Building the World Capital of Amber was included on the lists of investments which first will be given financial support of the European Union. The Ministry of Regional Development announced a list of projects which will receive funds from so called national operational programs Infrastructure and Environment and Innovative Economy.
In total there are 116 projects on the list of key individual projects of the Innovative Economy program. The project of building the World Capital of Amber was included in the Innovative Economy program, in a category: Polish economy on an international market.
The project predicts, among other things, building a new, permanent seat of the
Museum of Amber. By 2011 the whole exhibition, being systematically developed, should have been placed in a modern exhibition-conference complex on the north edge of the Island of Granaries [Wyspa Spichrzow], in a historical centre of Gdansk which still remains not rebuilt after a fire in 1945. The total cost of building the new seat of the museum is estimated at € 12.2 million – the European Union will partially fund the project in 85%, that is in the amount of € 10.37 million. Today’s seat of the Museum is situated in a medieval complex of Przedbramie at Dluga Street. It is an exceptional building but difficult to tour around, especially for older people and practically impossible to explore by the disabled. The museum was visited by more than 70,000 people last year – this result can undoubtedly be qualified as impressive as it comes for the building with such difficulties of moving around it and small capacity.
According to the words of
Robert Pytlos, a coordinator for amber of the Mayor of Gdansk, more that one million euro will be additionally allotted for a promotion of Gdansk as World Capital of Amber. Being qualified for the list of operational programs does not constitute a guarantee for the project to be given an EU grant. The officials have to arduously prepare a financial part of the undertaking, to select investors and architectural projects in tenders etc.
All the beneficiaries whose projects were included on the list of key investments soon will be able to enter with the competent ministers into so called pre-agreements for projects preparation. Under such agreement the beneficiary undertakes to prepare a project in accordance with the schedule and in turn he will receive financial and advisory support needed while preparing the project. If the beneficiary has difficulty in meeting the deadlines established in the schedule and there is a risk of the project’s failure to be prepared on time, he can fall out of the list of key investments. In such situation the freed funds will help to finance projects from a reserve list or they will be added to the pool of money allotted for competitions.
The agreements concerning financing individual projects will not be signed unless a motion for partial funding together with a complete documentation regarding the project is given under formal and substantive appraisal and the result is positive. A final decision concerning partial funding of the project, after consulting experts, will be taken by the Managing Institution and this body enters with a beneficiary into agreement about partial funding of the project. A process of entering into agreements concerning partial funding will commence at the time when a resolution of Council of Ministers on adopting a given operational program comes into force.
Building World Capital of Amber is a main goal which was served by the previous actions and decisions of a Mayor of the city of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz, that is setting up
World Amber Council, opening the Museum of Amber, signing the Gdansk Declaration by amber traders from Gdansk concerning good amber practices and signing by the Mayor of Gdansk a special regulation on lease of municipal land in order to seek, recognize and output of amber deposits, being the first regulation after 35 years which determines rules of lease of commune land for the purpose of seeking and output of amber. All these plans are aimed at a promotion of the brand of Gdansk and Baltic amber in the world and a promotion of Gdansk as its world capital.
