Before a foreign buyer or lender commits capital to Polish commercial property, two questions must be answered from official sources: who controls the entity that holds the asset, and what encumbrances already attach to it. The Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy (KRS) answers the first question in part. A complete collateral picture requires four additional registers, each with its own access path and its own ceiling.
- What KRS shows
- Current and historical board composition, share capital, registered shareholders, filing history. Source: ems.ms.gov.pl · verified June 2026
- Cost of KRS search
- Free of charge; certified extract (odpis) costs approximately 30–60 PLN. Source: Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości · verified June 2026
- Charge registers
- Two separate systems: 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 June 2026
- Insolvency register
- KRZ (krz.ms.gov.pl) is public and free. It covers proceedings opened after 1 December 2021 only. Source: Ministerstwo Sprawiedliwości · verified June 2026
- Beneficial ownership
- CRBR is public, free, and requires no login. Source: crbr.podatki.gov.pl · verified June 2026
What the register system covers
Poland distributes entity and encumbrance data across five distinct registers. No single portal consolidates them. A lender or buyer who checks only KRS sees the corporate shell but misses the pledge layer entirely.
| Register | What it discloses | Access cost | Access condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| KRS | Shareholders, directors, share capital, filing history | Free (certified copy: ~30–60 PLN) | No registration required |
| CRBR | Ultimate beneficial owners, percentage of control | Free | No registration required |
| Rejestr Zastawów (MJ) | Registered pledges on movables and receivables | DW-1 (pledgor): 20 PLN · DW-2 (object): 20 PLN · DW-4 (certified copy): 15 PLN | Per-query fee via Centralna Informacja |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (MF) | Tax pledges securing state claims | Search free; wypis/zaświadczenie: 50 PLN via e-Urząd Skarbowy | e-Urząd Skarbowy account for certified output |
| KRZ | Insolvency and restructuring proceedings from 1 Dec 2021 | Free | No registration required; search by NIP, KRS, PESEL, or case signature |
Collateral encumbrances: two pledge registers, not one
Poland maintains a civil pledge register (Rejestr Zastawów) under the Ministry of Justice and a separate tax pledge register (Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych) under the Ministry of Finance. The two systems do not communicate. A query to one returns no information about the other.
The civil register records pledges over movable assets and receivables created by agreement. The tax register records pledges arising by operation of law to secure unpaid tax and customs liabilities. Both can encumber assets that a commercial property entity holds as working capital, equipment, or receivables from tenants.
For a foreign buyer or lender, reaching either register requires a national identifier (NIP or PESEL) for the pledgor, or a precise description of the pledged object. Obtaining those identifiers from KRS or CRBR is the prerequisite step, not the endpoint.
Beneficial ownership: CRBR and its ceiling
The Centralny Rejestr Beneficjentów Rzeczywistych (CRBR) is public, free, and requires no account. It discloses the name, nationality, and percentage of control of each declared ultimate beneficial owner.
CRBR shows what the entity itself declared. Cross-checking that declaration against KRS share registers and against the ownership chain in intermediate holding entities is a separate step. Where the chain passes through a non-Polish jurisdiction, the CRBR entry is the terminal point of what Polish registers can confirm.
Insolvency status: KRZ and the pre-December 2021 gap
The Krajowy Rejestr Zadłużonych (KRZ) replaced the former Rejestr Dłużników Niewypłacalnych and has been the sole publication venue for insolvency and restructuring announcements since 1 December 2021. It is public, free, and searchable without login by NIP, KRS number, PESEL, or case signature.
Proceedings commenced before 1 December 2021 were published in the Monitor Sądowy i Gospodarczy (MSiG). The MSiG archive from 1996 is searchable at wyszukiwarka-msig.ms.gov.pl at no charge. An entity with a clean KRZ record may carry a concluded or ongoing earlier proceeding visible only in MSiG.
A negative KRZ result therefore does not confirm absence of insolvency history. It confirms absence of a post-November 2021 proceeding.
Financial statements: Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych
KRS-registered entities file annual financial statements in the Repozytorium Dokumentów Finansowych (RDF), accessible free of charge at ekrs.ms.gov.pl. The repository holds balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, and auditor reports where filing is mandatory.
Filed statements reflect what the entity submitted. They are not audited by the registry. Gaps in filing history are themselves a data point: a missing year means the statement was either not filed on time or filed late, both of which carry their own implications for a collateral assessment.
VAT status and bank accounts: Biała Lista
The Biała Lista (White List), maintained by the Chief of the National Revenue Administration at podatki.gov.pl, is free and requires no login. It shows current VAT registration status, declared bank account numbers, and the reasons and dates for any deregistration, refusal, or reinstatement.
