Before a foreign buyer or lender can treat Polish commercial property as reliable collateral, the debtor standing behind it must be verified. CEIDG — the Central Register and Information on Business Activity — is the entry point for sole traders and civil-law partnerships. It is free, public, and available without registration. What it does not resolve is the full encumbrance picture: that requires a sequence of additional registers, each with its own access condition.
The collateral question is not answered by any single source. It is answered by the intersection of CEIDG, the land register, two separate pledge registers, the insolvency register, and the VAT whitelist. Each source has a defined ceiling. This page names that ceiling before any payment is made.
- What CEIDG shows
- Trading name, registered address, NIP, REGON, PKD activity codes, suspension and cessation dates. Source: CEIDG (ceidg.gov.pl) · verified 26 July 2026
- Cost of CEIDG access
- Free of charge, no registration required, no national identifier needed from the requester.
- What CEIDG does not show
- Pledges, mortgages, insolvency proceedings, tax debts, or beneficial ownership. Separate registers must be queried for each.
- Pledge registers
- Two systems exist: Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance). A complete pledge profile requires both. Source: Centralna Informacja and e-Urząd Skarbowy · verified 26 July 2026
- Insolvency register
- KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl): public, free, no login. Contains proceedings opened after 1 December 2021 only. Source: KRZ · verified 26 July 2026
What CEIDG establishes about the debtor
CEIDG records sole traders (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza) and partners in civil-law partnerships (spółka cywilna). The register shows current and historical entries: trading name, registered address, NIP, REGON, PKD codes, and the dates of suspension or cessation of activity. An active entry confirms the trader is not formally closed. A suspended or ceased entry is a material fact for any collateral assessment.
CEIDG does not capture companies registered in KRS — limited liability companies (sp. z o.o.), joint-stock companies (S.A.), or partnerships with legal personality. If the debtor is a KRS entity, CEIDG returns no result. That is not an error; it is a jurisdictional boundary between the two registers.
The pledge layer: two registers, not one
Polish law maintains two separate pledge systems. A buyer or lender who queries only one receives an incomplete picture.
The first is Rejestr Zastawów, administered by the Ministry of Justice through Centralna Informacja. A DW-1 certificate on a pledgor costs 20 PLN. A DW-2 certificate on a specific pledged item costs 20 PLN. A full extract (DW-4) costs 15 PLN. These are payable charges; there is no free search path for certified output.
The second is Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, administered by the Ministry of Finance. A subject search is free via e-Urząd Skarbowy. A wypis or zaświadczenie costs 50 PLN. This register captures fiscal pledges — security interests arising from unpaid tax obligations. A clean result in Rejestr Zastawów does not eliminate fiscal pledges, and vice versa.
| Register | Administrator | Search cost | Certified output cost | What it captures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice / Centralna Informacja | Paid (DW-1: 20 PLN; DW-2: 20 PLN) | DW-4 extract: 15 PLN | Contractual registered pledges on movables and rights |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance / e-Urząd Skarbowy | Free (subject search) | Wypis / zaświadczenie: 50 PLN | Fiscal pledges arising from unpaid tax liabilities |
Insolvency status: KRZ and its cut-off date
KRZ (Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych, krz.ms.gov.pl) is public and free. No login is required. Search criteria include PESEL, NIP, KRS number, and case signature. KRZ replaced the former Rejestr Dłużników Niewypłacalnych and is the current authoritative source for bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.
The critical constraint: KRZ contains only proceedings opened after 1 December 2021. A debtor who completed bankruptcy proceedings before that date will not appear. An absence of a KRZ record is not a clean bill of health for the period before December 2021. Earlier proceedings must be traced through MSiG — the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy — whose archive runs from 1996 and is searchable free of charge at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl.
VAT status and bank account verification
The Biała lista (White List of VAT taxpayers), maintained by the Head of KAS at podatki.gov.pl, is free and requires no login. It returns VAT status, registered details, and the bank account numbers the entity has declared to the tax authority. It permits checks against any past date.
For a lender, the bank account field is directly relevant to collateral: a payment made to an account not on the list creates joint VAT liability for the payer under Polish tax law. Verifying declared accounts before any transaction is a standard step, not an optional one.
Land register access and the name-search barrier
The electronic land and mortgage register (EKW) is free to access. The barrier is structural: EKW requires the KW number (księga wieczysta number) to retrieve a record. Search by owner name is not available to private requesters. The standard path is: obtain the property's plot identifier from the land parcel register (ewidencja gruntów i budynków), then trace the KW number from that identifier.
This means a collateral check on real property cannot begin at EKW. It begins at the cadastral layer. Without the correct KW number, the mortgage section of EKW — Section IV, which discloses all registered mortgages — remains inaccessible.
