ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses environmental issues affecting state-owned enterprises participating in Poland's Mass Privatization Program (MPP), and assesses their approach to environmental compliance and liability. In order to provide a clear context for the analysis, it begins by describing the MPP. The chapter examines the role that environmental issues play in the program from the point of view of National Investment Fund (NIF) managers. The MPP has three main players: the former state-owned enterprises privatized through MPP; the NIFs; and the management firms. The main goals of Poland's MPP are to restructure and ultimately transfer ownership of the 512 MPP companies into private hands. After allocation to the NIFs, the MPP companies are managed according to market criteria. The main goal of the NIFs, at this stage, is to improve their economic condition and increase their asset value. Environmental protection is an inseparable element of this effort.
