2026-02-14 17:01
publication
2026-02-14 17:01
The Kielce company North Food Polska, controlled by the richest Pole, Michał Sołowow, filed for bankruptcy.
According to “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Kielce, the bankruptcy petition for North Food Polska has already been submitted to the District Court in Kielce. The bankruptcy of a company with such a powerful base is an alarm signal for the entire restaurant sector in Poland.
– This is its own application, therefore submitted by the company's management board – informs “GW” Tomasz Durlej, spokesman for the District Court in Kielce. He adds that the statutory condition for this type of application is the company's loss of financial liquidity.
Sołowow's Kielce business
Michał Sołowow, born in 1962 in Kielce, is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in Poland. According to Forbes magazine, his fortune is estimated at PLN 28 billion, which puts him first among the richest Poles.
Several key factors contributed to the collapse of the North Fish chain.
Firstly, the cost loop in shopping malls. Most of the several dozen North Fish outlets operated in shopping centers. Skyrocketing rents and common costs, often settled in euro, became unbearable for the Kielce company.
Raw material bottleneck. North Food was based on imported products. The sharp increase in fish prices on world markets and unfavorable exchange rates have drastically reduced the margin of each fillet sold.
The end of the “weight” era. The business model, which attracted Poles with the ability to apply additives themselves, has become extremely expensive in the era of high food losses and growing sanitary and energy requirements.
As “GW” reports: “Already in the activity report for 2024, the management board of North Food admitted that the financial results “are worse than in the previous year and at an unsatisfactory level.” The net loss then amounted to PLN 4.35 million. At that time, the company employed 197 employees – 30 of them in the Kielce office and the rest in restaurants.
Businesses of the richest Pole
The billionaire owns an industrial group that includes, among others: Synthos, Cersanit, Barlinek and Sklepy Komfort. Synthos is one of the largest producers of expandable polystyrene (EPS) in Europe, and Barlinek is a world leader in the production of floorboards. Cersanit, which produces sanitary ceramics and tiles, operates plants including: in Poland, Romania and Germany.
In the modern technology sector, Sołowow invests through Synthos Green Energy, cooperating with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy on nuclear energy projects based on small modular reactor (SMR) technology, and companies such as Corab (photovoltaics) and WP Systems (wind power plant service).
Solovyov also controls retail brands such as Comfort, Homela and North Fish, as well as technology companies including 3DGence (3D printer manufacturer) i GeniCore (composites). His companies employ a total of approximately 16,000 people. employees.
prepared by COGS
