Social Insurance Company will be empowered to trade debt of deadbeat firms

The Social Insurance Company (ZUS) will have an effective weapon against its notorious debtors. As of Jan. 1, 2001 debts, against which a collection process was conducted for over three months, will be sold. This will also relate to restructured companies, but the Finance Minister must make that decision. "Liabilities trading should be made according to commercial rules, with no restrictions," said the chief of the Commercial Code Commission of the Adam Smith Centre Jan Stefanowicz. "We are against any possible trading of fiscal liabilities. ZUS should just start by selling the debts of state-owned companies, as taxpayers pay zl. 1,500 each per month for the mining industry only," said the chief of the Lobbying Institute of the Business Center Club (BCC) Jerzy Malkowski. Opponents of this proposal say it will allow takeovers by unethical companies. Debts will be sold in a self-styled way and this will prevent selling them to people related with a specified person or a company. Due to effective debt collection in the first half of 2000, ZUS received almost zl. 850 million. Premium collections should amount to 96.9% in 2001. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1, 9)