UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

Well I think Tusk is pretty much pro-Europe and won't want to see Britain pull out of the EU. But Poland is not especially keen on the EU or on Britain either! I don't think it would bother Poland to see Britain come out of the EU as long as Poles in the UK don't suffer but I think Poland would certainly want to see the UK get a good deal in terms of the free market etc simply for Poland's benefit in terms of trading with them. I believe that Poland itself doesn't really like being in the EU because they perceive it as impingeing on their self-determination and sovereignty. They'd probably quite like to see it break up. Britain leaving would pave the way and Poland ,if they went the same way at some point, would be happy to strike a trade alliance with Britain in the future. So I think Poland will want to work on fostering very good relations with a post-Brexit Britain.

UK, Ireland / How might Britain`s withdrawal from EU affect Poles there and here? [474]

In case anybody's interested, British MPs have voted by a majority to back Theresa May in triggering Article 50, effectively pre-empting the result of the Supreme Court case which is currently underway. Does anyone see a touch of the old Whitehall machinations in the style of Yes Prime Minister?! A clever move, because she has now basically already secured parliament's approval so the result of the court case becomes somewhat irrelevant.

Love / My Polish Girlfriend Broke Up With Me Very Suddenly, Did She Use Me? [23]


Keep it that way! Just skimming through your story you both sound a bit immature though you seem to be a sweet natured person and that 's lovely. Don't let this experience change you. I don't think she was using you in any major pre-meditated way. She just liked you for a while and then started to go off you. If she's very pretty and has had numerous sexual partners as you say, then she probably got bored with you after the initial attraction wore off. Though, yes she probably did suit herself and work around her own convenience in staying with you until she was sorted with somewhere else to go. Just to warn you, you may experience this kind of thing again a few times in your life before you meet 'the one'.

Also just to warn you, there is a possibility that she may come trotting back to you at some point because things aren't going as she planned and then she WILL be prepared to use you for as long as it suits her. So whatever you do, don't get sucked into that situation. You sound like a warm hearted, affectionate person and she will exploit that. There are lots of men and women who maintain on-again off-again relationships at their whim with gentle soft-hearted people ,so put her out of your head and your heart. By the way I'm female so that's one woman's point of view for you :)

News / Poland leads in benzopyrene pollution -- 40 time the WHO admissible level - GW [14]

Yes, once again Poland suffers from being stuck in the middle because you get all the pollution both from east and west bordering countries. Do you remember the famous London smog which is no more. I think there was a particularly bad episode in the 1950s (Must look it up) when hundreds of Londoners died on an especially bad day and night. Must trot off now and see if I'm right.

Yes, just checked, 1952 for about four days in December, 4,000 dead!!

News / New Nuclear Ambitions Of Belarus: cooperation with Poland in the energy deliveries to the EU countries [20]

This post is worth responding to because there doesn't seem to be a very high awareness amongst the Polish public of the continuing horrors in Belarus as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Do people know about the children of Chernobyl who continue to be born with extreme deformities and congenital heart defects? There's even a medical condition known as Chernobyl Heart. Six thousand born every year in Ukraine with this condition. If anybody out there would like to get involved in helping, here's a link:

chernobyl-international.com/programmes

News / Poland leads in benzopyrene pollution -- 40 time the WHO admissible level - GW [14]

Vehicle exhausts, domestic wood and coal fires.

Poland has a lot of old vehicles with dodgy exhausts and of course people rely heavily on burning coal during the winter months plus many people probably also burn their rubbish. Ireland has reasonably good controls on all those things plus being so windy - I'm not joking really - and exposed to the Atlantic storms the air gets changed regularly! According to the Environmental Protection Agency air quality in Ireland in general is "good, largely as a result of our relative lack of large cities, weather and access to predominantly clean air from the south west," I would say that our geographical position is a strong factor in our air quality and that's probably the same for the other regions you mention.

Life / If you are Polish abroad or of Polish descent, do you celebrate St. Nicholas day? [33]


You're not being fair Polly. Alongside its consumerism, America is one of the most charitable and generous nations on earth. Yes many people will indulge in Christmas excess but many will also give their time or their money or both for the benefit of others during the festive season. Poland would do well to take a leaf out of America's book in that department. Americans of all income levels give with enormous generosity throughout the year but the stats show that they give even more in the period from Thanksgiving to New Year.

