Russia’s diplomats have occupied the site since the postwar period. In 1951, communist-era Poland and the Soviet Union signed an agreement granting free use of the building.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the property passed to the State Treasury, according to Polish officials.
Polish and Russian officials have been at odds over money tied to the property.
Gdańsk says Russia used the site for decades as if it were its own and did not pay for its use. The city began charging fees in 2013, following foreign ministry guidance, and says the consulate did not pay or respond to payment demands.
Gdańsk has estimated arrears for 2013 to 2023 at about PLN 5.5 million (EUR 1.3 million), with a further PLN 3 million in interest.
The case went to court, which ordered Russia to pay nearly PLN 400,000 covering part of the outstanding fees.
Gdańsk Deputy Mayor Emilia Lodzińska said the Russian embassy informed the city in writing that an “administrative and technical” employee would stay in the buildings at 13 and 15 Stefana Batorego Street in the city's Wrzeszcz district, which have housed Russia’s consulate.
As a result, she said, the city “physically” will not be able to take possession of the property once the consulate is shut.
Lodzińska said Russia argues the site belongs to the Russian Federation and has asked Polish authorities to ensure the “inviolability” of the premises, describing them as diplomatic property.
Polish officials reject that claim.
Lodzińska said land and mortgage registers list the owner of both buildings as the State Treasury, the legal entity that holds state-owned assets in Poland. She called Russia’s ownership assertions “wrong and untrue.”
The dispute comes as Poland is preparing to close the Russian Consulate General in Gdańsk after Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski withdrew permission for it to operate.
Sikorski announced the move on November 19, citing what he described as Russian acts of sabotage targeting railway lines in Poland.
The Polish foreign ministry has said the consulate must cease operations by midnight on December 23 and its staff must leave Poland.
Foreign ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór said the ministry’s role effectively ends on Tuesday, the last day the consulate is authorized to function.
If, after that, Russia keeps a staffer inside the building, he said it would mean Poland enters a standard legal route the State Treasury has used before to enforce its property rights, with the matter ultimately decided by a court.
Lodzińska said the city has been told that if Russia refuses to hand over the buildings, the State Treasury would need to ask the State Treasury Solicitor’s Office, the government’s legal counsel in such cases, to file a lawsuit for their release.
If Poland wins a final court judgment, enforcement could then be carried out by a bailiff.
Deputy regional governor Emil Rojek said that after Tuesday the property would lose the consular protections that apply under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, but he added that any change of use would still require an “appropriate ruling.”
Gdańsk City Hall legal director Cezary Chabel said Russia’s position is “incomprehensible,” adding that Moscow appears to claim the property was exchanged for other real estate, likely in Gdańsk, but that Polish authorities do not have documentation supporting any such an arrangement.
He said he hoped Russia would take part in any court proceedings and present its records.
Chabel warned the process could take years, and said that under Polish law no one would enter the building until a final court decision orders it handed over to the State Treasury.
After Poland moved to close the Gdańsk consulate, Russia summoned Poland’s ambassador in Moscow on November 27 and announced it would shut Poland’s Consulate General in Irkutsk on December 30.
(rt)
Source: PAP