Brussels, 12 August 2022 (TDI): The European Commission approved changes to an existing Polish scheme to promote businesses across sectors in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an increase in funding of €5.1 billion (PLN 24.5 billion).
#EUStateAid #StandWithUkraine Commission 🇪🇺 approves modifications to Polish 🇵🇱scheme, including €5.1 billion budget increase, to support companies in the context of Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine ⬇️https://t.co/cmxs1n8EUy pic.twitter.com/256oPDbe1G
— EU Competition (@EU_Competition) August 11, 2022
The amendments were approved under the Temporary Crisis Framework. The Commission adopted the framework on 23 March 2022 and amended it on 20 July 2022. It was based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), recognizing that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance
Margrethe Vestager’s Remarks
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said, “The amendments approved today will help Poland to further support companies across sectors and to continue to mitigate the higher than expected economic impact of the current crisis and the related sanctions.”
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Commission authorized a €1.2 billion Polish plan (PLN 5.5 billion) on June 30, 2022, as part of the Temporary Crisis Framework.
Under the scheme, the aid takes the form of State guarantees on factoring products and on new loans. Poland informed the Commission of its plan to change the current plan and raise the overall budget by €5.11 billion (PLN 24.5 billion).
In particular, an increase of almost €209 million (PLN 1 billion) to €793 million(PLN 3.8 billion) will be made to the overall budget for State guarantees on factoring goods.
The overall budget for guarantees on new loans would rise from roughly €939 million (PLN 4.5 billion) to €5.5 billion (PLN 26.2 billion).
Additionally, Poland informed the Commission of a change to the maximum amount of assistance in the form of loans with guarantees for newly established businesses.
As amended, the Commission concluded that the Polish scheme is still necessary, appropriate, and reasonable to address a major economic disturbance in a Member State.
The scheme also complied with the requirements outlined in the Temporary Crisis Framework and Article 107(3)(b) TFEU, according to the Commission.
Under EU State Aid rules, the Commission approved the changes to the Polish plan on this basis.