Study / What requirements for moving through ECTS to any other European Country, if coming to Poland on student visa? [15]

It depends on the college you attend in Poland. Not all Polish colleges are signed up the ECTs system though most of the major ones are at this stage. If they are, then you could apply to an Irish college on that basis. If not then an Irish college would still consider your application but you would need to provide detailed syllabus information so that they can compare the course content and see if it is equivalent to their own first year studies - in fact they might still require that even with the ECTS as courses can be the equivalent level of depth but differ in content. I'm Irish :)

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]

Ah the old Freudian slip......now Ziemuś you've revealed a whole other side to your self (pardon the pun!) and we shall never think of you in quite the same way again :))

Life / Millennials even worse than baby-boomers? [60]


I don't think the Trinity is nonsense. It's just a simple way of representing the concept of a multi-faceted being who combines power (God the Creator)with wisdom and justice (the Holy Spirit) and love and mercy (God the Son). Powerful, wise, just, loving and merciful, not a bad old combination :)

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]

Yes, now that's interesting - the etiquette of morning tea!

a) Staying in a B&B, nowadays, kettle in the bedroom and tea making supplies generally available. Back in Ziem's student days less common so as you say, tea with brekkie.

b) Staying in 'lodgings' ie renting a bedroom from a landlady and taking meals downstairs cooked by landlady, tea in bed also rare unless lodgings arranged by mutual acquaintance thus landlady treating you more like family, or perhaps if the landlady was about twenty years older she might have felt motherly towards him. It was probably safe for an older woman to take tea to a 'young man' back in the 80's or 90's without him automatically assuming that she was a MILF :)) Although not in Ziem's case obviously - who would have thought it..........

c) Staying with friends or someone you know quite well, a morning cuppa brought to the bedroom, fairly common.

Right, I've finished my cappucino now so onward and upward!

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]


That's partly because of the bizarre way they butcher the animals in mainland Europe, Poland is not the only guilty party. They simply do not have a proper joint for roasting. It makes me weep to see the miserable little cuts of beef with hardly any fat, and the beautiful bones full of marrow for making delicious gravy, where are they? And what about a proper ham for Christmas, roasted and glazed with honey. I'm not impressed at all with the way Poles prepare and cook meat and quite frankly the sausages, despite the numerous varieties available, tend to test very much like each other and they're way too salty. To me the thing the Poles do best is soup.


Really? Morning tea in bed is quite common in my experience.


Do you ask them why? I'm a great one for quizzing people on these things! I imagine it's partly the novelty factor and partly the fact that the milk tastes different. That's why I stopped taking milk in my tea in Poland. Also when I first visited Poland on holidays, I had to drink whatever tea I was given and it was so weak that when you added a drop of milk, there was simply no flavour to it at all.


Now isn't that typical of a man. Actually Mr Atch warned me about this when we first came to live here years ago. 'Polish men are not like Irish men' quoth he. 'If you smile at them or you're too chatty, they'll think you fancy them. Don't say hello to the men sweeping the roads, no small talk or jokes with the men painting the outside of the building' etc etc. Basically no casual friendliness towards strange men. At this stage I don't worry about it any more. I'm just myself, if I feel like chatting or smiling I do and I don't care what they think!

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]


Yes, absolutely disgusting! I'm sure that it used to be favoured for people with 'delicate digestions' :) I remember after the Christmas concert in primary school, a favoured few children and parents were invited to the staffroom for tea and sandwiches. Horrendously milky tea and the ubiquitous triangular white bread delights, with butter an inch thick (I HATED butter) and almost invisible ham. And you had to choke down every nauseating morsel and drink every drop so as not to 'upset the nuns'. In any case it was quite likely that one of them would have proceeded to deliver a lecture about the starving children of Africa etc. This bounty was served from a serviceable but suitably festive tea set adorned with huge red roses. Ah, fond memories.........

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]


Milky tea in our part of the world, UK and Ireland, would refer to tea with a very large amount of milk added so that the drink has an almost whitish hue. Tea 'with milk' on other hand, has a lovely golden colour or a very dark brown depending on how strong the infusion of tea is before the milk is added.


They should prepare it black and allow you to add milk to your preference. That's the correct way. They should never hand you a cup of tea with the milk added. You'd only do that with people you know very well as tea drinkers tend to be very decided about the ratio of tea to milk. They should also ascertain how strong you like your tea.


Yes, a lovely Russian tea glass in a silver holder, I'd like that. But my favourite is tea from a bone china cup.

