According to the information in the paper “La Verita”, the Chinese-controlled strategical capital port in Taranto, South Italy is to be taken over by the Polish consortium, with the support of the United States.
According to paper reports, the planned investment in the port of Taranto is to be the consequence of the activity of a consortium of 3 companies specialising in logistics, with the office of Poland – U.S. Operations sp. z o.o. (PLUS Ops). The president of this company is Ronald Farkas, a erstwhile officer of the United States Air Force and a erstwhile authoritative of the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw dealing with air programs.
The PLUS Ops website informs that the company was tasked with "management and coordination of abroad sales programmes of military equipment worth over USD 4 billion between the United States and the Republic of Poland". Among the projects carried out are maintenance of C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and extension of the electromagnetic intelligence (SIGINT). The second investment partner in the port of Taranto is Pol-Mare from Gdynia, operating in the transport manufacture for over 15 years. However, the 3rd associate in the consortium was not mentioned by the Italian newspaper.
The planned location of the investment is the Eco/Park region in the port, where an intermodal terminal with complete operating infrastructure is expected to be created for EUR 60 million.
Jacek Bieniak of Act BSWW Legal, the investment manager, confirmed the newspaper's information. According to “La Verita”, the engagement of Poles in Taranto is the consequence of cooperation and recommendations of Americans, who are anxiously observing the increasing Chinese influence in European ports.
In November of the erstwhile year, the Italian paper “La Stampa” reported that the presence of Chinese capital in EU ports carries a hazard of cyber attacks, espionage and theft of delicate data. The European Parliament study indicated that the situation is peculiarly dangerous in Pireus ports in Greece and Hamburg, Germany, where Chinese companies have access to communication systems and local networks, creating possible cyber risks at local level and wide threats to EU and NATO forces.
According to the data presented in the report, between 2004 and 2021 Chinese companies allocated over 9.1 billion euro for the acquisition of European seaports. The largest investors are Ocean Shipping Company (Cosco – controlling the port in Piraeus) and China Merchants. The study highlighted China's presence through its companies in 10 EU associate States, including Poland, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. The presence of Cosco in German Hamburg has been peculiarly problematic, where it controls 24.99 percent of the shares in the port management company, which, according to the European Parliament, poses major cyber threats and risks of leaking delicate data, including German and NATO military secrets.
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Polish consortium with US support can take over Italian port in Taranto:
