A foreign buyer or lender assessing Polish commercial property as collateral faces a specific problem: the asset may appear unencumbered in one register while carrying charges visible only in another. Establishing the full encumbrance picture requires crossing at least four separate official sources. This page maps those sources, states what each one shows and does not show, and specifies what a structured report covers at each price tier.
- What KRS shows
- Legal status, registered address, management board, share capital, and filed financial statements of the entity holding the asset. Source: Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (ems.ms.gov.pl) · verified 2026-08-12
- Cost of KRS access
- Electronic search and current printout: free of charge. Certified extract (odpis): approximately 30–60 PLN per document.
- Pledge registers
- Two separate systems: Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) and Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance). A complete pledge check requires both. Source: Centralna Informacja / e-Urząd Skarbowy · verified 2026-08-12
- What neither register shows
- Undisclosed contractual pledges, side agreements, and any encumbrance not yet submitted for registration.
What the collateral picture requires
The land register (Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste) records mortgages and ownership. The KRS records the legal existence and financial history of the entity. The two pledge registers record charges over movables and receivables. The insolvency register (KRZ) records restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings. None of these systems communicates with the others in real time.
A buyer or lender relying on a single extract misses the cross-register picture. The collateral value of a Polish commercial asset depends on what all four layers show simultaneously — and on what the gaps between them conceal.
| Register | What it shows | Access condition | Cost | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KRS (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy) | Legal status, directors, share capital, filed financials | Free, no login | Free (certified extract: ~30–60 PLN) | Shows registered data only; does not reflect unregistered changes |
| Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) | Registered pledges over movables and rights | Free search; certificates paid | DW-1/DW-2 certificate: 20 PLN each; DW-4 extract: 15 PLN | Covers only pledges registered here; tax pledges are in a separate system |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance) | Tax pledges (zastawy skarbowe) over assets | Free search; wypis paid | Wypis/zaświadczenie: 50 PLN via e-Urząd Skarbowy | Covers only tax authority pledges; civil pledges are in the Ministry of Justice system |
| EKW (Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste) | Ownership, mortgages, encumbrances on real property | Free, but requires KW number | Free | Search by owner name is not permitted for private parties; KW number must be sourced first |
| KRZ (Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych) | Insolvency and restructuring proceedings | Free, no login | Free | Contains only proceedings opened after 1 December 2021; earlier cases are not visible here |
| MSiG (Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy) | Official gazette: corporate announcements, older insolvency notices | Free, no login | Free | Insolvency and restructuring announcements since December 2021 are published in KRZ, not MSiG |
| Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych | Filed annual financial statements | Free, no login | Free | Filing obligation varies by entity type; not all entities file consolidated accounts here |
| Biała Lista (White List of VAT payers) | VAT status, registered bank accounts, exclusion history | Free, no login | Free | Covers VAT-registered entities only; historical check available for any past date |
| CRBR (Central Register of Beneficial Owners) | Declared ultimate beneficial owners | Free, no login | Free | Shows declared data only; accuracy depends on entity compliance with reporting obligation |
The KRS layer: what it establishes and where it stops
KRS is the primary corporate register. It is free of charge and requires no login. The electronic search returns current registered data: legal form, registered address, management board composition, supervisory board, share capital, and the date of last registered change.
The Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych, linked to KRS, holds filed annual financial statements. Access is also free. These statements allow a reader to trace asset values, liabilities, and off-balance-sheet items across reporting periods — subject to the caveat that not all entity types are required to file here, and that consolidated group accounts may be filed at a different entity level.
What KRS does not show: unregistered changes in management or ownership, pending applications not yet processed, and any encumbrance that is not the subject of a separate registration obligation. A KRS extract is a snapshot of registered data at the moment of retrieval — not a guarantee of current fact.
The pledge layer: two registers, one check
Poland operates two distinct pledge registers. The Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice, Centralna Informacja) covers registered pledges under civil law — charges over movables, receivables, and rights. A certificate confirming the pledge status of a named pledgor (DW-1) costs 20 PLN. A certificate covering a specific asset (DW-2) also costs 20 PLN. A certified extract (DW-4) costs 15 PLN.
The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance) covers tax pledges — charges arising from unpaid tax liabilities. Search is free. A formal wypis or zaświadczenie costs 50 PLN and is obtained through e-Urząd Skarbowy.
A check of only one register produces an incomplete picture. Tax pledges do not appear in the Ministry of Justice register. Civil pledges do not appear in the Ministry of Finance register. Both must be queried for the same asset to establish the full pledge position.
The insolvency layer: KRZ and the pre-2021 gap
KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl) is the current insolvency register. It is public, free of charge, and requires no login. Search is possible by NIP, KRS number, PESEL, or case signature. It covers restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings opened after 1 December 2021.
This cutoff date is a structural limit. Proceedings opened before 1 December 2021 are not visible in KRZ. They were published in MSiG (Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy), which maintains a searchable archive from 1996. A complete insolvency check requires both systems. An absence of a KRZ record does not mean an absence of proceedings.
MSiG also carries corporate announcements — changes in management, dissolution, liquidation notices — that predate the KRZ migration. The MSiG search interface at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl allows search by entity name, KRS number, NIP, text fragment, case type, and date range. Output is PDF; no machine-readable data export is available.
The land register layer: the KW number barrier
Mortgages and real property encumbrances are recorded in the Elektroniczne Księgi Wieczyste (EKW). The register is free to access. However, access requires the KW (księga wieczysta) number for the specific property. Search by owner name is not permitted for private parties.
The standard path is: obtain the land and buildings register (ewidencja gruntów i budynków) entry for the parcel, extract the KW number from it, then query EKW. This requires either seller cooperation or a separate administrative step. The EKW entry itself shows current ownership, all registered mortgages, easements, and other encumbrances in four sections (działy).
The VAT and beneficial ownership layer
The Biała Lista (White List of VAT payers) is maintained by the head of the National Revenue Administration (szef KAS) and is available at podatki.gov.pl. It is free and requires no login. It shows current VAT status, the bank accounts declared by the entity, and the history of exclusions and reinstatements with dates. A check can be run for any past date — relevant when reviewing historical transactions.
A payment made to a bank account not listed on the Biała Lista at the date of payment triggers joint and several VAT liability for the paying party. This makes the Biała Lista check a transactional risk control, not only a due diligence step.
CRBR (Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych) is open, free, and requires no account. It shows the declared beneficial owners of Polish legal entities. The data reflects what the entity itself has reported. CRBR does not verify the accuracy of the declaration; it records it.
Where the sources disagree
The most common cross-register discrepancy in Polish commercial property transactions involves KRS financials and the EKW mortgage section. Filed financial statements may show no long-term liabilities while the land register simultaneously records an active mortgage. This occurs when a loan is secured by the property but classified differently in the accounts, or when a mortgage has not yet been discharged despite repayment.
A second recurring discrepancy arises between CRBR declared ownership and the KRS shareholder list. CRBR shows what was declared as beneficial ownership; KRS shows registered shareholders. Where intermediate holding structures exist, the two records may name different individuals at different levels of the chain.
A third discrepancy involves KRZ and MSiG coverage. An entity may have no KRZ record but carry a completed restructuring visible only in the MSiG archive. Absence from KRZ is not the same as a clean insolvency history.
The limit of what the sources allow
The registers described on this page are the ceiling of what official Polish sources disclose to a party without judicial or prosecutorial authority. Several structural limits apply regardless of the completeness of the check.
First: the land register requires the KW number. Without it, EKW cannot be queried. The KW number is held by the seller or by the land and buildings authority. A buyer who cannot obtain it from the seller cannot independently access the mortgage section of the land register.
