Amendment to restitution bill will include former citizens in compensation

The Senate on Friday amended the highly controversial restitution bill aimed at returning part of property seized by the former communist government, which critics had said would have unjustly excluded former Polish citizens from compensation. Under the amendment, all owners and their heirs who possessed Polish citizenship on the day they lost their property will be eligible for restitution. “This amendment eliminates all the potential legal suits that could have been filed. It is one of the biggest successes of the bill,” said Treasury Minister Andrzej Chronowski. The amendment must be approved by the lower house and signed by the President. The government estimates assets seized by the communists after World War II at roughly zl.190 billion, but only zl.95 billion worth of assets are eligible for restitution.(Reuters, Rzeczpospolita, Jan. 27-28, p.A1) P.J