Exclusive interview with Poland’s Ambassador to Georgia, his Excellency jacek Multanowski

Our correspondent Nino Arveladze was speaking to the Ambassador

N. Arveladze – your Excellency, let me in advance congratulate you on the November 11 holiday – Poland’s Independence Day. If we take a look from this day’s position, what does this holiday mean for Poland?

Jacek Multunowski – Thank you very much, it is really an important day for us. Let us take a look at this holiday, or the history of the Independence Day. Poland gained independence in 1918. Before the World War II this holiday was celebrated only twice – in 1927 and 1938. During the communist regime we could not celebrate this day officially, it used to be celebrated unofficially – demonstrations were held, people met, but the communist authorities did not consider this day as a holiday. The official communist holiday was July 22, but November 11 was restored in our calendar as the Independence Day only in 1989. If we look back to this history, in spite of the fact that this holiday originates from 1918, we do not have much experience in its celebration. Of course, it is the most important day for any country. It is distinguished by the fact that on this day main arrangements, such as the military parade, are held in the capital with participation of the President, flags are hung out in the streets, the Polish hero Josef Pilsudki is remembered. By the way, he invited Georgian officers to serve in the Polish army, and Georgians served in it before the World War II fighting for Poland’s independence. Some of them were killed in Katyn, others during the revolt in Warsaw. It is a general outline of the Independent Day’s celebration – conferences and sports arrangements are held in different cities of Poland. Now, as to your question – what this holiday means for Poland from this day’s position. For my generation it is a day of celebration of independence that we, the Poles, have already acquired, but now its concrete application for the benefit of the people country, which is a member of the EU and NATO, is necessary. I believe that it is not only the day of celebration of the past, it confronts us the following question – it is good that you are independent and are members of big structures, but what novelties you can offer and how you can help our country? Besides the past, we speak about our country’s future. For example I shall say that ideas of this holiday’s celebration appear, it has been several years since a parade started to be held in the city of Gdansk where protests against the communist started, but it is of a different kind – people ride bicycles and horses, they are dressed in funny costumes, i.e. it is an absolutely different parade dominated by joy, laughter and jokes. I want to say that this day should be celebrated joyfully, besides we have to think about our future and what this holiday means for the polish people.
N.A. – Poland is an active supporter and lobbyist of Georgia in the European Union. There are warm relations between the presidents of Georgia and Poland. There is information, according to which the Polish President will visit Georgia on the November 23 holiday, but, unfortunately, there are poor economic relations between the countries. In your opinion, what should be done for intensification of the economic relations between Georgia and Poland?
Jacek Multunowski – thank you very much for your question. I fully agree with it. In the first part of your question you speak about political relations, which are developing very fast, but, unfortunately, the development of economic relations does not keep up with it and it does not justify our expectations. If we speak about the current economic contacts, they are first of all determined by the trade turnover, the annual volume of which is not very big. According to our data, it makes up 15 million USD. In other words, a gradual growth of the turnover is observed, but this does not justify our expectations. Of course, here the matter concerns larger projects. In spite of the fact that these contacts are being developed, there is a deficit of information in the both countries, which is related to many factors. I do not imply only the activity of our embassies. I think we should know more about each other. There was a certain informational vacuum that does not exist now, since the situation is changing, but we have to work much on this issue. I believe that political contacts help to arouse interest. If we speak of the peak of political contacts, we imply the year 2006. I am rather optimistic about this issue and I think that if the year 2006 was successful from the viewpoint of relations, there will be better results in the following years. Poland and Georgia do not have longstanding relations. I believe that if political relations continue, there will be frequent exchange of delegations between the countries. I shall add that on November 29 the Marshall of the Polish Senate – Bogdan Burusaevich is coming to the conference in Tbilisi. Not long ago a delegation of Georgian MPs returned from Poland. This, of course, will have a beneficial effect for intensification of economic relations between the two countries. Besides Warsaw, Georgian MPs visited the quickly developing Polish city of Wroclaw where there are many opportunities for establishment of contacts. In my opinion, we should first of all overcome the informational barrier. It would be also justified to establish direct air communication, and I think that the both parties should think of this issue. It will have a positive effect on the development of business relations. Currently there are rather convenient flights from Vienna and Munich, but this is not what we need. According to my information, representatives of the Georgian Airline will consider this issue. We should continue these negotiations. For the purpose of intensification of economic relations, we should use different international fairs that are held in Georgia and Poland. For example, Georgian delegations have already visited this kind of fair in the city of Poznan. Not long ago, an exhibition devoted to tourism was held in Warsaw and there the Georgian exposition aroused much interest. In other words, we should make use of these aspects more actively.
It would be good to arrange in Georgia a presentation on the abilities of the Polish economy. We are working on this issue. I think the number of employees of the Polish Embassy in Georgia will increase and we shall have a counselor in the economic field that will help us in implementation of our plans. I see this prospect. I shall say once more that lack of information is the main problem, you have to spread more information on your investment potential and make a good PR for it so that Georgia should become an attractive country for investors, which is very important. A good atmosphere has been created in Poland for Georgia.