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]


Yes that's how a lot of us (Irish) prefer it. There is a difference between tea with milk and milky tea which I don't think Polly appreciates. I used to take my tea the same way as you, but I stopped taking milk in it when I lived in Poland first time round and never started again, so it's been black tea for me for the last ten years.


Yes, the blends favoured in Poland are as weak as water, I buy English tea.

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]


Yes, you're right! I checked and they produce 50 million jars a year, only 15% of which are exported. Do you actually know anyone who eats it?? As I say, I've never met anyone in England (well London) who ate it or maybe they just didn't admit to it :)) Now Bovril is a different matter. I've seen loads of people consuming that, though they always make it into a hot drink. My Polish husband loves it, I'm not so keen, was forced to drink it in winter when I was a child to 'build me up' and prevent colds etc.

Off-Topic / New Anglo-Polish alliance in the making? [55]

It was invented by a German. It was consumed not for its taste but its vitamin content and other supposedly healthy properties. I never knew anyone who ate it. I don't think it's that popular nowadays.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]


Yes, the California thing is weird, I don't quite follow that.


Yes, there's a mis-match in the dates there but it could be a simple data entry error by the person doing the website.

I wouldn't get too carried away Orong. There is nothing obviously fishy about this company. He's probably an accountant who was either trying to set up on his own, or doing a bit of business on the side apart from his nine to five job which is perfectly legal and he was obviously declaring the income for tax purposes. After dissolving the company he could have gone back to a regular job or carried on working in his usual job where he'd been all along if you see what I mean.


If you mean in Poland, they would want to meet him in person. But if you're talking about the bookeeping guy, you don't need a notary to register a company in the UK.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Forgot to say, another thing that a detective agency might be able to do is to check flight manifests to see whether anyone of that name has been flying in and out of the country and if so, where to. But the problem is that if the Samuels ID was a fake one, used only for the purpose of setting up the company it won't be much help.

One other thought, you could try searching company director registers in other countries, I just checked the UK and came up with this guy:

duedil.com/company/08021946/samuels-bookkeeping-solutions-limited/ownership

However, one needs to proceed with caution as, although it's not a common name, there are certainly a few of them out there and it's easy to get the wrong man and one needs to be very careful about libelling people and ending up being sued oneself! Try to get the ages of anyone you come up with to see if they match.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]


Hi Orong. Firstly, try to the break the habit of calling them Ltd because they're not. Their title is SP zoo because it's a Polish limited company. Calling them Ltd will result in confusion as inevitably it will lead people to the bona fide Irish company.



Well it's a very Jewish name and there are quite a few Jews in SA so I'd say that the chap you found there is probably just a South African Jew and not necessarily the same guy.


The only way you're likely to be able to turn up anything else is by using a private detective agency. But I wouldn't pursue the guy in South Africa. That could be a complete red herring. Go back to the source which is Poland. Detective agencies have contacts in government departments, tax office etc and they can very quickly find out the details of his ID and run it through a check to see if it's genuine. There are a number of licensed detective agencies in Poland and any evidence they uncover is admissible in court.

Without knowing anything about the alleged scam it's very hard to advise you any further. I mean, if you or somebody you know, were conned by sending money for goods or services to this account, then you must have had some dealings with the guy or somebody representing him. So, how did you encounter him?? Is there any other business address, telephone number, website etc which could be checked out?


Quite possibly. The only way you'll definitely get a response from them is if you speak to them through a solicitor and it would really need to be a case of you having been personally scammed. You would need to say that you're investigating the guy and that if the ID he used to set up the account was fake, you'll sue them for the financial loss you suffered as a result of their negligence. They might answer you then. However you really do need to consult a solicitor as the bank may well be covered by some legal agreement and may not be required by law to check the validity of IDs.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Well I had another quick look and there's one guy who has set up no fewer than fifty, yes, fifty companies over the last few months. His wife seems to have set up a few too. It may be nothing dodgy though, just a way of keeping their money safe from potential creditors by sticking it in limited companies.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Hi Orong, very pressed for time at the moment, wish I had time to take a good look but here's my first, very quick impression. Having followed the link provided by Ziemowit and had a quick look, all the companies listed, which I glanced at were set up this year and within the space of a few months during the summer. Some definitely have the same names as existing companies in other countries. All involve amounts of capital between 5,000 and 20,000 PLN. You don't really need to speak Polish to get the gist. I would suggest you google all the companies listed and see if any of them appears to actually be trading and which ones have the same names as existing companies particularly in other countries. Then compile a list and see what picture emerges. It does seem that it could be well be a money laundering operation.

