Companies & corporate law /

Working capital grants for medium-sized enterprises from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP)

Since 15 June 2020, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development has been conducting a call for proposals for a new programme of financial support for medium-sized enterprises, whose financial situation has deteriorated as a result of the COVID-10 epidemic. The call for proposals runs until 31 July 2020.

The purpose of the recruitment is to support the maintenance of the business activity of a medium-sized entrepreneur who, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, is in a difficult situation on the day of granting the aid or has recorded a decrease in turnover by at least 30% in any month after 1 February 2020 as compared to the previous month or the same month of the previous year.

The amount of co-financing is a product of a unit rate for a given level of employment and the number of months in which the applicant needs support, however, the applicant may apply for financing of working capital for a maximum period of three months. The advance is 100 %.

Total amount of funds for co-financing projects – pool of funds in the call:

  • under the Intelligent Development Operational Programme – PLN 2,000,000,000.00, of which:
    • for projects located in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship – PLN 400 000 000.00,
    • for projects located in provinces other than mazowieckie – PLN 1,600,000,000.00,
  • under the Eastern Poland Operational Programme – PLN 500 000 000.00.

Funding will be available for operating costs, including costs related to the financing of working capital, such as utilities, space rental, purchase of goods or business insurance.

The programme is intended for medium-sized enterprises.

Medium-sized enterprises are entities which have their registered office or branch in Poland, employ less than 250 people and have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.

The obtained co-financing is subject to the fulfilment of conditions in the scope:

  • the criterion of employment (number of employees),
  • the financial criterion (turnover and balance sheet total),
  • links between the entrepreneur and other entities.

Applications are submitted to the two available programmes, with the selection of the programme depending on the province in which the business is carried out.

The application for co-financing for the Operational Programme Eastern Poland is submitted by entrepreneurs operating on the territory of the following voivodeships: Lubelskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie.

The application for co-financing for the Intelligent Development Operational Programme is submitted by entrepreneurs conducting business activity on the territory of the following voivodeships: Dolnośląskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Pomorskie, Śląskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie.

Employment criterion

The number of jobs in the company (i. e. the number of FTE based on full-time equivalent) is determined at the time of the application for funding. Only persons employed directly by the entrepreneur applying for funding are considered.

FTE is the unit by which the employee’s commitment or capacity ratio is converted to 100% capacity, i. e. it is the equivalent of full-time equivalents. For the purpose of the FTE calculation, the number of persons connected with the entrepreneur’s employment relationship (if the owner is an employee of the company, it is included in the calculation) must be calculated in full-time equivalents according to the statutory working hours.

In the calculations we do not include employees on maternity leaves, leaves on maternity leave, paternity leaves, parental leaves and parental leaves, as well as those employed for professional preparation).

The financial criterion – a decrease in turnover can only be shown from March 2020.

A decrease in economic turnover (decrease in sales revenue) should be understood as a decrease in sales of goods or services in value terms calculated as:

  • the ratio of the turnover for any given calendar month after February 1, 2020 to the turnover for the previous calendar month;
  • or the ratio of the total turnover in any calendar month after February 1, 2020 to the total turnover in the corresponding calendar month in the previous year.

The reason for the applicant’s difficult situation.

The funding shall be reserved exclusively for undertakings which were not in difficulty on December 31, 2019 in accordance with Article 2 point 18 of EC Regulation No 651/2014.

Determining the above circumstances requires an analysis of financial data as at the end of 2019:

  • if the company has existed for more than three years, its accumulated losses (if any) may not exceed half the capital,
  • the company at the end of 2019 could not be subject to collective insolvency proceedings, winding-up proceedings, bankruptcy or dissolution/deletion from registers,
  • It should be established whether the company has received rescue aid and at the end of 2019 has not repaid the loan or terminated the guarantee contract or received restructuring aid and was still subject to a restructuring plan at December 31, 2019
  • the value of cash liabilities of the company did not exceed the value of its assets for more than 24 months.

The detailed rules defining the criteria for a firm in difficulty are set out in Article 2 point 18 of EC Regulation No 651/2014 of June 17, 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of the art. 107 and 108 of the Treaty.

Applications can be filled in via the Internet via the PARP platform available on the following website: https://www.parp.gov.pl/component/grants/grants/dotacja-na-kapital-obrotowy.

Source: https://www.parp.gov.pl/component/grants/grants/dotacja-na-kapital-obrotowy

Author team leader DKP Legal Michał Puk
Contact our expert
Write an inquiry: [email protected]
check full info of team member: Michał Puk

Contact us

Flaga Polski.POZNANPOLAND
Młyńska 16
61-730 Poznań
+48 61 853 56 48[email protected]
Flaga Polski.WARSAWPOLAND
Rondo ONZ 1
00-124 Warsaw
+48 22 300 16 74[email protected]
Flaga Polski.WROCLAWPOLAND
Swobodna 1
50-088 Wrocław
+48 61 853 56 48[email protected]
Flaga Polski.KRAKOWPOLAND
Opolska 110
31-355 Kraków
+48 61 853 56 48[email protected]
Flaga Polski.ZIELONA GÓRAPOLAND
Jana Sobieskiego 2/3
65-071 Zielona Góra
+48 61 853 56 48[email protected]