A new service center for US-made Abrams battle tanks is set to be built in Poznań under a deal signed on Monday as part of efforts to strengthen the Polish army amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The agreement to create the center was signed on Monday by Poland’s state-run arms maker PGZ and America’s General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), the manufacturer of the Abrams tank.
In a post on Twitter, Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin tweeted that the creation of the service center for Abrams tanks proved that “the Americans highly value Poland’s potential and our organizational skills.”

According to PAP, Poland has already ordered 116 modernized M1A1 Abrams tanks and 250 state-of-the-art M1A2 Abrams tanks from the US. The M1A1 machines are expected to be delivered between 2023 and 2024, with the first batch of tanks due to reach Poland this week.

Today is day 489 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Source: Polskie Radio, PAP

The European Union has approved nearly 40 million EUR of new support for Polish farmers affected by imports of agri-food products from Ukraine.

On Monday, the European Commission announced that member states had approved a EUR 100 million support package for farmers in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia.
Poland is set to receive EUR 39.33 million in funding, while EUR 9.77 million will be allocated to Bulgaria, EUR 15.93 million to Hungary, EUR 29.73 million to Romania, and EUR 5.24 million to Slovakia.

The funding will be taken from the agricultural reserve for 2023 and will be directed to farmers producing grain and oilseeds in these five EU member states. The measure aims to partially compensate for problems related to the effects of imports of certain agricultural and food products from Ukraine.
The European Commission also proposed EUR 330 million in additional funding for farmers in 22 member states. The additional funding would support farmers “impacted by adverse climatic events, high input costs, and diverse market and trade-related issues,” according to EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed off on a plan to abolish tolls on state-operated highways in a purported effort to widen access and improve road safety,

The measure was approved by the Polish parliament last month, one of several new spending pledges unveiled by Poland’s governing conservatives during a party convention in mid-May.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in May that highway tolls were “a barrier to mobility” and claimed his government was moving to make highways “available to all” in order “to maximize connectivity” and improve road safety.
Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk explained that scrapping tolls would boost highway traffic “and also make alternative, parallel roads safer” by reducing traffic congestion and the risk of road accidents.

The new measure, which also introduces a ban on overtaking by trucks on expressways, applies to vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, such as passenger cars and motorcycles. Large commercial vehicles and busses would still be subject to the tolls.

The new legislation is set to take effect July 1.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Poland’s WindWhisper Racing Team has won the 2023 Ocean Race Sprint Cup, a prestigious three-leg race for Volvo Ocean 65-class (VO65) yachts.

The WindWhisper secured the victory on Monday, winning the final leg of the race from The Hague in the Netherlands to Genoa in Italy, with a considerable margin over the other five vessels in the group, according to theoceanrace.com website.

The Polish-flagged team won the 2023 Ocean Race Sprint Cup even though its skipper, veteran ocean racer Pablo Arrarte of Spain, was unable to take part in the final leg of the race. In Arrarte’s absence, the WindWhisper Racing Team was skippered by another accomplished around-the-world racer, Daryl Wislang of New Zealand.

WindWhisper’s 21-member crew also included a host of sailors from Poland, including 18-year-old Szymon Cierzan and 17-year-old Mateusz Gwóźdź of Gdynia, the youngest participants in the competition.

The Ocean Race Sprint Cup is a new trophy specially created for VO65 teams under the auspices of the prestigious round-the-world Ocean Race.

Source: Polskie Radio, gdynia.pl

Weather

Today will be mostly cloudy, with a slight chance for more rain and a strong breeze from the northwest. Temperatures will be much cooler than yesterday, with a daytime high of 19°C or 69°F, dropping to a low of 14°C or 57°F overnight. Slightly warmer weather is expected tomorrow, with hot, sunny summer weather returning later in the week.

Elizabeth Peck/pb