Second: the insolvency register covers proceedings from 1 December 2021 onward. Earlier proceedings require a separate MSiG search. Neither system covers proceedings that were not publicly announced — for example, informal debt arrangements or pre-insolvency negotiations.
Third: the pledge registers cover registered pledges. A pledge that has not been submitted for registration, or that was submitted but not yet processed, does not appear. The same applies to contractual security arrangements that fall outside the registration obligation.
Fourth: CRBR records declared beneficial ownership. The register does not verify declarations. Where the declared structure does not match the actual control structure, the register shows the declaration, not the reality.
Fifth: KRS financial statements are filed with a lag. The most recent filed accounts may be one to two reporting years behind the current position. Off-balance-sheet liabilities, contingent claims, and group-level exposures may not appear in the entity-level filing.
What is included at each tier
Most of the registers described above are free of charge. What the report covers is the removed path: identifying the correct national identifiers, navigating access conditions that differ by register, working in Polish, obtaining certified documents where required, and assembling the cross-register picture in a single structured output.
| Tier | Price | What is included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €290 | KRS current extract (legal status, directors, share capital); Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych — most recent filed financial statements; KRZ insolvency check; Biała Lista VAT status and bank accounts; CRBR beneficial ownership declaration; MSiG name search (last 5 years) | Pledge register checks (both systems); EKW land register; MSiG full archive search; cross-register discrepancy analysis; certified document procurement |
| Standard | €470 | All Signal content; Rejestr Zastawów check (DW-1 and DW-2 certificates, subject pledgor and asset); Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych check (wypis); MSiG full archive search from 1996; cross-register discrepancy section identifying divergences between KRS, EKW, CRBR, and KRZ | EKW land register (requires KW number — provided by client); financial statement analysis beyond filed documents; group-level consolidation review; certified document procurement beyond standard certificates |
| Extended | €960 | All Standard content; EKW land register query (client provides KW number); three years of filed financial statements with liability and off-balance-sheet summary; certified extracts from both pledge registers; full cross-register matrix with source-by-source discrepancy table; written summary of structural limits applicable to this specific asset | Legal qualification of findings; advice on enforcement steps or remediation; group structure investigation beyond registered entities; verification of unregistered contractual arrangements |
These registers are public and free of charge. What is paid for is the removed path: national identifier sourcing, Polish-language navigation, electronic signature requirements where applicable, and assembly of a cross-register output in English.
Frequently asked questions
Can the EKW land register be accessed without the KW number?
No. The EKW system requires the KW number for the specific property. Search by owner name is not available to private parties. The KW number must be obtained from the seller or from the land and buildings authority (ewidencja gruntów i budynków). Where the client can provide the KW number, EKW access is included in the Extended tier.
Does a clean KRZ record mean no insolvency history?
No. KRZ covers proceedings opened after 1 December 2021. Proceedings before that date were published in MSiG. A complete insolvency check requires both systems. Standard and Extended tiers include the full MSiG archive search from 1996.
Why are two pledge registers necessary?
The Rejestr Zastawów (Ministry of Justice) covers civil pledges. The Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (Ministry of Finance) covers tax pledges. Neither system contains the other's records. A check of only one register produces an incomplete pledge picture. Both are included from the Standard tier.
What does CRBR actually verify?
CRBR records the beneficial ownership declaration submitted by the entity. It does not independently verify that declaration. Where the declared structure diverges from actual control, CRBR shows the declaration. Cross-referencing CRBR against KRS shareholder data is part of the Standard and Extended discrepancy analysis.
How long does report preparation take?
Signal tier: typically three to five business days. Standard tier: five to seven business days. Extended tier: seven to ten business days, subject to certified document processing times at the relevant registries. Timeline is confirmed at order.
What is the delivery format?
Reports are delivered in English as a structured PDF. The Extended tier includes scanned certified documents as attachments. All source references include the register name, query date, and document reference where applicable.
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.