Experts from Rzetelna Firma have prepared a ranking of the reliability of Polish companies, on the podium of which for the first time in history six voivodeships found themselves. The ranking was developed based on data from the National Debt Register.
The first place in this year’s ranking was taken ex aequo by three provinces: Świętokrzyskie, Podlaskie and Lublin, second place on the podium went to companies from Małopolska and Podkarpacie, and third to entrepreneurs from Opole. The ranking was prepared by dividing the total debt of companies from a given province into 1,000 companies registered in that province, and also taking into account the average amount to be repaid per company and the percentage of all indebted companies in a given region. As explained by Katarzyna Starostka, an expert from Rzetelna Firma, in each of these categories points were awarded according to the principle that the smaller the debt and the fewer debtors, the higher the position on the list. The final result in the classification is the sum of points from all categories.
The press release of Rzetelna Firma indicated that the highest debt per 1,000 companies was recorded in Mazovia, as it was as much as PLN 3.884 million, while the lowest in Małopolska – PLN 2.336 million. When it comes to average debt, the highest values were again recorded in Mazovia (PLN 39.1 thousand), and the lowest in Lublin (PLN 31.1 thousand). In turn, the highest percentage of indebted companies is in the Silesian Voivodeship (10.3 percent), and the lowest in Podlasie (6.4 percent). Adding up the points in all categories, the Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie and Lublin Voivodeships were in the lead, gaining 38 points in the ranking. At the other end were entrepreneurs from the Silesian Voivodeship (11 points) and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (10 points), and at the very end – Mazovian Voivodeship (6 points).
Analysts from Rzetelna Firma have indicated that entrepreneurs from less economically developed regions dominate among the most reliable provinces, with the exception of Małopolska and partly Podkarpacie. At the bottom of the table, however, remain the provinces with the largest number of enterprises.
One could conclude from this that dishonesty is an inherent feature of economic development. Without a doubt, where there is a large number of companies, they are subject to greater pressure from competition, which in turn forces them to make riskier economic decisions. This higher risk in the event of failure results in losses and, consequently, debt. Sometimes, saving from collapse takes place at the expense of reliability and hits the contractors of such a company. Apart from the economy, local culture is also of great importance, a certain cult of reliability, honesty, functioning at one’s own expense, and not at someone else’s. This is characteristic of the provinces in the east and south-east of Poland. Here, interpersonal relations play a great role, so the reputation of a reliable payer is also important for maintaining the position on the market
– comments Adam Łącki, president of the management board of the National Debt Register of the Economic Information Bureau.