Programme for Development of Kaliningrad Region Up to 2010

Polish investors will take part in more than 30 projects in the Federal Development Programme of the Kaliningrad Region, which is to continue until 2010. Deputy Governor Mikhail Tsikel announced this today, on returning from Moscow, where an intergovernmental meeting of the Russian-Polish commission for trade and economic cooperation took place.

According to Tsikel, almost a half of the items on the agenda were dedicated to resolving the problem of the Russian exclave on the Baltic. He sited the inclusion of Polish investors in the Federal Development Programme as being among the most important results of the talks, as well as the modernisation of transport infrastructure, the fuel and energy complex, the construction industry, and the port of the region.

In particular, both sides came to an agreement on the collaborative construction of an international motorway between Kaliningrad and Elblong, and a border-crossing between Mamonovo-2 and Gzhekhotki. The opening of this road, until recently nicknamed "road to nowhere", is intended to take place in 2004. With the aim of lightening the load on the Bagrationov checkpoint on the Russian-Polish border, it's been decided to let out some of the heavy vehicles through the Gusyev-Goldap check point, for which the permissible vehicle weight will be raised from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes.

The vice-chairman of the commission, Minister of Transport for the Russian Federation Sergey Frank and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Marek Pol intend by the end of June to sign an agreement in Kaliningrad on the opening of a constant air route Kaliningrad-Warsaw, which is currently working on a trial basis.