Last Friday, representatives of the maritime economy sector gathered in Gdynia for the 22nd time to discuss the industry's problems and opportunities.

This year's Gdynia 2023 Maritime Economy Forum closed not only the entire week of industry meetings and talks in the Tricity - after all, the Baltexpo fair had ended only the day before - but also the hot, pre-election conference season.

The Forum was traditionally started by its leader, Sławomir Kalicki, and the vice-president of Gdynia, Katarzyna Gruszecka-Spychała.

– First of all, we want to take a broad perspective on our geopolitical environment and the resulting consequences for the maritime economy. There is so much going on that we want to focus on the threats, but also on the opportunities. We will talk, for example, about cybersecurity, which is only now reaching awareness. This is a real threat that could cause a blockage of the entire supply chain. We will also show the British National Shipbuilding Program, which was introduced a few years ago in Great Britain, showing a 30-year perspective for the shipbuilding industry – announced MEFG leader Sławomir Kalicki.

Vice-President of Gdynia Katarzyna Gruszecka-Spychała emphasized the importance of maritime economy and the Forum for Gdynia itself.

– The broadly understood maritime economy has indeed been developing dynamically recently. We have to react to these changes, and sometimes it may even be worth anticipating them and being well prepared for them in order to achieve the economic effect that interests entrepreneurs. However, I think that a very important issue is also the fact that this is a world that brings us exceptionally big changes. Recent geopolitical events mean that the focus on this variability is greater than in recent years - said the Vice-President, emphasizing the high attendance at the Forum.

The first point of the program were speeches by the honorary guests - the ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Poland Anna Clunes, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Poland Øystein Bø and Admiral Rex Cox, director general of the National Shipbuilding Office in Great Britain. They all focused on fundamental similarities between markets, common challenges and options for collaboration. This part ended with a speech by the President of the Port of Gdynia Authority, Jacek Sadaj, who briefly presented the investments being implemented and already completed in the port, including: digital twin, Droga Czerwona (Red Road, the planned arterie to port grounds) or Outer Port.

The substantive part began with two interesting presentations. First, Małgorzata Bonikowska, president of the Center for International Relations of the University of Warsaw, allowed the audience to look at the Baltic Sea from a geopolitical perspective, after NATO enlargement. Then, Piotr Czarnecki, presented in the agenda as a "business practitioner, leader in banking, telecommunications and digital business", argued based on data from European and national institutions why the economic situation in Poland, contrary to official announcements, is not as good as it might be. His presentation was received with an ovation by the audience, who seemed to share his point of view.

Then, all previous speakers sat on stage to answer questions from the audience. There were plenty of them, and the whole discussion was even longer.

After the break, thematic panels started, which took place in various rooms of the Science and Technology Park at the same time, as well as the seminar "Cybersecurity in the maritime sector – challenges and threats in 2023", conducted at the same time by Rafał Cichocki, head of the Maritime Cybersecurity Center at the Maritime University in Gdynia. Adam Danieluk - President of ISSA Poland, Cybersecurity specialist, manager, information security expert, Krzysztof Binkowski - computer forensics expert, authorized Microsoft trainer, EC-COUNCIL, academic lecturer, Piotr Chmielewski - cybersecurity specialist at the Port of Gdańsk Authority, Piotr Tretyn - head of the IT and Telecommunications Department at the Port of Gdynia Authority, Dariusz Dąbrowski - Head of Department, Digital Solutions DNV, Izabella Łapko – Leading Auditor in NASK SA talked about the attempts and possibilities of facing one of the biggest contemporary threats and how to look at cybersecurity in maritime industry companies.

During the panel devoted to the shipbuilding industry invited guests and experts talked among others about „Miecznik” programme and plans of rearmamenting of Polish Navy. The panelists were: Admiral Rex Cox (CEO of the UK National Shipbuilding Office), Phil Craig (Managing Director for International Shipbuilding in Babcock), Cmdr Artur Kołaczyński (Chief of Staff of COM- DKM), Cmdr Lt. Dawid Domański (Armament Agency - Maritime Technology Command), Marcin Ratajczyk (Naval Services Manager, Thales Poland) and Andrzej Wojtkiewicz (PGZ SW Representative, Sales Director, Deputy Director of the "Miecznik" program). The panel was led by Commander Dr. Hab. Bartłomiej Pączek.

