News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]

That is exactly what is happening in Hungary.

Orban not only introduce this crazy policy, he has another policy that if the supermarket is making a loss it can be taken over automatically by a locally owned supermarket [which are typically owned by his chums]

So the supermarkets have an upper level on the profits and a lower level of zero. That is pure socialism. He's an intelligent guy, went to Oxford etc but seems to think he can push back the tide here.

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]

The war is certainly an important cause of inflation.

The zloty is not - it had actually and bizarrely been very strong for the last 6 months.

The main reasons though are the disruptions in supply caused by covid and a series of giveaways by PiS that got out of control - 500 plus. Extra pensions, unsustainable minimum wage increases and the mortgage thing

News / Poland highest inflation in 20 years [319]

In what countries are the price of bread, eggs and milk set by the govt ?

Hungary - and it's a disaster
Udmurtia - enough said
France has flirted with the idea and stepped back because it is madness

Price controls will always lead to supply issues

It will take a long time to get over the inflationary effects of covid and lockdown, but Venezuelan solutions will only make things worse.

Italy's govt decided to blame it on the banks and had a bruising encounter with the real world yesterday - they had backed down by teatime

Off-Topic / Be aware Pro Buy Sp. z o.o. and CENTROPRO SP. Z.O.O. are scammers! [5]

Keep your review up there - at least it will warn other people

Travel / Changing trains in Poznan [29]

All of the late planes out of Warsaw to Krakow, Poznan etc will wait for connections - you are often sitting 30 mins on the asfalt while a few stragglers arrive from Paris or Madrid. It's irritating until you are the one who benefits from it

Travel / Changing trains in Poznan [29]

Trains do wait and there is a big chance that in this case they would for a small delay

Travel / Changing trains in Poznan [29]

Yes - assuming its on time.

UK, Ireland / Polish Visa from London Embassy [9]

What citizenship does she have ?

Normally her Polish employer would sort out the work permit and formalities ? Have you told them about these difficulties

Law / How to pay Polish fines when you are not in Poland [10]

Write them a letter saying you tried to pay and asking for details how to do that

Get some proof you posted the letter.

There is only a tiny chance they will answer that.

After that forget about it

Travel / How to go to Frankfurt from Poland? [16]

A fine town to visit for business or pleasure - lots to do, great pubs and clubs, excellent museums and nice countryside nearby.

A quick stop to change planes or trains is certainly not enough to appreciate it

Law / Possible Visa Problem Due to VAT Refund [3]

It will be fine - they have better things to do than lose sleep about that

News / Should Poland pay for gas in rubles? [194]

Well one reason for the different inflation figures is that the Polish statistical team aren't answerable to an insane murderous boss. The Udmurtian figures are whatever Putin says they are going to be.

That fool Orban has been trying Udmurtian style price controls this month and essentials are already disappearing from the shelves.

Off-Topic / Pop A Cork - Wine [437]

I assumed you were joking but turns out there is such a thing in the US

findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/social-host-liability-legal-tips-before-serving-alcohol-at-a-party/#:~:text=What%20Is%20Social%20Host%20Liability,during%20or%20after%20your%20party.

Rightly or wrongly, in most European cultures it is rather rude not to offer alcohol to a guest.

I see one of the suggestions above is to offer your guest a bed or couch - but then presumably they could hold you liable for food poisoning at breakfast or being scalded by hot water in the shower

Off-Topic / Stock Market and Trading Talk [1011]

Well I do my accounts every quarter end but off to Warsaw for a few days so will count up when I get back. Most are doing Ok but a couple of disasters

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [291]

Time for another pill Rich

Law / Can a tenant change locks to house without giving access to the landlord [37]

There are more and more retailers defaulting or delaying on their rents - not sure about office or warehouse tenants. So you might end up with a couple of issues the next few years

Love / Is it true that Polish women are very busty? [71]

Sense - now a Kebab King.

She wasn't acting for a while but on my Netflix I saw she did something last year, some kind of Galerianki theme

Law / Can a tenant change locks to house without giving access to the landlord [37]

Some stone age views here - that once you are a "worker" then you stay that way, and that "middle class" jobs don't count as work.

If you want lots if public housing then the answer is simple - put it in your election manifesto that you will build it and expect it to be laid for via taxes. People in Poland and Britain would probably not support that - this is not the 1950s and people have more aspirations than a 2 up 2 down or a small 40sqm in some bloki.

Off-Topic / What's your connection with Poland? Penpals. [595]

Why ? I pay taxes and PiS put them up by a huge amount since 2022 to pay for handouts and kielbasa. They took an OK tax system and made it very punitive for hard workers and successful businesses

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [291]

I would say Latino, though I don't know when I changed from saying Hispanic, probably 20 years ago.

Don't know about Pacific Islanders - knew a few Hawaiians, but apart from that not had much contact.

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [291]

I just say Black, Asian etc.

Life / Do colored immigrants in Poland function better than in Western countries? [291]

That has always seemed absurd to me - even more so now they talk about "footballers or color" or "actors of color" - I don't know whether there are actuaries of color or shop assistants of color.

And of course in many languages there can be no distinction between "colored" and "of color".

Real Estate / Polish real Estate law [6]

If the contract says 10th of the month then pay on the 10th.

Send them one email saying you will pay on the 10th as per the contract and then ignore the rest of their communication.

Real Estate / How would a lease affect my tax residency? [6]

It refers to a single tax year. It means 183 days in Poland.

Real Estate / How would a lease affect my tax residency? [6]

The first thing they will look at is 183 days residence. If you have more than this threshold and it will be difficult to avoid tax residency status.

Second test would be where your vital interests are.

A lease in itself would not affect your vital interest - tax authorities don't use this as a test because people could simply set up leases in some cheap country like Albania and use that to claim that they were tax resident elsewhere.

To test your vital interests they will look much more at where your wife, kids, pets etc are based. If these are all still outside Poland then it's gonna be very difficult for them to claim you are tax resident and win such a case in court.

News / Russian criticism of Poland - Soviet war memorial removal [332]

That is because in a free society, HS teachers are valuable in teaching citizens not just essential education, but to be rounded and considerate people.

In Udmurtia, internet trolls, assasins, bodyguards and govt informers are probably all paid more than teachers, because the only thing that matters is that rhe government cronies can continue to steal

Off-Topic / Terms of Russian Surrender [116]

What is "aggressive sorosism" ?

If that is what we have in Poland then I can deal with it. Poland is far from a perfect state but

- I am free to go where I want
- say what I want, read what I want
- no military service
- my kids have a fair chance in life
- the country is getting richer and with other ways of making money than just selling oil
- far more equal society than Udmurtia
- our leaders at least are restrained in how much they steal

Off-Topic / Terms of Russian Surrender [116]

First 4 plus war crimes investigation. Sanctions to remain in place until all suspects in custody.

Permanent ban on importing military electronics - you can try and make your own, but of course it will be useless junk.

Also handover of the Salisbury poisoners and other mischief makers.

Life / Warsaw - what's there to love? Semi-livable city? [42]

If it was destroyed it would just be replaced by office blocks, malls and apartments. Could be just turned into a park I guess.

Anyway, it would have to be paid for by Polish taxpayers, not Australians.

I am sure now that destroying it would be unpopular among Warsaw citizens.