State Aid for SMEs During the Pandemic in Poland

Abstract

Theoretical background: The global SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic is affecting everyone, either directly or indirectly. To mitigate the negative economic outcome of the restrictions introduced in order to limit the spread of the virus, the majority of countries have introduced a number of solutions enabling enterprises to survive and maintain employment. Poland has also implemented a whole range of instruments aimed at supporting enterprises and people who have lost their livelihood.

Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to review selected support instruments for enterprises from the SME group and to determine the degree of their use. Research was carried out to verify the hypothesis that these instruments played a significant role in the survival of enterprises, however, their lump sum nature meant that the aid was not adequate to the needs at a micro-economic level.

Research methods: Six instruments were subjected to evaluation, i.e. the standstill benefit, exemption from the Social Insurance Institution fees, low-interest loans from the Labour Fund for micro-enterprises, partial financing of business and partial financing of salary costs, as well as a financial subsidy used by 157 SMEs up to November 30, 2020. During the first step, an analysis was conducted regarding the number of instruments that were used by enterprises, in particular, subgroups. In the second step, using a correlation analysis, the amount of aid obtained in 2020 from 6 analyzed instruments under the shields launched in the first half of the year, used by entrepreneurs by the end of 2020, was compared with the revenues and pre-tax results of enterprises from a given sample.

Main findings: State aid was necessary to maintain jobs and satisfactory financial conditions of companies. However, the aid introduced in the first months of the pandemic did not match the real needs of enterprises. The conditions of availability regarding individual instruments made it possible to use them by entities that did not, in reality, require state aid. Nonetheless, from the fall of 2020 (during subsequent waves of the pandemic), the aid was targeted at specific industries, and its use required more stringent conditions to be met.