The war in Ukraine has heavily influenced business and tourism in Podkarpacie. “Enterprises near the border are feeling some unease and there is no longer such dynamic growth among them,” says Władysław Ortyl, Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. As he points out, Podkarpacie is cooperating with Ukrainian entities to implement joint projects, and after the conflict ends, local companies want to participate in post-war reconstruction. The provincial authorities also hope to strengthen Polish-Ukrainian cooperation over the fifth EU macro-regional strategy for the Carpathian region, which is still under development at EU forums.
“The first days and months after the outbreak of war in Ukraine were very dramatic for the whole of Podkarpackie, for its inhabitants. We are still feeling its effects. We need to look after the refugees who have stayed with us. It’s not a large number, but they are present. Also, those businesses near the border are feeling some unease and their growth has slowed. That is why a vital decision was launching direct subsidies for firms located in counties bordering Ukraine,” says Władysław Ortyl to Newseria Biznes agency.
Podkarpackie region has touristic potential, which is one of the main sources of economic development in the region. GUS (Central Statistical Office) statistics show that last year the number of foreign tourists using the accommodation base in this region grew the strongest – up to 373.4 percent compared to 2021. The massive influx of Ukrainian refugees played a significant role in this growth, as they used the tourist accommodation facilities to a large extent. Furthermore, 2021 was a tough year for tourism nationwide due to Covid-19. Overall, more than 1.2 million tourists (including 208,000 from abroad) visited Podkarpacie last year, with a total of 3.4 million overnight stays.
“The war significantly impacts business, and the tourism sector suffers the most. Some of our regular tourists, who visited Bieszczady and Roztochye every year, felt it was too close to the border. Especially those who came here with their families and children, cancelled trips at the last minute. The situation has somewhat improved this year, but we have to keep working on it,” says the Podkarpackie Marshal.
Despite the unpredictable situation in Ukraine, Podkarpacie is already cooperating with Ukrainian entities on implementing joint projects. For example, the Interreg Poland–Ukraine program, worth nearly 214.4 million euros, is financed from EU funds. Local authorities and their units can apply for grants for nature protection, tourism promotion, administration and local community cooperation, improving the functioning of the Polish-Ukrainian border, and improving cross-border road and rail infrastructure quality. All projects must be implemented by at least one partner from Poland and one from Ukraine.
Podkarpackie and its cooperation with Ukraine were extensively discussed during this year’s Krynica Forum 2023 – one of the most important socio-economic congresses in Central and Eastern Europe. “The Krynica Forum 2023 is a very important event for us because we need to continually promote ourselves, debate, discuss our development possibilities and needs. In such debates, we can exchange good practices, show projects that we are implementing, but also observe projects implemented by other self-governments. The Krynica Forum is a meeting place of business and local government, hence its significant impact on our economic development,” says Władysław Ortyl.
