OREANDA-NEWS The Polish authorities held a symbolic ceremony of the beginning of the construction of the sea channel crossing the Baltic (or Vislin, as it is called in Poland) spit, which will connect the port city of Elblong with the Baltic Sea.

As noted on Tuesday at a briefing on this occasion, the leader of the ruling party "Law and justice" Jaroslaw Kaczynski, "we can say that everything was successful." "We have every right to do this," he added, stressing that a number of missing permits for builders is a matter of the coming weeks.

According to Kaczynski, the implementation of this project will ensure full sovereignty of the Polish territory. "It is necessary for Poland and the region, and no one will be able to prevent us from doing so," the politician said.

According to the plans of Poland, the construction of the channel crossing the Baltic spit will begin by the end of 2018. According to Warsaw, it will be built with the consent of the European Commission in full compliance with EU legislation and environmental standards. Referring to the protest of the Russian side, which opposes the project because of the threat to the environment, the Minister of Maritime and inland navigation of Poland Marek Grubarchik said that "in the current geopolitical situation, you can ignore" these arguments.

The construction of the canal is expected to be completed in 2022. The cost of the project is estimated at 880 million zlotys ($220 million). A new channel with a length of 1.3 km and a depth of 5 m will connect the Kaliningrad (Vistula) Bay from the Gdańsk Bay. Thanks to him to the sea port of Elbląg will be able to enter the ship length 100 m, width 20 m and draught up to 4 m.

Currently, the ships enter Elblag through the territorial waters of Russia. This regime is governed by a special contract for navigation rights concluded between States.