Source of support
The Polish Development Fund is a group of financial and advisory institutions whose aim is to support the economic development of the country. The core of PFD is the Polski Fundusz Rozwoju S.A. which is a state-owned company. Currently, work is underway to redirect the support offered by PFD to counteract the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately PLN 100 billion has been allocated to support under the PFD Financial Shield programme.
Who will be able to obtain support?
The support will be offered to all companies employing at least one employee. According to the intended goals the programme will provide:
- PLN 25 billion for microenterprises employing from 1 to 9 employees in the form of subsidies up to a maximum amount of PLN 324,000 (approximately PLN 70-90,000 on average) for 3 years. 75% of the subsidy will be non-refundable on the condition of continuing business activity to maintain the same level of employment for a period of 12 months.
- PLN 50 billion for small and medium-sized enterprises employing from 10 to 250 employees in the form of subsidies up to 3.5 million PLN (1.9 million PLN on average) for 3 years. 75% of the subsidy will be non-refundable on condition of continuing business activity to maintain the same level of employment for a period of 12 months.
- PLN 25 billion for large companies with more than 250 employees. This pool of funds will be divided into three separate streams of support. Ca. 10 billion will be allocated to support in the form of liquidity financing, 7.5 billion in the form of preferential financing and 7.5 billion for investment purposes.
How will it be possible to obtain support?
Support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises will be provided on the basis of applications in the electronic banking systems of selected cooperating banks.
Funds for large enterprises are to be allocated on the basis of individual financial analyses.
When will the programme be launched?
At present, Poland has notified PFD support programme for entrepreneurs to the European Commision. Under Community rules, funds constituting state aid must be approved by the Commission, which assesses whether the scheme may distort competition in the internal market. The scheme may be launched after a positive assessment.
However, it is already possible to submit initial applications by large companies.

CONTACT
Agnieszka Samborska
Legal Adviser | Accace Poland
E-mail: agnieszka.samborska@accace.com