"Depoliticising State-controlled enterprises" by Marcin Zieliński is 1 of 5 reports that were created on the initiative of the Liberté Foundation! They aim to diagnose the main problems we face on the eve of the parliamentary elections and set out the directions for changes and reforms that are needed to improve the current situation. Below we present the main assumptions of the report. #5Liberté Reports!
In Poland – despite the privatisation of enterprises since the early 1990s – the state as the owner is omnipresent. There are inactive 18 entities in the marketplace in the form of a legal state company (including 10 active). In addition, the Treasury holds shares or shares straight in 422 companies (including 342 active). The state besides controls companies indirectly, utilizing its units, specified as the Polish improvement Fund, the Silesia Financial Society and the Agency for Industrial Development. By comparison, in Norway, which is frequently considered to be a model of state ownership supervision, the State controls only 70 companies.
Together with the very large presence of the state in the economy, there is simply a mediocre quality of ownership policy in Poland. In 2016, the global Monetary Fund estimated that from the countries of Central, east and South-Eastern Europe surveyed, Poland's policies in this field were conducted only by Montenegro, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belarus. It can no uncertainty be assumed that subsequent changes, implemented by the Government of Law and Justice, would only make this assessment worse.
The depoliticisation of the state sector in the economy should begin by abolishing legal instruments of nationalisation, which after 2015 introduced the Law and Order to the Polish legal order.
It is further essential to centralise ownership supervision and to delegate it to a single body, to increase the competence and independency of the Board of Companies with the participation of the Treasury and state-owned legal persons, which is now a façade body, and to restrict the ownership of the State to strictly court cases.
In addition to these actions, solutions should be introduced to reduce the indirect impact, i.e. through controlled entities, of the state's presence in the economy. In this respect, the acquisition of assets outside their main business area should be prohibited by specified sub-proposals; the rules on advertising should besides be regulated. The improvement should be complemented by the adoption of anti-corruption and conflict of interest mechanisms specified as the registry of beneficiaries and politically exposed persons.
Reporter: Marcin Zieliński – president and Chief Economist of the Civic improvement Forum, longtime head of the publishing house
Ludwig von Mises Institute for economical Education, author of articles and comments on transformation, privatization, regulatory policy and current economical situation in Poland, translator of economical literature, stockbroker of securities (license number 2894), investment advisor (license number 536).
The full study is available in a convenient format for reading on media pdf
The presented study besides became the starting point for discussion within the Olympic panel: “Liberté Report!: How to depoliticise state-owned companies?”involved:
- Paulina Hening-Kloska – political activist and entrepreneur, associate of the Polish Parliament,
- Krzysztof Kwiatkowski – Senator of the 10th term, president of the legislature Legislative Commission
- Paweł Wojciechowski – economist, manager, civilian servant and diplomat, doctor of method sciences,
- Marcin Zieliński – president of the Management Board & Chief Economist of the Civic improvement Forum.
Moderation: Marcin Zieliński – president of the Management Board & Chief Economist of the Civic improvement Forum.
photo of Zuza Balcerzak
