Systemic transformation and organizational-ownership changes in Poland’s inland shipping companies

Abstract

  The article seeks to reconstruct organisational and ownership changes affecting Polish enterprises in inland shipping since 1990. Based on data from various sources (mainly the Polish Registry of  Ships and Bulletins of  Public Information), it was possible to determine the extent of the transformation processes affecting shipping companies, mostly related to privatization and partial communalization, as well as organisational changes. There appears to be a dichotomy – most newly-arising entities are small private shipping enterprises created as a result of former state-owned enterprises being divided and their vessels sold to new owners. On the other hand, the systemic transformation along with Poland’s accession to EU have allowed for the emergence of  Europe’s largest ship-owner (the Odratrans Group), which deals in inland waterways transport, also outside Poland.