Support for Entrepreneurs from Public Funds in the Era of the Covid-19 Pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic has changed the perception of the role of the state in economic processes in an unprecedented way. This resulted primarily from the dynamics of economic processes during the pandemic. Previously, economic changes were evolutionary in nature, while the pandemic was a revolution for the state and entrepreneurs. The subject of the article is an analysis of the regulations on financing entrepreneurs before and during the pandemic. From the current time perspective, it is reasonable to examine whether the state reacted correctly to this crisis? The main risk factors were the speed of reaction and the scope of the changes introduced. This generates a fundamental question whether the introduced changes in the mechanisms of financing enterprises were introduced correctly and, consequently, helped the entrepreneur? As a result of analyzes based on non-reactive studies, it was found that observing in retrospect the activities related to counteracting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurs, it should first be noted that the legislator (both at the EU and Polish level) reacted quickly and effectively to the changing economic circumstances. This may be evidenced by, for example, radical changes in the area of state aid regulations. In the first weeks after the outbreak of the pandemic, completely new aid rules were created, which allowed many entrepreneurs to be saved. It is also worth noting that in the subsequent stages of the pandemic, economic circumstances changed and entrepreneurs began to adapt to operating in the circumstances of the pandemic. It also required adapting the support tools. In this area, it is worth paying attention to the targeting of aid activities for enterprises from industries most affected by the effects of the pandemic. The aid was targeted in particular at enterprises from the tourism, recreation and transport industries.