Przekształcenia własnościowe przedsiębiorstw a problem ochrony środowiska naturalnego

Abstract

Problem of protection of environment and natural resources against degradation by industry wasalready recognized in the times ofthe People’s Republic of Poland. However, at that time in the investment processes very little attention was paid to legal regulations concerning the environmental protection. Transformation of the Polish political system after 1989 into the free market economy and related tothat process of enterprise ownership transformation and restructurisation, implied the new investments to be undertaken by the new owners in order to decrease the harmful environmental effects of industry. The ownership restructuring and transformations at the enterprises were followed by a serious problem of so-called historical pollution and the State Treasury responsibility for the damages to the natural environment occurring within the times ofthe People’s Poland. This paper describes the aforementioned issues and presents empirical examples ofthe measures and regulations introduced to solve the problems.