Lack of controls means some companies delay producing financial reports

Many Polish companies, among them several large and famous ones, are delaying the publication of their annual reports, and in some cases failing altogether to produce any report. The problem is that, although the country' s regulations on accountancy practices describe precisely which companies are obliged to publish annual financial reports, there are no controls over whether they do so. According to Mariusz Gwizdala, Director of the Editorial Office of Monitor Polski B, where most companies conducting business in Poland should announce their reports, there is no source of information in Poland about which companies are obliged to do so. The regulations stipulate that tax officials are entitled to check up on whether companies produce financial reports. However, spokesman for the Warsaw Tax Control Office, Leszek Kulinski, admits that very few investigations are ever conducted. He points out that officials are more concerned about a company' s tax obligations. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.D.