António Costa visits Poland amid the situation in Ukraine
António Costa visits Poland amid the situation in Ukraine. The visit was initiated with a meeting between the Portuguese prime minister with national investors in Poland – Jerónimo Martins, Millenium Bank, and Mota Engil – last Thursday, May 19th, where the perspectives on the polish market and economy and its eventual blockages were the main topic of discussion.
António Costa then reunited with homolog Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday, May 20th, for a conference to discuss the collective European security and the two country’s economic relations. António Costa has announced that “Poland can count with all our support in the effort for their humanitarian help with the Ukrainian refugees” by launching an economic package of up to 50€ million euros to support the Polish humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees. The Portuguese Prime Minister reinforced this commitment while visiting the National State of Warsaw, currently one of the largest refugee centers in Poland: “To these people, we reaffirm our strongest commitment to ensuring their safety and well-being. However, we are all aware that the most difficult situation is the one faced by those who remain in Ukraine, where the humanitarian situation is in many cases very critical.”
PPCC and CCIP about Portuguese companies present in Poland
Since February 24th, the situation in Ukraine has shifted the global economy. Portugal and Poland, whose commercial relations are promoted by the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (PPCC) and the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), manage the interest of 200 member companies and share the experience that has been of the two countries’ economic relations.
In an interview with Executive Digest, Pedro Magalhães – Head of International Trade of CCIP – and Wojciech Baczyński – General Director of PPCC – have stated that, in general, all the Portuguese companies associated with the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce have kept their regular work while expressing the will to act and aid the Ukrainian population that arrives in Poland, from both corporate and individual agents. Amid the economic and commercial significative impact that some companies have felt, both Chambers have been doing customized support work for companies, clarifying the doubts, displaying information, and, most importantly, stimulating a direct contact and relation between Portuguese exporter companies and the central Polish importers, distributors, and clients.
“The opportunities keep coming, the market is still functioning and there is still the search for products and services made in Portugal”, both stated. The Directors recognize the advantage of being on top of the occurrences and thus being more prepared with the necessary means so that member companies can avoid less risk and, simultaneously, begin and swiftly grow their businesses in the Polish market.
DFJ Vinhos, RFF & Associados – Sociedade de Advogados, and Syone, member companies of the Polish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce share their personal experience in the Polish market during this particular time.
Business Mission to Portugal, 24-28 October 2022
Całodniowe
“Humanitarian Aid Program” Together with Ukraine Charity Foundation
In these difficult moments, the Polish Portuguese Chamber of Commerce expressing its solidarity with its Ukrainian friends affected by the war would like to encourage you to support them by taking part in the “Humanitarian Aid Program” led by Together with Ukraine Charity Foundation.
METAVERSE RAPORT KOCHAŃSKI & PARTNERS
We are pleased to share with you the information about the release of “METAVERSE REPORT KOCHAŃSKI & PARTNERS“, which is the first extensive report on the metaverse in Poland.
The authors of the report – an interdisciplinary team of experts from Kochański & Partners – present the metaverse as a collective virtual space bringing together physical and digital reality which, from the perspective of the participant, is based on the creation of a sense of interpenetration between the real world and the virtual world.
- What does the metaverse mean for business?
- What legal challenges will the development of the metaverse bring?
- How can your business thrive in this new reality?
METAVERSE REPORT KOCHAŃSKI & PARTNERS provides a legal perspective on a variety of areas surrounding the metaverse, i.a.:
- property rights and web 3.0,
- advertising,
- trademarks,
- AI,
- NFT,
- crypto-assets and the MICA Regulation.
We encourage you to visit Kochański & Partners’ website and download the report (click here).
The report was coordinated by: Łukasz Węgrzyn, Szymon Ciach, and Aleksandra Ryżkowska.
The report was partnered by Synapse Network and ITwiz.
DO YOU KNOW UKRAINIAN CITIZENS LOOKING FOR TRANSPORTATION TO PORTUGAL?
