Background information

In mid-April the parliament passed into legislation another set of measures aiming to help enterprises go through the unfolding economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 public health crisis. The Act amending the Act on the System of Development Institutions facilitate a public support programme commonly referred to as the Financial Shield, operated by the Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju). The programme is divided into specific sub-sets of measures targeting 1) micro, 2) small and medium firms and 3) large firms.

Ustawa z dnia 4 lipca 2019 r. o systemie instytucji rozwoju („Ustawa o SIR”), znowelizowana ustawą z dnia 31 marca 2020 r. o zmianie ustawy o systemie instytucji rozwoju.

Content of measure

The programme relies on a scheme of advanced payables offered to large firms (over 249 employees) with annual turnover of more than €50 million (or balance sheet total above €43 million).

Eligible are the enterprises which:

• experienced decrease in sales by at least 25% experienced on a month-to-month basis after 1 February 2020 (or to the same month of the preceding year) due to COVID-19 outbreak;
• lost their production or service provision capacity due to shortages in resources/components entailed by COVID pandemia;
• cannot recover more than 25% of their receivables due to pandemia;
• experience problems with access to financing due to instability of financial markets;
• have participated in sectoral operational programmes; are not in administration or liquidation procedure; had tax residency in Poland and paid taxes for two previous fiscal years;
• held operations on 31 December 2019;
• had all social securities duly paid as of 31 December 2019.

The scale of support:

• up to PLN 1 billion per beneficiary in loans or bonds for up to two years (possible extension by 1 year) to upheld firm's liquidity;
• Up to PLN 750 million per beneficiary in loans for three years (partially remittable).
• Investment support in forms of share/stock acquisition up to amount of PLN 1 billion per beneficiary.

Use of measure

The programme received notification of the European Commission as a legitimate form of public aid in mid-June. No data on the scale of support granted since is yet available. There is a follow-up measure (it is not a updated or modification of the measure hereafter reported) called Financial Shield 2.0.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Larger corporations	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

None.

Views and reactions

The employers organisations criticised the initial supportive measures as ignoring the needs of large firms, hence introduction of the programme may be regarded partly a positive response to their pressure. The critical statements were issued by Employers of Poland and BCC.

Sources

• 25 March 2020: Business Centre Club przedstawił rządowi najpilniejsze postulaty przedsiębiorców do Tarczy Antykryzysowej (www.bcc.org.pl)
• 26 March 2020: Stanowisko Pracodawców Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej wobec projektu ustawy o zmianie ustawy o szczególnych rozwiązaniach związanych z zapobieganiem, przeciwdziałaniem i zwalczaniem COVID-19, innych chorób zakaźnych oraz wywołanych nimi sytuacji kryzysowych oraz niektórych innych ustaw, a także innych propozycji legislacyjnych przedstawionych przez Rząd w ramach tzw. Tarczy Antykryzysowej (pracodawcyrp.pl)
• 31 March 2020: The Act of 31 March 2020 amending the Act on the System of Development Institutions (prawo.sejm.gov.pl)