POLAND'S MARITIME MINISTRY: ADRIFT AT SEA

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 001932 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/NCE EUR/NCE FOR LLOCHMAN, BPUTNEY, AND TYEAGER USEU FOR KMORENSKI E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2017 TAGS: EWWT ETRD PREL PO PINR SUBJECT: POLAND'S MARITIME MINISTRY: ADRIFT AT SEA REF: 2006 WARSAW 835 ¶1. (U) Classified by Economic Counselor Richard Rorvig, reasons 1.4 b, d ¶2. (C) Ambassador Ashe, accompanied by econoff, paid a courtesy call on new Minister of Economy Grobarczyk on September 5. During the meeting, Grobarczyk seemed unfamiliar with basic facts about Polish shipping. He appeared to have never heard of the new requirement that all U.S.-bound containerized cargo must be scanned, although his ministry received a demarche on the issue less than a week before the meeting. When Ambassador asked Grobarczyk what are the biggest challenges facing his ministry, he thought for a long time before answering that they were all big challenges. In contrast, Piotr Zalewski, the Vice-Minister, readily answered the question with discussions of a dispute with the European Union over Poland's alleged overfishing in the Baltic, and loss of Polish-flagged vessels to flags of convenience. Zalewski has been with the Ministry only since his appointment on August 25. -------------- Background -------------- ¶3. (U) Minister Grobarczyk was appointed on August 13 as part of a cabinet shake up following the collapes of Poland's governing coalition. The Ministry is Poland's youngest, created in 2006 of components taken from the Ministries of Economics, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Transport and Construction. The Ministry was created to give jobs to coalition partners. Grobarczyk's predecessor was a 27-year old member of the League of Polish Families with no experience in maritime matters, who was best known as a former activist for the controversial All-Poland Youth movement (Reftel). -------------- Bio Information - Marek Grobarczyk -------------- ¶4. (U) Minister Grobarczyk was a political unknown at the time of his appointment. He was born in Nowy Sacz, Poland, on March 13, 1968. He graduated from the Maritime Academy in Gdynia and worked for a while as an officer on merchant ships. He later obtained a degree in digital telecommunications from the Agro-Technical Academy in Bydgoszcz. He left shipping and worked on the management board of the Tarnow-Moscice Nitrogen Plant and the board of directors of the Liquid Fuels Logistics Operators, as well as other transportation companies. He is married and has two children. ¶5. (U) When Grobarczyk was announced as the new Minister for Maritime Economy, the Gazeta of Krakow asked the three parliamentarians from his home town to comment on him. All three said they knew nothing about him. The Gazeta of Krakow also reported that Grobarczyk is believed to be a protege of Joachim Brudzinski, a member of parliament and secretary-general of the ruling Law and Justice party. SIPDIS ¶6. (C) Comment: From the desk of Poland's Minister of Maritime Economy, one can look through picture windows at rows of graves in one of Warsaw's historic cemeteries. The view is perhaps appropriate for a ministry that most believe is living on borrowed time. Minister Grobarczyk's lack of political experience and knowledge about his ministry suggests that he is a place-holder, and that the ministry will either be offered to a coalition partner as part of a deal after the upcoming elections, or will be subsumed within a larger ministry. End comment. ASHE