About the report:

Analysis of the current state of the transport, shipping and logistics (TSL) sector in Poland with a focus on challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion on Ukraine and other geopolitical obstacles disrupting global supply chains. The report presents the most up-to-date data on the size and importance of the sector for the Polish economy. The publication sketches the direction direction in which the Polish TSL sector should follow in order not to lose its competitiveness, especially, in the context of regulatory changes at the EU level related to the environmental protection and combating the climate crisis.

Key conclusions:

• TSL services will remain a key sector of the economy, although their role will change. Deglobalisation forced by geopolitical factors and the growing environmental awareness of consumers will shorten supply chains, with green modes of transport playing an increasingly important role: electric vehicles and bicycles in cities and trains on long-distance routes.
• The strength of the TSL sector lies in its diversification and the existence of alternative routes, using cooperation between private and state-owned companies and public infrastructure operators in intermodal transport. Encouraging and protecting this diversity is a more effective way of ensuring economic growth and national security (economic and logistical) than artificially strengthening state-owned companies.
• The TSL sector stands at the threshold of a necessary, relatively rapid and very deep technological transformation related to environmental issues. It is in the interest of the Polish economy to support the transformation, set ambitious targets and maintain its leadership position. Attempts to slow down the transformation or soften climate targets will exacerbate the climate catastrophe and are ultimately doomed to failure anyway.
• The Polish TSL sector needs an environmentally and socially responsible strategy. The currently undertaken measures (construction of the Central Airport or the adoption of the Sustainable Transport Strategy) are steps in the right direction, but action is still focused on infrastructure investments and supporting state-owned operators, rather than creating a comprehensive strategy covering the entire market. This is needed to follow the "avoid", "shift", "improve" model and to take advantage of the cooperation between private and public operators within the framework of the increasingly far-reaching intermodalisation of transport.

The report is also available in the Polish version.