The following is what you can do to help them get there quickly and safely!
1. Register them at the Portuguese Embassy in Warsaw
The Embassy coordinates many of the free transportation to Portugal actions organized by
Portuguese non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and organizes the transports itself in
response to demand. These are air and ground transports. It can be for example a chartered flight
to Lublin airport (as was the case a few days ago – it took almost 300 people), a seat on a
scheduled flight e.g. TAP from Warsaw to Lisbon, or a bus.
Send an e-mail to the embassy at varsovia@mne.pt with the following details:
– first and last name of persons in Latin notation (our letters);
– type of documents they have + their copies like photo/scan;
– telephone and contact e-mail;
– place of stay of the persons.
AND/OR
Fill out the form created by the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministério dos Negócios
Estrangeiros) which, in addition to registering with the embassy for transport to Portugal, will
initiate the process of obtaining temporary protection status in Portugal.
Form in English:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AZrd_IIuZRIwmnO8wqBNWi1w6f2Crbpy-vTdgSIgUkA/edit?
ts=6222057e
Form in Ukrainian:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18k943p-PWVh7eR0kAp-y7HDQiK92rajMxcIDRLQMe74/
edit?ts=62220572
Form in Portuguese:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1SjdowXgeKE0CjRPXKmG3akV20iqRX1XvntmM08BOh50/
edit?ts=6222058b
2. Search for private initiatives
The Portuguese organize a lot of aid actions from the bottom up. Often, even in small towns in
Portugal create a collection of needed things, collect funds and then head to bring this support to
the border with Ukraine, and on the way back pick up people willing to go to Portugal. Often,
having already collected donations, having funds for the travel, they do not know where exactly to
go to deliver them. Whether to Poland or Romania? To which cities, or directly to the border? You
can make their task easier by announcing that you are a group of people and you are waiting for
transport to Portugal in a given city. This will help them determine the route and pick you up from
Poland.
I will attach here a list of Portuguese aid groups on Facebook that I know, in which you can report
that you want to go, where you are and how many people. Write in English, Portuguese speak
English well. There are also a lot of Ukrainians, you can write in Ukrainian.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/666488044505011/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/631085804788081/
Please, remember. Warn Ukrainian people who decide to use the private initiative to take photos
of the license plate of the car and the driver with their ID/driving license in order to send this data
to their relatives. This is a precautionary measure, but safety is crucial, it is mostly women with
children who travel. Unlike transports organized officially with the support of the authorities, these
are beyond any control.
3. Transportation on your own for those with the financial means to purchase a ticket
On their own to Portugal by air can get Ukrainians who have biometric passports or in the
absence of this document, having a special permit issued only in emergency situations by the
Embassy of Portugal – Título de Viagem Única, TVU. In case of transport by land, there is no
requirement to have any of these documents.
4. Flixbus has free tickets for refugees on the route from
Przemyśl/Rzeszów to EU countries
https://global.flixbus.com/ukraine-support
5. Wizzair offers a pool of 100,000 tickets for refugees to be used in March
http://wizzair.com/#/rescue
6. Where to find out more + important contacts
Portugal has implemented aid measures, such as temporary protection status in Portugal for
Ukrainian refugees for 12 months with the possibility of extension, access to health care and the
labor market. More information: https://portugalforukraine.gov.pt/
Portuguese governmental units coordinating aid efforts for refugees from Ukraine:
Consular Crisis Unit
Gabinete de Emergência Consular
+
High Commission for Migration
Alto Comissariado para as Migrações
Phone: +351 218 106 191 (in Ukrainian language)
+351 217 929 714
+351 961 706 472
sosucrania@acm.gov.pt (you can write in Ukrainian)
gec@mne.pt
Embassy of Portugal in Warsaw
Phone +(48 22) 511 10 10/11/12
Back-up Phone + (48) 781 159 430
varsovia@mne.pt