I found one that is trading. Link Visuals:

linkvisuals.pl

This seems to be a bonafide company and has a proper business address at Nowy Świat. The director's name matches the email on their website. Ziemowit is correct that 86 Ulica Hoza is a PO Box address probably just available for purchase to people setting up a company, it's bascially what's known as a 'registered address'. People often get one before they have a business premises. However it's worth checking all the companies listed and seeing which ones seem to be genuine and sorting the ones that are suspect. Ok, must dash!

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

OMG!!! Thirty other companies!!! Then there is definitely something shady going on. That's a very useful piece of information. Well done Ziemuś! It could well be that the OP will indeed uncover a major fraud. Perhaps all thirty companies have the same source, and as Orong says, this Samuels guy is simply one of many mules in whose names the companies are established.

Law / I am half Polish person who would like to have Polish passport. My grandfather's family lived in Warsaw. [4]

Hi Tamir. I suggest you try the Jewish Historical Institute of Warsaw. They assist people in finding documentation relating to their families. The email is:

familyheritage@jhi.pl

In the meantime you will find a lot of useful information on their site:

jhi.pl/en/genealogy

Good luck!

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Good luck with it Orong, let us know how you get on.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Can't really say about the press, I don't really follow Polish media that much, but I imagine that it would need to be fraud on quite a large scale for them to be interested.


Remember they've sold out to Couche-Tard so they may not be too bothered about it. However their former stations are still operating under the Topaz name so I'm sure that Couche-Tard wouldn't like a scam company to be operating with the Topaz Energy name in Europe. Niall Anderton is one of the two main directors of Topaz Engery Ltd, the Irish company, and I'm sure he could put you in touch with somebody at Couche -Tard. He'd probably be very approachable. Irish people aren't big on formality. If you join Linkedin you could get his email. Otherwise his address is listed here:

solocheck.ie/Irish-Director/Anderton/Niall/1141472119

ie.linkedin.com/in/niall-anderton-82652a13

Off-Topic / B.Sc IT graduate. Which country can I apply for 100% visa approval in Europe? [4]

Ireland would be a very expensive option. The fees would be extremely high and the cost of living is very high too. Part time work is hard to get and although Ireland is a fairly prosperous country, it's tiny and there is very little employment outside of Dublin. The other IT hub is the city of Galway which only has a population of about 80,000 so the jobs are very few.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]

Hi Orong. I got the name of the firm of notaries who registered the company:

Kancelaria Notarialna
Marek Hrymak, Daniel Kupryjańczyk s.c.
ul. Chmielna 73B lok.10
00-801 Warszawa Wola

They would certainly have seen his ID and would have a copy in their files. Of course it might be a fake ID.

However you will find that it's a real problem dealing with Polish bureacracy and it's very hard to get any response to your communications. If you write in English you're probably going to be ignored. Don't expect any response from the police either.


Do you mean this guy is wanted by Interpol?

I think it might be worth contacting Topaz Energy and Marine, the bonafide oil company as their legal department might take action, in view of the fact that this guy is using the name Topaz and listing 'mining oil and gas' as one of his company activities. I would write to them (but get a name for somebody to write to, even if you have to call them and find out first). It's worth a try anyway.

I'm afraid that if you want to see any response from Polish officials you will have to engage a Polish solicitor.

Law / Where can I check in Poland my company formation status and tax number NIP and REGON? [95]


They won't! You need to go and see them in person and expect to get short shrift (in other words the bum's rush). What information did you want from them other than the regulations in English? Because they won't discuss any account or account holder with you. I'll take a look later and see if I can find the regs in English but it's doubtful. Information, other than the most basic stuff is very hard to obtain in English. I'm quite certain though that the bank does comply with the money laundering regs. Polish banks, whatever their faults, tend to be extremely fussy about ID etc and you can't activate your account and begin to use it, without visiting the bank in person to provide your ID and sign documents.

I've a busy day ahead but I will get back to you later and let you know if I find anything else. Inidentally, he may not even live in Poland and that address might just have been a rented flat so it may not be of much use :(

News / Jesus Christ is Now Officially the King of Poland [164]

We used to sing it in Ireland when I was a child. It's a lovely hymn.