State Aid as a Form of Alleviating the Negative Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a considerable challenge not only for healthcare systems but also for many other areas. The lockdowns and various restrictions used to minimize the spread of the virus had a significant impact on the functioning of entire economies. They posed a considerable threat to enterprises, especially service ones, which were forced to suspend their operations or were deprived of customers overnight. To protect enterprises and their employees from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments of many countries have decided to provide unprecedented state aid. One such country is Poland, where many aid packages offered by public institutions were created. This article aims to present the assistance provided by one of them - the Polish Development Fund against the background of activities in selected European countries. It shows the scale of this aid as well as its scope and territorial distribution.