The anti-crisis shield made it possible to protect around 6.5 million workplaces and to ensure the financial security of hundreds of thousands of companies. It is envisaged that, thanks to the proper response to the coronavirus pandemic, Poland will overcome the crisis with one of the smallest economic decreases in the EU.

Our two most essential goals as a state, society and government have not changed for months. Firstly, it is the struggle for health and life. Secondly, we want to save millions of workplaces and support for thousands of companies. We do it all to secure the stable existence of Polish families

- said Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin.

Therefore,’ continued the minister, ‘our reply to the second pandemic wave is the second financial shield of the Polish Development Fund for micro-, small and medium enterprises.

- said Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Gowin.

The minister stressed that, keeping in touch with entrepreneurs, he received information from them that their industries, though affected by the pandemic and lockdown, were not covered by the second shield.

We are analysing these cases thoroughly. New PKD codes may be added to the list of industries covered by support next week.  If the pandemic situation does not improve in successive weeks and months, we will obviously prolong or extend various aid programmes

- he announced.

The Minister of Family and Social Policy Marlena Maląg stressed that the aid introduced to rescue workplaces had proved successful.

There comes a moment when we can check the support that we used, and this tool is the unemployment rate – it was 5.8 per cent at the beginning of the pandemic and is currently 6.2 per cent. That shows that this support was effective and efficient

- said the Minister of Family and Social Policy Marlena Maląg.

The government will propose the prolongation of aid under the industry shield to December and January to enterprises that are currently in constant lockdown.\

 - A regulation in this manner is under preparation by the Minister of Development, Family and Social Policy, said Deputy Minister of Development, Labor and Technology Olga Semeniuk.

With the extension of support under the industrial shield, the PKD 55.20.Z code connected with tourism will be added,’ announced the deputy minister.

The entrepreneurs who will decide to open their business activity next week will be excluded from support under the industry shield and the PFR financial shield 2.0

she informed.

312 billion PLN under the anti-crisis shield

The Minister of Development, Labour and Technology created and took part in the preparation of a comprehensive package of solutions that make up the anti-crisis shield. In this way, Polish entrepreneurs and employees should receive over 300 billion PLN.

Thanks to the shield, entrepreneurs could benefit from subsidies to employees’ remunerations, co-funding of a part of business activity costs, low-interest loans, idle time benefit and exemptions from insurance premiums.

According to data from the Social Insurance Company (ZUS), 6.5 million applications were accepted and financial aid of ca. 30 billion PLN was granted, including:

• exemption from ZUS insurance premiums – 13.1 billion PLN, 2.1 million companies and 6.5 million workplaces,
• idle time benefit – 5.3 billion PLN, 2.7 million benefits,
• prolongation of the time-limit and instalment arrangements – over 9 billion PLN,
• solidarity bonus – 313 million PLN, 130,000 persons,
• extra attendance allowance – 1 billion PLN.

The anti-crisis shield is a package of numerous financial aid instruments for employees and employers. Its parts are the PFR financial shield 1.0 and 2.0, the tourist shield, the industry shield, the mountain shield, aid from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and support from the Industry Development Agency.

Plan for Labour and Development

A proof of our concern is the comprehensive multi-aspect Plan for Labour and Development prepared in our ministry.

It is a programme of direct aid for companies and employees affected by the consequences of Covid-19, divided into specific actions, but also setting a new direction and a development impulse for them.

The aim is to protect Polish entrepreneurs and employees in the age of the pandemic and to prepare economy for the return to the path of increase. ‘With a view to this, we are performing intensive work on a pro-investment package. We have started work on the Legal Shield and Industrial Policy of Poland.

The Programme has three key areas: direct aid, new direction and development impulse. Part of its solutions is already implemented, and others are at various stages of legislative or preparatory work.

PFR financial shield

The PFR financial shield for companies and employees is an aid programme addressed to micro-enterprises (having at least one employee) and small, medium and large enterprises, the value of which is 100 billion PLN. The programme is addressed to around 670,000 Polish entrepreneurs. Its aim is to support the protection of workplaces, to ensure the financial liquidity of companies and to help them return to the path of increase after the lifting of restrictions that are currently necessary for fight against the coronavirus.

Until now, the financial shield has been used by over 340,000 micro-, small and medium entrepreneurs, who have received support in the amount of over 60 billion PLN.

On 15th January 2021, the PFR 2.0 financial shield was launched. It contains solutions addressed to employees from micro-, small, medium and large enterprises and for entrepreneurs conducting business activity under 45 PKD codes. The total value of aid is over 35 billion PLN. According to the estimates of the Polish Development Fund (PFR), financial aid will be available to over 70,000 companies until the end of March 2021.

Within the pool of the shield 2.0, 13 billion PLN of aid has been appropriated for micro-, small and medium companies and 7 million PLN has been set aside for cancellations of up to 100% of subsidies under the financial shield 1.0. For large companies, the amount of 25 billion PLN has been set aside under the shield 2.0.

