Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) is one of several Polish registers that a foreign buyer or lender must interrogate before treating commercial property as clean collateral. This page maps which registers are relevant, what each discloses, what each costs, and where the chain of evidence breaks.
- What KRZ shows
- All restructuring and insolvency proceedings opened after 1 December 2021, searchable by NIP, KRS or PESEL, at no charge and without registration. Source: krz.ms.gov.pl · verified July 2026.
- Cost
- Free of charge. No login required.
- Access condition
- A KRS, NIP or case signature is required to run the search. Without the entity's identifier, the search cannot be performed.
- What KRZ does not show
- Proceedings commenced before 1 December 2021. Those are in Rejestr Dłużników Niewypłacalnych and Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy. A negative KRZ result is not a clean bill.
- Charges on the asset
- KRZ does not record pledges or mortgage encumbrances. Two separate registers govern those: Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych.
- Land title
- Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW) is searchable only by KW number, not by owner name. The KW number must be obtained from the land registry (ewidencja gruntów) first.
The collateral value of a Polish commercial asset depends on what is registered against it, not only on what the seller discloses. Three separate charge systems — mortgage (hipoteka), registered pledge (zastaw rejestrowy) and tax pledge (zastaw skarbowy) — can encumber the same asset simultaneously. None of the three appears in the others' register.
What the collateral picture requires
A complete encumbrance profile for commercial property in Poland requires parallel queries across at least five registers. The table below lists each, its disclosure scope, its cost to a one-off requester, and the access condition that blocks a foreign requester without local infrastructure.
| Register | What it shows | Cost (per query) | Access condition | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KRZ — Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych | Insolvency and restructuring proceedings from 1 Dec 2021 | Free | NIP, KRS or case signature required | Proceedings before 1 Dec 2021; pledges; mortgages |
| MSiG — Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy | Insolvency announcements and court notices; archive from 1996 | Free | Entity name, KRS or NIP; PDF issues only, no structured data | Post-December 2021 insolvency proceedings (now in KRZ) |
| Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) | Registered pledges on movables and rights | DW-1 certificate (pledgor): 20 PLN · DW-2 certificate (asset): 20 PLN · DW-4 extract: 15 PLN | Centralna Informacja Zastawów; physical or e-submission | Tax pledges; mortgages; pledges registered before entry |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance) | Tax pledges securing unpaid tax liabilities | Search: free · Wypis/zaświadczenie: 50 PLN via e-Urząd Skarbowy | e-Urząd Skarbowy account or local tax office | Civil registered pledges; mortgages |
| EKW — Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste | Land title, mortgage encumbrances, easements, ownership chain | Free to view; certified extracts carry a court fee | KW number required; name search not permitted for private requesters | Unregistered claims; possessory interests; pending applications not yet entered |
| KRS — Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy | Legal status, share structure, management, registered address | Free; certified extract 30–60 PLN | No registration required; entity identifier needed | Beneficial ownership (see CRBR); off-register share transfers |
| CRBR — Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych | Declared beneficial owners | Free; no login required | None beyond internet access | Accuracy not verified by the register; foreign holding chains above the declared level |
| Biała lista podatników VAT | VAT status, declared bank accounts, dates of exclusion or reinstatement | Free; API available | No login; NIP required | Tax debt amounts; enforcement proceedings |
The KRZ search in sequence
KRZ is the starting point for insolvency exposure, not the endpoint. The procedural sequence below reflects the order of operations that produces a reliable result.
- Obtain the entity's NIP and KRS number from the seller or from KRS directly.
- Run the KRZ search at krz.ms.gov.pl by NIP and by KRS. Record the case signatures of any results.
- Run a parallel MSiG search at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl for the same entity. This covers proceedings opened before 1 December 2021 and court notices not yet migrated to KRZ.
- If the seller is an individual, obtain their PESEL and repeat both searches. PESEL is not publicly searchable; the seller must provide it.
- Request DW-1 and DW-2 certificates from Centralna Informacja Zastawów for the pledgor and the specific asset. Allow for processing time.
- Obtain a wypis from Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych via e-Urząd Skarbowy. A local tax office account is required; a foreign requester cannot self-serve.
- Obtain the KW number from ewidencja gruntów for the property parcel. Then pull the EKW entry for the full mortgage and encumbrance section (Dział IV).
- Cross-check the bank accounts declared on Biała lista against the transaction account the seller proposes. Payment to an unlisted account triggers joint VAT liability.
