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The European Commission has approved an amendment to an existing Polish scheme, including an overall €266 million budget increase, to support agricultural producers in the wake of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
The amendments were approved under the State aid temporary crisis framework.
These were first adopted by the Commission on 9 March to support measures in sectors which are key to accelerate the green transition and reduce fuel dependencies.
The new Framework amends and prolongs in part the temporary crisis framework adopted in March to enable Member States to support the economy in the context of the current geopolitical crisis.
Under the scheme, the aid consists in limited amounts of aid in the form of subsidised interest rates on loans.
Poland notified, among others, the following modifications to the existing scheme: (i) an overall budget increase by €266 million (ii) the extension of the period covered by the subsidy of interest rate on bank loans granted to an agricultural producer before 31 December 2023, from 36 months to 60 months; and (iii) the inclusion of the possibility of applying a grace period for the repayment of capital, at the request of the agricultural producer and with the consent of the bank.
The Commission says that is has concluded that the amended scheme “remains necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State.”
On this basis, the Commission say it has now approved the amendments under EU State aid rules.
