BUSINESS

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Ing. Pavel Bartoš is President of

the Union for the Development

of the Moravian-Silesian

Region (Sdružení pro rozvoj

Moravskoslezského

kraje),

established in 1990. The union

currently has 127 members

from various fields. The union

struggles to support the targets

and interests of its members

in accordance with the

strategic plan of the MoravianSilesian Region in economic,

environmental, infrastructure,

education and human resource

development.

Mr Bartoš, our region has transformed from

its “Coal Age”. Can we draw inspiration

from the processes and experience of other

European regions?

The Union for the Development of the

Moravian-Silesian Region went on a very

useful trip to the German federal state

Nordrhein-Westfalen (Land NRW) and

its specific region Ruhr. Our host was the

RAG organization, the main representative

and organizer of the reduction of black

coal extraction and the transformation of

the former coal mining region. The main

purpose of our trip was to learn about the

reduction of underground black coal mining

industries and later usage of mines after

the extraction has finished, to learn about

hydrogen technologies and smart-innovative

solutions. The main aim of the study trip

was to explore practical solutions and

opportunities for the particular cooperation

of subjects operating in these spheres in the

regions of Moravia-Silesia and Ruhr.

Our host presented very interesting

instruction on the system of the gradual

reduction of black coal mining and

metallurgy. Their coal mining reduction

started in the 1960s. The concluding part of

termination of extraction started some 20

years ago with a government resolution to

finish coal extraction by the end of 2018. At

that time the organizational and propertymanagement structures were established to

make the reduction steps as self-financing

as possible, with some funds coming from

state-governed budgets.

What impact may this experience have on

the so-called “Coal Platform” in the Czech

Republic?

During our negotiations we discussed

possible collaboration within the “Coal

Platform”.

Our

German

partners

recommend intensifying the current

cooperation of the Government of the

Moravian-Silesian Region (Czech Rep.),

Silesia Province (Śląskie province, Poland),

and the Žilina Self-Governing Region

(Žilinský samosprávný kraj, Slovakia) with

Ruhr (Germany) and the Nitra Self-Governing

Region (Nitranský samosprávný kraj,

Slovakia), and to transform this cooperation

into actual solutions of particular tasks.

The frequent conclusion to all presentations

was that only the partnership of stategoverned and private spheres, and longterm system and concept solutions bring

successful results. Our German partners

offered further cooperation and sharing

of their particular experience with

representatives of our region.

Where and how will our visions be

developed?

Actually, all presentations emphasized that

none of the present achievements would

have been made without a systematic

concept solution actively supported by the

aforementioned partners from the public

administration and enterprise. Innovative

ideas and model solutions of structural

transformation in urban areas illustrate the

sustainable and environmental-friendly

renewal in a city and urban landscape, still

providing a good setting for a functional

industrial district. It is vital that innovative

(smart) solutions include regional facilities

for the energy recovery of communal and

other waste (including dangerous waste),

such as in Herten, where the processing

plant with a capacity of 700,000 tons

produces power and heat for the city of

Herten. This solution replaced an annual

consumption of 350,000 tons of coal.

Mr Bartoš, Thank you very much for the

interview. Ing. Radúz Mácha

POSITIV ǀ 1/2019 27