ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses legal aspects of the privatization of state-owned enterprises. It also discusses the organizational and legal environment of the Polish economy. The chapter describes the Polish Law on the Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises of 1990. It evaluates recent experience with privatization of state-owned enterprises and examines some general social problems connected with it. Poland's privatization efforts have occurred because the Western capitalist ideas mix with social and economic remnants of the old system. Most small private enterprises were not covered by the nationalization law, although towards the end of the forties, many small private enterprises were nationalized or taken over under the so-called mandatory governmental management, contrary to the nationalization law. The government should be able to concentrate on its role as protector of the public interest. On the other hand, the Polish economy will not be entirely in private hands.
