A WAVE OF BANKRUPTCIES COVERED POLAND

Poland's economy is experiencing the largest recession in 30 years. Analysts of the insurance company Euler Hermes came to this conclusion, having analyzed the statistics of bankruptcies over the past year. 1293 companies were declared insolvent, which is 32% more than a year earlier. This is a record number of cases recorded over the entire post-Soviet period of the republic's existence.

According to the forecast of the Euler Hermes, this year, the number of insolvent companies will grow by 17% more. According to Tomasz Starus, the representative of the company specializing in export credits, Polish entrepreneurs do not have the ability to compensate for current losses through exports, since the pandemic has affected all countries and markets.

Experts expect a-25% increase in the number of bankruptcies in export markets.

The consequences in the service sector and transport, where the number of bankrupt enterprises grew by 69% and 70% respectively over the year, were the worst for the Polish economy. A different picture was observed in the trade sector, where mainly retail companies went bankrupt. There, the number of bankruptcies increased by 35% compared to 2019. On the other hand, many wholesalers only improved their performance and increased turnover.

The situation with the debts of ordinary Polish citizens is not less difficult. At the end of 2020, the total delay in debt payments registered in the National Debt Register amounted to 59.2 billion zlotys (about 1.2 trillion rubles). This is almost 3.5 billion zlotys (70.5 billion rubles) more than a year earlier.

About 11% of businessmen working in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises are concerned about the risk of the complete liquidation of their business.

In addition, according to the Polsat News.pl news portal, the average amount of debt obligations of Polish citizens has increased from 34,912 to 39,241 zlotys (704-790 thousand rubles). The average debtor on the eve of the New Year was obliged to pay creditors 19 556 zlotys (395 thousand rubles), which is 1154 zlotys (23.2 thousand rubles) more than a year earlier.

The encouraging news for the Polish authorities is that the total number of debtors in the country did not increase, but even slightly decreased. Currently, there are 2,740,828 of them, which is 30 thousand less than at the end of 2019. Experts say the reason for this is the reluctance of small entrepreneurs to take on additional obligations, creating new jobs or being engaged in investments.

According to surveys conducted among Polish entrepreneurs, 37% of companies assess their current financial situation positively, about 30% of business owners are dissatisfied with their economic situation, and 40% of enterprises expect that the situation will only get worse in the coming months.

Less than half (43%) of entrepreneurs believe that they will be able to work without state assistance, while 22% believe that they will not be able to survive without help from the authorities. Basically, Polish businessmen expect a delay or cancellation of social insurance contributions (85%), job subsidies (70%) and tax benefits (52%).