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Sotis Advisors, together with PwC Czech Republic will jointly analyse documentation for the project of expanding the railway connection from the city of Prague to the Prague Ruzyne airport. Anita, as an international environmental expert, will check whether the project, which is the first railway project in the Czech Republic implemented in the public-private partnership formula, meets the requirements of EBRD. The whole project includes the extension of the existing Prague-Kladno railway line to double-track, its electrification and the construction of a new connection to the airport. “There is an ambitious task ahead of us,” says Anita. Within a few weeks, we have to check all the existing project documents, verify their compliance with the requirements of the EBRD policy, international legal standards, develop corrective recommendations and guidance for contract specifications in order to select the contractor. We work in close cooperation with Czech Railways, which has not yet implemented any PPP or EBRD project, so access to data and documents is not easy. We plan to conduct site inspection, training and interviews. We don’t have much time, so the work is intense. Our PPP project experience with the construction of tram to Mistrzejowice in Kraków, which we completed last year also in cooperation with the EBRD, will come in handy”.

photo: Spravazeleznic.cz

WSP invited us to implement an EBRD project, consisting in supervising the construction works of the third Baltic Hub terminal (T3) in Gdańsk. This largest multimodal terminal in Poland reloads thousands of containers with goods from different parts of the world to trains and trucks. The expansion of the Baltic Hub with T3 will increase its capacity and support ultra-large container ships. This is important because this type of transport is environmentally friendly. The EBRD contributed financially to the project which met the Bank’s requirements for Green Economy Transition projects. In the project, Anita plays the role of a local social expert. Supervision is carried out through cyclical verification of documents and field inspections, interviews and a press reviews and social media and will last throughout the whole expansion period of the Baltic Hub and for the first year after the commissioning of T3.

Photo: View of the Baltic Hub from the Stogi beach

Today, the GCAP project for Wałbrzych was officially closed. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the EBRD, the Embassy of Taiwan, the Ministry of Finance and the Wałbrzych Economic Zone. “It is a pleasure to work with such a well-organized city team. They know what they want and they take decisions and action immediately” Anita says.
The presentation of the completed project took place in Stara Kopalnia in Wałbrzych – a revitalized coal mine, which has become a tourist and local attraction. Now the city is going to implement GCAP, which means that the authorities of Wałbrzych will have to actively seek financing.
“Wałbrzych is tirelessly working to change its image from a polluted industrial city to a tourist attraction and a good place to live for its inhabitants. I hope that it will be able to reverse the demographic trend and attract young people, who will choose it as a place to settle down after graduation or move here from other parts of Poland. The city of Wałbrzych is unique because of its natural surroundings, the proximity of the Czech border, and its historical heritage with Książ Castle and the Old Town. I’ll spend the long weekend in May there, and someday… maybe I’ll move to Wałbrzych” – says Anita.