Support will be available, among others, to companies from:

• the event industry,
• the fair, exhibition and congress organisation industry,
• the retail sector,
• the hotel industry,
• the tourist sector,
• the restaurant and food outlet sector,
• the fitness industry,
• companies engaged in the staging of artistic performances and auxiliary activities in this respect.

Industry shield

It provides support to companies from around 40 industries that were affected most strongly by restrictions during the second autumn wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Until 15th January 2021, 66,700 entrepreneurs applied for a subsidy of up to 5,000 PLN for the coverage of current costs of business activity. The amount of aid is 332.3 million PLN. Applications are considered by county labour offices; until now, 33,000 applications for the total amount of 166.1  million PLN have been approved.

On the other hand, over 13,000 entrepreneurs submitted applications for subsidies to remunerations in the amount of 2,000 PLN.

The industry shield is addressed to ca. 270,000 companies, and the monthly amount of support is ca. 4.5 billion PLN. Support within the scope of the shield may be applied for by companies from the following industries: restaurants and food outlets, culture & entertainment (stage, fair, photography, film, museums), sport (fitness, bodybuilding centres, recreation, health resorts), retail (marketplaces), tourism, transport, education, catering and laundry services.

The scope of support under the industry shield includes:

• exemption from ZUS insurance premiums for November,
• one-time additional idle time benefit of 2,080 PLN,
• subsidies of 2,000 PLN to the remuneration of a full-time employee (also in the case of mandate contracts) for a period of 3 months,
• subsidy of up to 5,000 PLN.

In addition, entrepreneurs conducting trade on marketplaces are exempt from the market fee in 2021.

The forms of support indicated above can be prolonged, if necessary, pursuant to the Ordinance of the Council of Ministers. It will also be possible to extend support to further industries.

Tourist shield

Our support covered the tourist industry, which was one of the first to experience the negative effects of the pandemic. For its representatives and, by the way, also for Polish families, we have prepared and implemented a tourist shield and a Tourist Voucher as a means of support for Polish families during the weakening of economy by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The tourist shield includes preferential loans for reimbursements of payments by tourist operators’ customers, the Tourist Reimbursement Fund and the Tourist Aid Fund, an additional idle time benefit and the suspension of social insurance premiums for the tourist industry. TFZ has already paid 190 million PLN out of 300 million PLN.
• The Tourist Voucher is a recreational subsidy in the form of the one-off amount of 500 PLN granted for each child up to 18 years of age and one additional benefit in the form of voucher supplement in the amount of 500 PLN for a child with a certified disability status. The voucher will be valid until the end of March 2022. Only until 14th January 2021 were 1.1 million vouchers with the total value of almost 1 billion PLN granted to families.
• The industry shield guarantees additional support for the tourist sector. It is an idle time benefit (which can be granted maximum three times) for tourist operators and administrators of hotel facilities, exemption from ZUS insurance premiums for tourist operators, a one-off additional idle time benefit for other booking, pilot, guide and mountain guide services, a subsidy for micro- and small enterprises in the amount of up to 5,000 PLN (pilots and guides), co-financing of employees’ remunerations in the amount of 2,000 PLN for three months (pilots and guides, mountain guides).

The total estimated cost of the tourist shield should be 850 million PLN.

Shield for mountainous regions

It is the most recent form of support for tourism – over 200 communes located in mountainous areas will receive aid in the amount of 1 billion PLN from the Governmental Local Investment Fund.

Communes can use two instruments of support within the programme.

• 1st instrument – expenses incurred by the commune for investments in 2016–2020 will be the basis of assessment of the amount of support. Financial aid under the programme will amount to 40% of the average annual value of investment expenses in 2016–2020, however not more than 8 million PLN per commune.
• 2nd instrument – communes can also apply for subsidies in respect of property tax income lost in the first quarter of 2021. Exemptions from this duty apply to land, buildings and other facilities related to the provision of hotel and tourist infrastructure (cable cars, lifts) services. Financial aid for one commune will amount to 80% of income lost by it.

The mountainous shield will start in the first quarter of 2021.

 

Support from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego

Support for entrepreneurs is also the aim of action of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK). BGK offers financing and guarantee systems under the programme “Support for entrepreneurs using BGK’s guarantees”.

Within the scope of support from BGK, entrepreneurs from the SME sector can acquire:

• subsidies to interest on new and issued loans,
• de minimis guarantees up to 80% of the loan,
• Biznesmax guarantee with subsidy,
• liquidity guarantee,
• factoring limit repayment guarantee,
• Creative Europe guarantee.

Support from the Industry Development Agency (ARP)

Within the scope of aid from ARP, entrepreneurs from micro-, small and medium companies can gain:

• operating lease – the grace period of up to 12 months in repayment for customers using heavy goods vehicles or coaches in their business activity,
• “Machinery” operating lease for the purchase of machines and equipment,
• working-capital loan for the financing of working capital deficit – its amount ranges from 0.8 million to 5 million PLN,
• working-capital loan for the financing of remuneration payments – financing of remuneration costs in companies for a period of up to 2 years,
• New Opportunity Policy – short-term loans for ensuring the liquidity of the enterprise for the period necessary to elaborate a restructuring plan, temporary restructuring support for enterprises or restructuring aid.