The Code of Good Corporate Governance Practices signed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the amendment to the Act on State Property Management are intended to increase the transparency and substantive nature of recruitment to the authorities of State Treasury companies, said Wojciech Balczun, Minister of State Assets, in an interview with PAP.
As Balczun said, the Code of Good Corporate Governance Practices in State Treasury companies has become a fact – the document was signed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week.
On Monday, at 10 a.m., a press conference will be held at the headquarters of the Ministry of State Assets with the participation of Minister Wojciech Balczun, during which the Code of Good Corporate Governance Practices and planned changes to the regulations will be presented, which are aimed at increasing the requirements for the functioning of supervisory bodies of companies with State Treasury participation.
As the Minister of State Assets emphasizes, the code is an element of building an ecosystem that raises competence standards in companies with State Treasury shareholding.
The Minister points out that the implementation of the Code takes place in parallel with work on competence matrices, and the prepared amendment to the Act on State Property Management responds to demands regarding the transparency of recruitment to supervisory and management boards, submitted by both political circles and government coalition partners.
– I am very pleased that we are consistently moving forward. We have already implemented the first pilot of the competence matrix in the largest entities, i.e. twenty-odd companies. We analyzed the competences of members of supervisory boards of individual companies and we also drew conclusions – said Wojciech Balczun in an interview with PAP.
As he noted, the survey provided a lot of information, but at the same time showed areas requiring further refinement so that the selection of supervisory board composition was as substantive and free from systemic errors as possible.
– The survey provided us with many answers, but it also showed what we still need to improve so that supervisory boards are selected in the most substantive way possible – so that we avoid various mistakes. Currently, the level of competences in the most important and largest entities is high, but there are some mismatches that we want to eliminate – said Balczun.
The minister emphasized that the goal is to move away from uniform, narrow competence profiles on supervisory boards in favor of diversified teams.
– Supervisory boards should be selected according to a key that will take into account various types of competences. We want to move away from the standard that we have four lawyers out of five people on the council. We want to include not only lawyers, but also economists, financiers, and people who have industry experience and knowledge of the activities of a given company. There is room for improvement in this area, he said.
Balczun also pointed out the possibility of using solutions inspired by models operating in the United States, involving the involvement of people with extensive professional and managerial experience on supervisory boards.
– I have an idea, somewhat related to American models, to recruit people to supervisory boards who have unquestionable professional, managerial and business achievements, confirmed by spectacular successes, who, for example, are no longer fully professionally active, but can still be a source of knowledge and experience. Several decisions regarding the appointment of people with such a profile to supervisory boards have already been made, he said.
He added that this approach increases the security of decisions made both by supervisory boards and management boards of companies.
– This would be a model similar to boards of directors in the United States. I realize that we operate in a different legal system, but if someone has followed the entire career path, had real, objectively verified achievements or successes, and has not had any scandals, this is a kind of guarantee and we can benefit from the experience of such a person – said Balczun.
The Minister also indicated the criteria that guide personnel decisions in the management boards of companies supervised by MAP – he listed, among others: efficiency, improvement of results, dynamization of processes and openness to synergies.
– Wherever changes are made in management boards, they have their justification. Moreover, the Code of Good Corporate Governance Practices provides that such justifications will be prepared by supervisory boards. It will be easier to look for reasons and evaluate such decisions from the outside, he said.
– Our task as the owner or leading shareholder with control rights or a majority in some entities, especially public ones, is to constantly, actively and daily monitor what is happening there. Management and supervisory boards of companies should always be optimally tailored to these companies so that their work actually contributes to building the value of enterprises. This, in turn, will translate into a dividend for the State Treasury and, thanks to effective business activity and good results, also into funds allocated for investments and development. This is one of the elements of strengthening our economy, he added.
As he pointed out, in the coming decades, huge investments will be made in the country, including the construction of a nuclear power plant and the implementation of projects related to energy transformation.
– To a large extent, these investments are implemented by the public sector and this is one of the key elements thanks to which Poland will remain the European growth leader – said the minister.
When asked about MAP's approach to companies paying dividends, he replied: “There should always be a healthy balance. The owner's natural right is to expect a dividend, but we cannot look only from this perspective. If we sucked the companies' financial resources, there would be no money for investments, and they are crucial. Some industries, e.g. the mining sector, including KGHM, require constant, huge investment outlays to ensure development and operational stability.”
Referring to the assessment of companies by investors and analysts, Balczun noted that although market capitalization is important, it should not be the only evaluation criterion.
– We are very happy about this and proudly showed what happened last year, for example with PZU, Orlen or PKO BP, when the last two companies exceeded the valuation of PLN 100 billion. At the same time, we are aware that markets are capricious and we need to pay closer attention to what is happening in companies, he said.
As he emphasized, the ministry implements an approach he describes as an “active owner”.
– This is our informal program, which we tentatively call “active owner”. We look at the development and implementation of the strategy, whether it is implemented in the right way and at the right time. We analyze whether market trends are taken into account and whether the company is reactive and focused only on consumption in a good market situation – said Balczun.
Anna Pełka, Aneta Oksiuta, Piotr Rożek (PAP)
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