In another room at that time, experts were talking about maritime logistics. The leader of the panel was Marek Tarczyński, President of the Polish International Freight Forwarders Association (PIFFA), President of the Management Board of Terramar Sp. z o.o., and the moderator was prof. Andrzej Grzelakowski. The current state of the sector was assessed by Marta Waldmann (Łukasiewicz Research Network - Poznań Institute of Technology), Maciej Bąk (Vice-President of Port of Gdynia Authority), Krzysztof Laskowski (Vice-President of the Management Board, Morska Agencja Gdynia Sp. z o.o.), Małgorzata Musińska-Kubis (Transport and Logistics Manager, Ciech S.A.), Alina Angielczyk (Member of the Management Board of Hapag-Lloyd Poland, Sales Director Area North Hapag-Lloyd AG), Adam Żołnowski (Member of the Management Board, Chief Financial Officer, Baltic Hub Container Terminal Sp. z o. o.), Bohdan Kozaczuk (Deputy Director of the Board of Directors of COSCO Shipping Lines Poland).

Andrzej Popadiuk, who hosted the entire main part of Maritime Economy Forum, was also the moderator of the panel. His conversation was about renewable energy. Jakub Budzyński (Polish Offshore Wind Energy Society Representative), Grzegorz Chodkowski (Vice President Offshore Development Poland, RWE Renewables), PhD Tomasz Kalinowski (Professor in Applied Science Academy in Sopot), Kacper Kostrzewa (Project Director of BC-Wind), Paweł Mawduk (Offshore Wind - Supply Chain Project Manager, Polenergia), Agata Staniewska-Bolesta (Managing Director Offshore Poland, Ørsted Poland), prof. Adam Weintrit (Rector of the Maritime University of Gdynia) and Marcin Wiśniewski (Regulation and Permit Director Equinor in Poland) sought answers to questions about the opportunities for the development of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea and whether Poland can be a significant producer of green energy.

Tomasz Chamera, President of the Polish Yachting Association, Vice-President of World Sailing, was traditionally the host of the panel devoted to business in sailing, during which the interlocutors spoke, among others: about challenges related to economic and geopolitical changes, but also about technological innovations. The panel participants were Łukasz Szyca - Vice President of Polboat, Sales Director of Marineworks, Artur Połoczański - Public Relations Director of Sunreef Yachts, Monika Bakkal - Marketing Director of Galeon Yachts, Bogusław Witkowski - Vice-President of the Pomeranian Regional Sailing Association, Jakub Płażyński - Director of the Shareholder Cooperation Office of Bank Pekao SA.

Controversial right of pre-emption

In the next room, there was a panel devoted to sea ports, hosted by Piotr Pawłowski, Chairman of the Council of Stakeholders of the Port of Gdynia. To talk about the development of ports in the light of new legal regulations, he invited Rafał Czyżyk, a specialist in maritime law from CMW Legal, Marek Klabacha, a representative of the Rhenus Group, Jan Jarmakowski - president of the Management Board of Gdynia Container Terminal, as well as presidents of the ports of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin-Świnoujście - Łukasz Malinowski, Jacek Sadaj and Krzysztof Urbaś, respectively.

The discussion began with a conversation about the Polish Port Act of 1996, which everyone gathered considered very successful. This document introduced, among others: the need to separate port management from transhipments, thus prohibiting port authorities from conducting effective transhipment operations. However, later changes undermined this principle. Ultimately, the 2004 amendment ordered management boards to get rid of shares in operator companies, but in 2014 the EU port regulation - described by attorney Rafał Czyżyk as a "legal monster" - diluted this rule. Finally, port authorities currently own these types of assets.

However, having established that all the discussants agreed on the advisability of separating port management from transshipment, Piotr Pawłowski inquired why the management boards had still not sold their shares in the operator companies, despite attempts that had been going on for years. Łukasz Malinowski from the Port of Gdańsk Authority, which holds shares in Port Gdański Eksploatacja, admitted that the management board "looks at this entity as one that should not ultimately be in our group." Jacek Sadaj, speaking about the Port of Gdynia's shares in the Baltic Bulk Base, described that the port made efforts to sell its 50% of BBM.

