The spectre of bankruptcy no longer so frightening

Bankruptcy may soon become a rarely used term in Poland. This is because since the beginning of the year, a new restructuring law has been in force, which has also changed the bankruptcy law. According to its principles, almost every company will be given a second chance, and entrepreneurs will be bankrupted only as a last resort. There are more interesting solutions.

Restructuring culture

Generalnie nowe prawo zmienia podejście do problemów w firmie.

- This is a change from a culture of liquidation to a culture of restructuring - mówi Maciej Roch Pietrzak, licencjonowany restructuring advisor, prezes PMR Restrukturyzacje, prodziekan ds. nauki i legislacji Krajowej Izby Doradców Restrukturyzacyjnych. The previous law of 2003. Bankruptcy and Reorganisation Law tended to favour bankruptcy.

- The provisions for opening resolution proceedings were virtually dead. Fewer than 60 proceedings over thirteen years are a failure -. notes Andrzej Głowacki, President of DGA. There were also few composition proceedings.

- In practice, they accounted for only about 20 per cent of all proceedings, and only 138 arrangements have not ended with their revocation to date. Thus, for the majority of entrepreneurs, bankruptcy proceedings ended with the liquidation of their companies - says Piotr Zimmerman, legal counsel at Zimmerman and Partners. This led to creditors being satisfied to a lesser extent than would have been possible with the continued operation of the company.

— Obecnie, jeśli tylko dłużnik wyrazi chęć Restrukturyzacji, to co do zasady taką szansę dostanie — notes Anna Pukszto, president of the Association of Restructuring Practitioners, legal counsel, partner at Dentons Law Firm. - Bankruptcy proceedings, on the other hand, are intended to become a last resort when the entrepreneur's situation proves so difficult that restructuring has no prospects for the future. adds Piotr Zimmerman.

The article appeared on 4 February 2016 on pb.pl
" see pb.pl