The list can be queried as of any past date. This allows verification of VAT status at the time a specific transaction occurred. For a buyer or lender, the declared bank accounts on the Biała Lista are the accounts to which payments must be directed to avoid joint and several VAT liability under Polish tax law.
The limit of what the sources allow
Each register discloses what was declared to it or what arose by operation of law within its scope. The registers do not cross-check each other. The following limits are structural and cannot be resolved by querying more carefully.
| Register | What it cannot show |
|---|---|
| KRS | Beneficial ownership beyond the first registered layer; nominee arrangements; undisclosed side agreements on voting or profit rights |
| CRBR | Whether the declared beneficial owner accurately reflects economic control; ownership chains passing through non-Polish entities |
| Rejestr Zastawów (MJ) | Tax pledges; pledges registered in other EU member states; unregistered security arrangements |
| Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych (MF) | Civil pledges; contractual security not arising from a tax liability |
| KRZ | Proceedings commenced before 1 December 2021; foreign insolvency proceedings not recognised in Poland |
| MSiG | Proceedings from December 2021 onward (now in KRZ); output is PDF only, no machine-readable data |
| RDF (financial statements) | Accuracy of the filed data; missing filings are visible as gaps but their content is not |
| Biała Lista | Bank accounts not declared to the tax authority; accounts at foreign banks |
Where the ownership chain exits Poland, the chain is traced to the point at which a Polish register provides a verified name. The foreign segment is described as unverifiable through Polish official sources, with the jurisdiction named.
Where the sources disagree
KRS shows registered shareholders. CRBR shows declared beneficial owners. When these two records name different individuals at the same percentage level, the discrepancy is itself a material finding. It may reflect a lawful intermediate structure, a filing delay, or an inaccurate CRBR declaration.
Financial statements filed in RDF sometimes show liabilities that do not appear in either pledge register. Conversely, a pledge register entry may remain active after the underlying obligation has been discharged, if the pledgor did not apply for removal. Both conditions are noted as discrepancies in the report, not resolved by the report.
What is included at each tier
| Tier | Price | Included | Not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | €590 | KRS current extract with filing history; CRBR beneficial owner record; KRZ insolvency check; MSiG search from 1996; VAT status and declared accounts from Biała Lista; summary of discrepancies between KRS and CRBR | Pledge register queries (either system); financial statement analysis; land register check; cross-border ownership tracing |
| Standard | €990 | Everything in Signal; Rejestr Zastawów query (pledgor and object); Rejestr Zastawów Skarbowych query; three years of filed financial statements from RDF with gap notation; land register number identification via ewidencja gruntów | Full financial statement analysis; cross-border ownership tracing beyond first non-Polish layer; legal qualification of findings |
| Extended | €2,200 | Everything in Standard; five years of financial statements with ratio summary; cross-border ownership tracing to the second non-Polish layer with jurisdiction identification; full pledge profile with status of each encumbrance (active or discharged); MSiG archive review for restructuring announcements; written summary of all discrepancies across all sources | Legal advice; legal qualification of findings; court representation; audit of financial statements; verification of facts outside official Polish registers |
These registers are public. Several are free of charge. What the fee covers is the removed path: identifying the correct national identifiers, navigating Polish-language interfaces, obtaining certified outputs where required, and assembling findings from five separate systems into a single structured document.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreign buyer access these registers directly?
KRS, CRBR, KRZ, and Biała Lista are publicly accessible online without registration. The pledge registers and the land register require either a national identifier for the subject entity or, in the case of the land register, the KW number, which must first be located through the cadastral system. Language and interface navigation present practical barriers for most foreign users.
Does a clean KRZ result mean the entity has no insolvency history?
No. KRZ covers proceedings from 1 December 2021 only. Earlier proceedings were published in MSiG. A complete insolvency check requires both systems. A clean KRZ result with no MSiG search is an incomplete check.
What if the ownership chain passes through a non-Polish holding company?
Polish registers verify the Polish segment of the chain. The report names the foreign jurisdiction at which the chain exits Polish official sources and describes what that jurisdiction's own registers disclose, if anything, based on publicly available information. No foreign legal opinion is included.
How long does the report take?
Signal and Standard reports are typically delivered within five business days of confirmation of the subject entity's details. Extended reports require up to ten business days, depending on the complexity of the ownership structure and the volume of pledge register queries.
Is the report admissible as due diligence documentation for a lender?
The report is a factual compilation from official sources, with source citations and retrieval dates. Whether it satisfies a particular lender's due diligence requirements is a matter for that lender and its advisers. The report does not constitute legal advice and contains no legal qualification of the facts established.
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.