– The company was valued, the offer was tried to be sold, but to no avail – he said. He added that this was probably influenced by the specific business, economic and geopolitical situation.

Krzysztof Urbaś, when asked about what he did as the president of the Szczecin-Świnoujście Seaports Authority to support investors, returned to the previous thread and said that he was far from saying that ports are not allowed to perform reloading activities.

– It is known that management employees themselves would not do this, today's management employees are not necessarily port workers. But if the management board had not sold the shares in the operating companies, it could have commissioned the reloading to specialists, and there was nothing stopping it – he argued.

However, Marek Klabacha, President of the Management Board of Rhenus Polska, which purchased approximately 40% of shares in Bulk Cargo Port Szczecin, could also talk about the transaction that Piotr Pawłowski asked about.

– The purchase process was carried out freely, we competed with organizations that directly or indirectly belong to the government – said Klabacha. When asked whether the Szczecin-Świnoujście Seaports Authority had done anything to encourage or enable the transaction, he replied that in his opinion the port authority's main purpose was not to interfere. However, he added that the described transaction is a special case because it occurred at a special moment. He also asked to speed up certain work in the management offices. Krzysztof Urbaś replied that the administrative proceedings were still ongoing and everything is by the book.

Jan Jarmakowski from GCT talked about the comfort of a perpetual land lease agreement.

– We have perpetual usufruct, which gave us the comfort to invest large amounts of funds in the Port of Gdynia – said Jarmakowski. He confirmed the earlier words of Łukasz Malinowski from the Port of Gdańsk that not all regulations are favorable to investment decisions, because the duration of the concession is limited to 30 years. – As a result, we are in a losing position compared to other EU countries where these deadlines are longer. We invested in Gdynia because we felt comfortable with the long-term perspective thanks to perpetual usufruct.

Jarmakowski also said that GCT has not paid any dividends so far. All earned funds were reinvested in infrastructure. He also referred to the recent amendment to the Port Act and the issue of the possibility of pre-emption of port areas by a company designated by the Council of Ministers.

– The mechanism gives the state treasury and administration very broad powers regarding the market valuation of assets. If the minister does not agree with the valuation of shares concluded by two contracting entities, he may take it to court and then the valuation will be made by a court expert – he said. He used an example from his own experience. – The case dragged on for 6 years: the court expert valued our land based on the land of the Rumia commune. Have you seen a port anywhere in Rumia? The parties do not reach an agreement in this way, and the state treasury, through the company indicated by the Council of Ministers, has the right to develop the land under the right of pre-emption. If we do not want to discourage private capital from investing in ports, we should change these regulations, giving the state control over who wants to invest.

Attorney Czyżyk also reacted negatively to the amendment. He stated that doing business in ports is currently over-regulated.

– The effect of the right of pre-emption is that Szczecin notaries require a declaration that the company being sold does not own any real estate or is not a tenant in the port area. Therefore, if someone rents an office for a period exceeding 10 years, they are subject to the right of pre-emption - he pointed out. He added that one of the worst aspects of this mechanism is the fact that "the buyer under pre-emption can take over the assets at a price he deems appropriate, start using them, and in the meantime, litigate for valuation for years."

Piotr Pawłowski described that the councils of port stakeholders sent requests to parliamentarians to suspend the amendment proceedings in order to conduct public consultations, but without any response. The same was true of the petition to the president to postpone the signing of the amendment, which also went unnoticed. Appeals from business circles to politicians have met with no response. Pawłowski also asked Łukasz Malinowski why the Port of Gdańsk failed to sign an agreement regarding the so-called Europort despite submitting a binding offer. The President of the Port of Gdańsk replied that he was not in the Port of Gdańsk Authority at that time.

In turn, Jacek Sadaj from the Port of Gdynia was asked about what types of determinants the Port of Gdynia Authority will take into account when selecting an operator in the Outer Port, taking into account the amendment on the right of pre-emption and whether the port will be able to accept offers if they come from "unfriendly" countries. ". Sadaj replied that four partners had signed up to participate in the talks. He added that geopolitical issues will be taken into account, but the final decision is made not by the Port of Gdynia Authority, but by the competent minister.

However, the panel participants agreed that changes to existing regulations should include extending the license period from 30 years. The President of the Port of Gdańsk, Łukasz Malinowski, revealed that this topic had already been raised in talks with the ministry.