Before a foreign buyer or lender can rely on Polish commercial property as collateral, one question must be answered first: what already encumbers the debtor who controls it. The Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy is the starting point, but it is not the whole picture. This page maps every official source, states what each one shows, and names the ceiling before any fee is paid.
- What KRS shows
- Corporate structure, registered address, share capital, management board, supervisory board, and filed financial statements. Source: Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (krs.ms.gov.pl) · verified 12 June 2026
- Cost of KRS extract
- Free to search and view online. Certified odpis: approximately 30–60 PLN per entity. Source: Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy · verified 12 June 2026
- Insolvency register
- KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl) is public, free, and requires no login. It contains proceedings opened after 1 December 2021 only. Source: KRZ · verified 13 June 2026
- Pledge register
- Two separate systems exist: Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance). A full pledge profile requires both. Source: Centralna Informacja / e-Urząd Skarbowy · verified 12 June 2026
- Beneficial ownership
- CRBR is public, free, and requires no account. Source: CRBR (crbr.podatki.gov.pl) · verified 12 June 2026
What the KRS file establishes about a debtor
The KRS entry for a Polish limited liability company or joint-stock company contains the registered seat, share capital, current and historical management board members, supervisory board members, and the registered shareholders or their proxies. It also links directly to the Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych, where annual financial statements filed since 2019 are available free of charge. These are the documents a lender needs to verify that the corporate vehicle holding the property exists in the form represented.
The KRS does not show encumbrances on the property itself. Mortgages appear in the land register (Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste). Registered pledges appear in two separate pledge registers. Tax-authority charges appear in a third system. None of these feeds into the KRS file automatically.
Insolvency and restructuring proceedings: KRZ and MSiG
Since 1 December 2021, all bankruptcy and restructuring announcements are published in the Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) at krz.ms.gov.pl. The register is public, free, and searchable by PESEL, NIP, KRS number, or case signature without login. A clean result in KRZ means no proceeding opened after that date.
Proceedings opened before 1 December 2021 were published in the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). The MSiG archive at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl is free. It is searchable by entity name, KRS number, NIP, text fragment, case type, and date. Issues are published as PDF only; no structured machine-readable data is available.
A negative result in both KRZ and MSiG does not exclude a pending application that has not yet been announced. The gap between filing and publication can extend to several weeks.
Pledge registers: two systems, one collateral profile
Poland operates two separate pledge registers that must both be checked to establish a full encumbrance picture.
The Rejestr Zastawów, maintained by the Ministry of Justice through Centralna Informacja, covers registered pledges on movable assets and rights. A certificate (DW-1) confirming whether a named entity appears as pledgor costs 20 PLN. A certificate (DW-2) by subject of pledge costs 20 PLN. A certified extract (DW-4) costs 15 PLN. These fees apply per certificate.
The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych, maintained by the Ministry of Finance, covers tax-authority pledges securing unpaid tax liabilities. Search by subject is free. A wypis or zaświadczenie costs 50 PLN and is available through e-Urząd Skarbowy.
| Register | Authority | Covers | Search cost | Certificate cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rejestr Zastawów | Ministry of Justice / Centralna Informacja | Registered pledges on movables and rights | Free online search | DW-1/DW-2: 20 PLN each; DW-4: 15 PLN |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych | Ministry of Finance / e-Urząd Skarbowy | Tax-authority pledges | Free | Wypis/zaświadczenie: 50 PLN |
VAT status and bank accounts: Biała Lista
The Biała Lista (White List of VAT taxpayers) at podatki.gov.pl, maintained by the Head of the National Revenue Administration (KAS), is free and requires no login. It shows current VAT registration status, registered business details, all bank accounts declared to the tax authority, and the history of deregistration and reinstatement with dates. A search can be run against any past date.
For a collateral assessment, the bank account data is directly relevant. Payment to an account not on the list triggers joint and several VAT liability for the payer. Verifying which accounts the debtor has declared — and whether any have been removed — is a standard step before any transaction involving a Polish entity.
Beneficial ownership: CRBR
The Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych (CRBR) is public, free, and accessible without an account at crbr.podatki.gov.pl. It shows the natural persons who ultimately own or control a Polish legal entity, with their PESEL numbers partially masked. The register is self-reported: the entity's management board files and updates the entry. An entry reflects what was declared, not what was independently verified.
Where the ownership chain passes through a foreign holding company, the CRBR entry shows the foreign entity as an intermediate layer. Tracing the chain beyond that layer requires the company register of the relevant foreign jurisdiction.
