Press Releases 2003
U.S. Financing Helps Develop Historic Gdańsk Shipyard Into Downtown Hub
30 July 2003 |
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Financing from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
will enable a U.S. small business to develop a downtown hub in the
former Gdańsk shipyard, including preservation of key monuments to the
Solidarity Movement and its role in introducing democracy to the
country.
The undertaking is the largest urban renewal project currently underway in Europe.
OPIC
will provide a $10 million loan to Synergia, a company sponsored by an
OPIC-supported investment fund, Emerging Europe Fund for Sustainable
Development, and its parallel U.S. fund, Emerging Europe Fund II, for
the development of a business and cultural center. The center will
include housing on 181 acres of the former Gdańsk shipyard in central
Gdańsk.
The project will ensure the preservation of key
Solidarity buildings and monuments, as well as the environmental
remediation of a former heavy industrial site, while ensuring continued
use of the slipway area by the shipyard.
Furthermore, upon the
approval of the master plan by the City of Gdańsk, the project sponsors
intend to exchange with the City of Gdańsk land designated for public
use. That land includes historical sites such as Solidarity Square, a
central public passageway entitled "Walk of Freedom" following the
original path of the Solidarity Union shipyard workers, and a Center
for Democracy to be used as an international diplomatic meetinghouse.
Also
upon approval of the master plan, the sponsors will donate the site of
the famous BHP Hall, which is now a museum commemorating the sacrifice
and success of the Solidarity movement.
"OPIC is pleased to work
with a U.S. small business on a project which offers so much for
Poland's economic development and historical preservation," OPIC
President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson said. "By helping to introduce a
downtown area to Gdańsk, which currently lacks a central place where
people may shop, reside or enjoy leisure activities, and by preserving
the important historical significance of the Solidarity monuments, this
project provides unique and intangible benefits that go beyond the
norm."
Dr. Watson noted that the project was approved by
OPIC's new Small Business Center. The center was established in October
2002 to provide qualified small businesses the opportunity to use
OPIC's resources with improved customer service, flexible coverage, and
easier access through a streamlined approval process.
OPIC was
established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S.
businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and
emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks
associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign
policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it
operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.
OPIC's
political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all
sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations
worldwide. Over the agency's 32-year history, OPIC has supported $145
billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to
generate over $11 billion in host-government revenues. The result is
that over 680,000 host-country jobs have been created. OPIC projects
have also generated $65 billion in U.S. exports and created more than
254,000 American jobs.
For more information about OPIC Investment Funds and the countries where they have invested, please click here.
