In 2012, 941 companies went out of business in Poland, the most since 2004, according to Euler Hermes. What’s worse, the number of bankruptcies might be even higher in 2013.

Analysts from the Export Credit Insurance Corporation (KUKE) predict that the number of insolvencies will exceed 1,300 in 2013. The worst period will be the first two quarters of the year, the KUKE report predicts.

Last year was particularly tough for construction companies, as 259 of them declared bankruptcy between January and November, among them firms that built highways and stadiums for Euro 2012.

But construction wasn’t the only sector that fell on hard times last year. Numerous companies in the machinery, foodstuffs and transport industries also went out of business. The sales sector also suffered.

The biggest reason for the recent wave of bankruptcies is companies’ lack of liquidity. The number of reported unpaid receivables has been growing since Q3 2011. By Q3 2012 it was double what it had been at the beginning of 2008, which is when the current economic downturn started, reports Coface Poland.

Coface Poland

Jacek Ciesnowski