The European Commission said on Thursday it “has approved a Polish recapitalisation scheme of up to EUR 1.65 billion (PLN 7.5 billion) to support large enterprises and certain larger small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.”
The EU executive added it was giving the green light to the support under temporary state aid rules it originally adopted in March and then amended twice.
The Polish recapitalisation plan is part of a wider support programme aiming to offer a "financial shield" for large enterprises, the EU executive also said.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of competition policy, was quoted as saying that "this recapitalisation scheme, with a budget of up to EUR 1.65 billion, will enable Poland to further support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak."
Vestager added that the measure “ensures that the State is sufficiently remunerated for the risk taxpayers assume, that there are incentives for the State to exit as soon as possible, and that the support comes with strings attached, including a ban on dividends, bonus payments as well as further measures to limit distortions of competition.”
'Anti-crisis shield'
The European Commission at the end of last month said it had approved a Polish plan to offer EUR 1.6 billion worth of state aid to large enterprises and SMEs to partially compensate them for losses suffered due to the coronavirus outbreak and to provide them with direct liquidity through loans.
The European Commission earlier last month approved a Polish plan to offer EUR 2.2 billion worth of state aid to large companies as well as EUR 450 million worth of help for companies hit by the coronavirus "through the provision of loans and state guarantees on loans.”
The EU executive in late April gave the green light to Polish state aid to businesses in the form of repayable advances, with a total budget of EUR 16.6 billion (around PLN 75 billion).
In early April, the EU executive gave the go-ahead to a Polish loan and guarantee plan aiming to support the economy to the tune of PLN 3.5 billion (around EUR 700 million).
Poland’s president at the end of March signed into effect a multibillion relief and stimulus package aiming to shore up the economy and shield it from the impact of the coronavirus.
President Andrzej Duda in April signed into law a measure to offer further support to the nation’s economy amid a COVID-19 lockdown.
Polish lawmakers at the end of April backed a plan to expand the massive package of measures aiming to protect jobs and businesses.
Poland's parliament last month approved more support to the economy as part of the government's “anti-crisis shield.”
Polish lawmakers this month backed a new measure to protect companies, jobs, borrowers and local governments amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in early April unveiled plans to throw a lifeline of at least PLN 100 billion (USD 24 billion, EUR 22 billion) to businesses hit by the coronavirus epidemic.
Massive cash boost from EU
The Polish prime minister earlier this spring called for a “new Marshall Plan” for Europe to aid the continent’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Amid the pandemic, Poland stands to receive more than EUR 63 billion from EU coffers in grants and loans under a massive recovery plan proposed by the European Commission last month.
The new recovery fund, dubbed "Next Generation EU," includes EUR 500 billion in grants and EUR 250 billion in loans for member states, with the money borrowed on financial markets and repaid from the bloc's budget.
A total of 28,201 people have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease in Poland, with 1,215 deaths from the coronavirus so far, public health officials said on Thursday.
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Source: ec.europa.eu