FHWA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR VISITS POLAND,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 000481

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE DKOSTELANCIK AND MSESSUMS
COMMERCE FOR 4232/ITA/MAC/EUR/OECA/MROGERS, JBURGESS,
JKIMBALL
DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR FHWA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR
KING GEE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECIN ECON ELTN PL
SUBJECT: FHWA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR VISITS POLAND,
DISCUSSES ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

REF: WARSAW 3668

Sensitive but unclassified - not for internet distribution.


1. (U) Summary. Poland's lack of a quality road
infrastructure presents serious problems for economic
development, road safety, and quality of life. In continuing
to investigate this problem and encourage GOP action, Embassy
Warsaw Public Affairs and Econ Sections collaborated to bring
King Gee, Associate Administrator at the Federal Highway
Administration, to Warsaw from February 21-24 to discuss the
development of the Polish highway system. Mr. Gee presented
a paper to an industry sponsored trade show and held meetings
with representatives from the Polish public and private
sectors. All of the Poles with whom Mr. Gee met displayed
strong interest in his insight and opinions, and expressed an
interest in continued dialogue with the Federal Highway
Administration. End Summary.

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Infratech
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2. (U) Mr. Gee's first event in Warsaw was the Infratech
Conference and Trade Show, organized as a forum for industry
representatives from building and consulting firms and
members of Polish government at the national and local
levels. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Jerzy
Polaczek gave the keynote address at the conference, and then
made a presentation during which he spoke in broad terms
about the historic opportunity to develop the Polish road
system.


3. (U) After attending the morning panel, Mr. Gee gave a
presentation highlighting the first 50 years of the American
Interstate Highway System. Mr. Gee focused on the history
of highway building in the U.S., the importance of highways
in American culture, and the positive economic effect caused
by the growth of the country's highway system. This last
point in particular struck a chord with the audience, many of
whom were from Polish or European companies trying to take
advantage of the potential boom in the roads sector.

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The General Roads Directorate
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4. (U) On the following day Mr. Gee met with Zbigniew
Kotlarek, Acting General Director of the General Directorate
of National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA). Mr. Kotlarek, who
spent time in the U.S. on an exchange program in the early
1980s, explained that the GDDKiA carries budgetary
responsibility for 18,000km of national roads in Poland,
while 1,000km of smaller roads are maintained by Poland's 16
voivods. At the more local level, county governments have
responsibilities for local roads.


5. (SBU) In the course of the discussion, Mr. Gee noted
that Poland had only approximately 550km of highway, and
asked what problems contributed to the situation. Kotlarek
cited two specific problems. First, he criticized Poland's
legislation covering environmental impact assessments, which
he noted is stricter than the EU standard. For example, if a
section of road is being built or even upgraded, and it is
longer than 10km, the law dictates that an environmental
impact study be conducted for the entire length of the road
throughout the entire voivod. The requirement is costly and
acts as a significant disincentive to road construction.
Second, Kotlarek mentioned how difficult it can be to acquire
land in Poland. The GOP must not only deal with multiple
owners, it must also try to negotiate a price at market
level. Poland does have a law giving the state eminent
domain rights, but the law is relatively new and can only be
applied in limited situations. Despite these barriers to
progress, Kotlarek emphasized that progress is being made,
and that the injection of EU cohesion and EBRD funds into
Polish infrastructure projects would lead to inevitable
improvement. Mr. Gee and Kotlarek also discussed the need to
manage public expectations through the media, as Kotlarek
noted he was next on his way to a press conference to discuss
GDDKiA plans for the upcoming year.

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World Bank and AMCHAM
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6. (SBU) Mr. Gee also met with Radek Czapski, World Bank
(WB) Infrastructure Sector Operations analyst, and Aleksander
Granowski, Vice President at the Warsaw office of Atkins
Global, and President of the AMCHAM Infrastructure Committee.
Mr. Czapski discussed the World Bank's activities in
conjunction with the development of Poland's national roads
network, noting that current WB projects involve cooperation
with the GDDKiA in two areas: maintenance, rehabilitation,
and strengthening of existing roads; and the creation of an
information management system to handle all of the GDDKiA's
technical, financial, human resources, and contract-related
data.


7. (SBU) Mr. Granowski and Gee discussed the history of the
FHWA and the role that highways have played in increasing the
scope of commerce in the United States. Granowski has spent
considerable time in the U.S., and stated that Poland had
much to learn from the U.S. experience. Gee and Granowski
also discussed the importance of lobbying and organizing to
promote the interests of the road building community. When
the conversation turned to the environmental law, Gee related
how the FHWA had learned over the course of time to live and
work with environmental groups, especially since an ever
increasing number of private citizens share concerns about
roads' impact on the environment. Granowski concurred, but
mentioned that a balance needed to be struck between
environmental considerations and the installation of a modern
transport infrastructure in Poland.


8. (SBU) Comment. Embassy Warsaw continues to monitor GOP
progress toward creating an adequate highway system, and
strives to engage the GOP when possible on this important
issue. Mr. Gee's visit allowed us to do both simultaneously.
Obviously, the GOP will have to solve this problem on their
own, but visits from U.S. experts such as Mr. Gee reinforce
their sense of urgency in addressing the issue. Many of Mr.
Gee's interlocutors expressed an interest in continuing the
dialogue started during his visit. Embassy Warsaw hopes that
future collaborations with the FHWA and infrastructure
construction companies will be possible.


9. (U) King Gee cleared this cable.

































ASHE