland is taking place on 19 & 20 April in Warsaw. At this event, the CEE rail freight industry will gather to discuss the latest developments. A site tour to the well-known border crossing of Malaszewicze is included. You can find more information on the website, or register here.