Beneficial ownership: CRBR
The Central Register of Beneficial Owners (CRBR) is public, free, and requires no account. It records the natural persons who ultimately own or control Polish legal entities subject to the reporting obligation. CRBR covers KRS entities — companies, foundations, trusts, and certain partnerships. Sole traders registered only in CEIDG are not subject to CRBR reporting: the individual is directly identifiable from the CEIDG record itself.
The limit of what the sources allow
CEIDG confirms that a sole trader is registered and active. It does not show what that trader owes, what assets are encumbered, or whether insolvency proceedings have been filed. Each of those questions requires a separate register — and each register has a defined boundary.
KRZ covers insolvency proceedings from 1 December 2021 forward. Proceedings closed before that date are not in KRZ. MSiG covers the earlier period, but its outputs are PDF issues — no structured data, no machine-readable export. The two registers together do not form a seamless timeline: the overlap period requires manual reconciliation.
Rejestr Zastawów covers contractual pledges on movables and rights registered under the Registered Pledge Act. It does not capture fiscal pledges. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych captures fiscal pledges but not contractual ones. A pledge that exists in one system is invisible in the other. Neither register covers mortgages on real property — those sit in EKW Section IV. A collateral assessment that relies on any single register is structurally incomplete.
- CEIDG: no encumbrance data, no insolvency data, no financial data
- KRZ: proceedings from 1 December 2021 only; no earlier history
- Rejestr Zastawów: contractual pledges only; no fiscal pledges
- Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych: fiscal pledges only; no contractual pledges
- EKW: accessible only by KW number, not by owner name
- CRBR: KRS entities only; CEIDG sole traders not covered
Where the sources disagree
The most frequent discrepancy is between CEIDG status and KRZ status. A trader may appear active in CEIDG — no suspension, no cessation — while a restructuring proceeding is open in KRZ. CEIDG is not updated automatically when insolvency proceedings are filed. The two registers are maintained by different authorities and are not synchronised in real time.
A second common discrepancy arises between the address shown in CEIDG and the address recorded in EKW or ewidencja gruntów. A trader may have changed their registered address in CEIDG without updating the cadastral or land register records. Where the debtor's identity in the land register does not match the current CEIDG entry, that discrepancy must be resolved before any collateral reliance.
What is included at each tier
| Scope | Signal — €590 | Standard — €990 | Extended — €2,200 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEIDG status check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| KRZ insolvency search (post-Dec 2021) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Biała lista VAT status and account check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rejestr Zastawów search (contractual pledges) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych search (fiscal pledges) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| MSiG archive search (pre-Dec 2021 insolvency) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| CRBR beneficial ownership (if KRS entity is involved) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| EKW mortgage section (Section IV) — requires KW number | — | — | ✓ |
| Ewidencja gruntów — plot-to-KW number tracing | — | — | ✓ |
| KRS financial statements (Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych) | — | — | ✓ |
| Written summary with source citations | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Discrepancy note where sources conflict | — | — | ✓ |
| Not included | Pledge registers; MSiG archive; EKW mortgage section; financial statements; written summary | EKW mortgage section; plot-to-KW tracing; financial statements; discrepancy note | Legal advice; qualification of findings; representation |
Frequently asked questions
Is CEIDG sufficient for a collateral check on Polish commercial property?
No. CEIDG confirms registration status only. It contains no data on encumbrances, pledges, mortgages, or insolvency proceedings. A collateral assessment requires CEIDG as a starting point, then a sequence of separate registers for each encumbrance category.
Why are there two pledge registers in Poland?
The two systems reflect different legal origins. Rejestr Zastawów records pledges created under the Registered Pledge Act — contractual security over movables and rights. Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych records pledges arising by operation of tax law when liabilities go unpaid. Neither register captures the other's entries.
What does an absence of a KRZ record confirm?
It confirms that no insolvency or restructuring proceeding was opened in KRZ after 1 December 2021. It says nothing about earlier proceedings. A separate MSiG archive search is required to cover the period before that date.
These registers are free — what does the report charge cover?
Several of the registers used are public and free of charge. What the report covers is the removed path: identifying the correct national identifiers, navigating access conditions that differ by register, conducting searches in Polish, obtaining certified outputs where required, reconciling results across sources, and producing a written record in English. The charge also covers the certified outputs from Rejestr Zastawów, which carry their own statutory fees.
Can the EKW mortgage section be checked without the KW number?
No. EKW search by owner name is not available to private requesters. The KW number must be obtained first — typically by tracing the property's plot identifier through the ewidencja gruntów. This tracing step is included in the Extended tier.
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.