Land register: the mortgage layer
Mortgages on Polish real property are registered in the Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW). The EKW is free to search at ekw.ms.gov.pl, but only by KW number (the land register folio number). Search by owner name is not permitted for private parties.
The path to the KW number runs through the ewidencja gruntów i budynków (cadastral register), which holds the folio reference for each plot. A foreign party without access to the cadastral data cannot reach the land register entry directly. Obtaining the KW number requires either the property address combined with a cadastral query or the KW number provided by the seller.
The limit of what the sources allow
Each register in this stack has a ceiling that applies regardless of how the query is structured. KRS shows what was filed, not what is current in fact: a director removed in practice but not yet deregistered still appears as active. KRZ covers only proceedings opened after 1 December 2021; a restructuring approved in 2019 and since concluded leaves no trace there. The MSiG archive is the correct source for that period, but its PDF-only format means no automated cross-check is possible.
The Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych are independent of each other and independent of the land register. A pledge on equipment used in a commercial building does not appear in the EKW. A mortgage on the building does not appear in either pledge register. The three registers must be checked separately; no single query covers all encumbrances.
CRBR is self-reported. The entry reflects the declaration made by the entity's management board. Where a control structure is complex or involves nominee arrangements, the declared beneficial owner may not correspond to the person who exercises control in fact. The register does not verify declarations against transaction data or external sources.
Where the sources disagree
The most frequent discrepancy in this asset class is between the KRS shareholder list and the CRBR beneficial ownership entry. The KRS records registered shareholders; the CRBR records the natural person(s) exercising ultimate control. Where a Polish holding company owns the property-holding entity, the KRS shows the holding company as shareholder and the CRBR should show the natural person behind it. When the CRBR entry names the same legal entity rather than a natural person, the declaration is incomplete under Polish AML law — and the gap itself is a finding.
A second common discrepancy arises between filed financial statements in the Repozytorium and the balance sheet position implied by the pledge registers. A company may show no long-term liabilities in its most recent accounts while carrying active registered pledges. The accounts reflect the reporting date; the pledge register reflects the current encumbrance. Both must be read together.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €590 | KRS extract (current and historical officers, shareholders, share capital); KRZ search (proceedings from 1 December 2021); MSiG search (proceedings before 1 December 2021); CRBR beneficial ownership entry; Biała Lista VAT status and declared bank accounts; Written summary in English with source citations | Pledge register certificates (Rejestr Zastawów and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych); Land register mortgage layer (EKW); Financial statement analysis; Foreign chain tracing beyond the Polish entity |
| Standard | €990 | Everything in Signal, plus: Rejestr Zastawów certificates DW-1 and DW-2 for the debtor entity; Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych search and zaświadczenie; EKW land register extract (requires KW number supplied by client or obtained from cadastral query); Three years of filed financial statements reviewed for material liabilities; Discrepancy note where KRS, CRBR, and financial statements diverge | Cadastral query to obtain KW number if not supplied; Analysis of foreign holding entities; Legal qualification of findings |
| Extended | €2,200 | Everything in Standard, plus: Cadastral query to identify KW number from property address; Full five-year financial statement review with liability mapping; CRBR chain traced through intermediate Polish entities; Cross-register discrepancy analysis with written findings for each gap; Consolidated collateral profile in English, structured for lender use | Tracing beneficial ownership through non-Polish jurisdictions; Legal advice on enforceability of encumbrances; Court file review or litigation history search |
Frequently asked questions
Can KRS be searched in English?
The KRS search interface at krs.ms.gov.pl is in Polish only. All filed documents — articles of association, resolutions, financial statements — are in Polish. The report translates and summarises all material findings in English.
What if the KW number is not available?
Without the KW number, the EKW land register entry cannot be retrieved. The Extended tier includes a cadastral query to obtain the KW number from the property address and plot identifier. The Standard tier requires the client to supply the KW number.
Does a clean KRZ result mean no insolvency risk?
No. KRZ covers proceedings opened after 1 December 2021. Earlier proceedings appear in MSiG. Neither register reflects a petition filed but not yet announced. A full search covers both systems; a negative result in both establishes the absence of announced proceedings, not the absence of any proceeding.
Why check both pledge registers?
The Rejestr Zastawów covers pledges created under civil law. The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych covers pledges created by the tax authority to secure unpaid tax. The two systems do not communicate. A clean result in one does not imply a clean result in the other.
Is the CRBR entry legally reliable?
The CRBR entry is the entity's own declaration. Polish AML law requires accurate and current entries. An incomplete or inaccurate entry is a compliance failure by the entity — and that failure is itself a finding worth noting in a collateral assessment.
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.