The limit of what the sources allow
KRZ contains only proceedings opened from 1 December 2021. A seller with a closed bankruptcy from 2018 or a restructuring concluded in 2020 will return no KRZ result. That is not a finding of solvency. MSiG must be searched in parallel, and the archive extends to 1996 in PDF format with no structured extraction.
EKW is searchable only by KW number. The KW number is not printed on a title deed in a format a foreign requester can locate independently. It must be retrieved from ewidencja gruntów, which is maintained at the district (powiat) level. Each powiat operates its own access portal. There is no national name-to-KW lookup available to private requesters.
Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych requires an e-Urząd Skarbowy account tied to a Polish tax identification number. A foreign legal entity without a Polish NIP cannot self-serve. The certificate costs 50 PLN; the barrier is not cost, it is account registration. Rejestr Zastawów (civil) and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych are entirely separate systems. Neither shows entries from the other. Both must be checked to produce a complete pledge profile.
CRBR shows declared beneficial owners. The register does not verify accuracy. Where the ownership chain runs through a non-Polish holding entity, the chain above the declared level is not visible in CRBR.
Where the sources disagree
KRS shows the registered share structure. CRBR shows the declared beneficial owner. The two can differ: a nominee arrangement, a recent transfer not yet reflected in KRS, or a foreign holding layer above the Polish entity will produce a gap. That gap is itself a finding, not a data error.
EKW records mortgages as entered by the court. A mortgage can be agreed contractually before the court makes the entry. A pending application — submitted but not yet processed — does not appear in the EKW printout. The entry date and the agreement date are separate fields. Both must be read.
Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych (RDF) holds filed financial statements. KRS holds the registration record. A company can be active in KRS while RDF shows no statements filed for recent years. That discrepancy warrants examination before any lending decision.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price (EUR) | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €590 | KRZ search (NIP + KRS); MSiG search; KRS status and share structure; CRBR beneficial owner declaration; Biała lista VAT status and account check; written summary with source citations and retrieval dates | EKW mortgage and encumbrance section; Rejestr Zastawów certificates (DW-1, DW-2); Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych wypis; RDF financial statements; pre-2021 insolvency history beyond MSiG keyword search |
| Standard | €990 | Everything in Signal, plus: EKW Dział IV (mortgages and encumbrances) with KW number retrieval from ewidencja gruntów; Rejestr Zastawów DW-1 and DW-2 certificates for the entity and the property parcel; Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych wypis; RDF financial statements for the last three filed years; consolidated encumbrance table | Physical site visit; valuation; legal qualification of encumbrances; review of draft transaction documents; pre-1996 archive research |
| Extended | €2,200 | Everything in Standard, plus: full MSiG archive review with manual PDF review of relevant issues; review of RDF statements for up to seven filed years; cross-check of CRBR against KRS share structure with gap analysis; Biała lista historical check on a specified past date; written analysis of source discrepancies; executive summary in English for lender or investor use | Legal advice; legal qualification of findings; court representation; physical inspection; valuation; any register not listed above |
Frequently asked questions
Is KRZ sufficient on its own for a pre-acquisition check?
No. KRZ covers insolvency proceedings from 1 December 2021 only. It does not cover pledges, mortgages, tax liens, VAT status or pre-2021 insolvency history. A negative KRZ result confirms only that no qualifying proceeding has been registered since that date.
Why does EKW require a KW number rather than an owner name?
Polish land register law restricts name-based searches to authorised entities. A foreign buyer or lender is not an authorised entity for this purpose. The KW number must be obtained from the district ewidencja gruntów before the EKW entry can be retrieved.
What is the difference between Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych?
Rejestr Zastawów records civil registered pledges created by agreement under the Ustawa o zastawie rejestrowym. It is administered by the Ministry of Justice. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych records tax pledges arising by operation of tax law and securing unpaid tax liabilities. It is administered by the Ministry of Finance. Neither system shows entries from the other. Both must be checked.
What does a gap between CRBR and KRS indicate?
CRBR records what the entity's management has declared. KRS records the registered shareholder structure. A discrepancy can reflect a recent share transfer, a nominee arrangement, or a foreign holding layer. The register does not resolve the discrepancy; it records it. The Extended tier includes a written gap analysis.
Can a foreign lender verify Biała lista bank accounts independently?
Yes. podatki.gov.pl returns VAT status and declared bank accounts without login, using only the NIP. The API allows historical checks on a specified past date. A payment to an account not on the list at the payment date creates joint VAT liability for the payer under Polish tax law.
Disclaimer: This report is a factual compilation from official registers and public sources. It is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and contains no legal qualification of the facts established. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.