The planned construction of the Central Communication Port (CPK) in Baranów, between Łódź and Warsaw, which was set to cost over 40 billion złoty (€9.27 billion), has been postponed. Investments will instead flow to Warsaw’s Chopin Airport, which will see its capacity increased to 30 million passengers per year, an increase of 50 percent, at a cost of 2.4 billion złoty (€0.56 billion).
Some flights will be redirected to airports in Modlin, Radom and Łódź, as revealed in Gazeta Wyborcza in the context of the 90th anniversary of the Okęcie-Chopin airport.
Commentators have no doubts that this move is a strategy by the government to “sink” the CPK project, which was promoted by the previous conservative government. Instead of a clear decision by Prime Minister Donald Tusk to cancel the investment, there will be a gradual move away from the CPK.
“The earnest wish is for the smiling coalition to crush the CPK sooner rather than later. I expect that in the next survey, the Civic Platform will be rewarded for its approach to this project. Honestly, I admit to great naivety because I thought that Mr. Tusk would delay and grumble but eventually get the CPK moving seriously. It is comforting that in this way he is confronting a group much larger than the hardcore PiS electorate,” remarks columnist Łukasz Warzecha from Do Rzeczy weekly.
Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Cezary Kaźmierczak, points out the business risks.
“If the absurd and very harmful decision to abandon the CPK and expand Okęcie is made, Vienna will outpace us and become the hub for the CEE region. We could have outpaced Vienna, but instead, we are relegating ourselves to the periphery of the region,” he warns.
Opposition politicians also criticize the decision to step away from the CPK project, with Jerzy Polaczek from PiS writing: “1.3 billion złoty from contracts for the design of the CPK is being wasted! Half a million residents of Warsaw living in the noise zone of Chopin Airport are finding out that the government of Donald Tusk is increasing air traffic over the capital by half. This has never been seen before—an international scandal!”
“Instead of CPK, a cosmetic expansion of Okęcie. Instead of nuclear power, German windmills 200 meters from buildings. Instead of a port in Świnoujście, a national park blocking work on the Oder River. Young people, you wanted to screw PiS, but you screwed Poland together with Donald,” commented Dariusz Matecki from Sovereign Poland.
“CPK won’t happen, but the ruling party is smiling. And Tusk is even making a heart with his hands. What more do we need?” asked Confedeartion MP Sławomir Mentzen ironically.
