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.

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Background
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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).

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Bio Information - Marek Grobarczyk
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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