Financial shield PFR 2.0 - Bank Millennium

Decisions for the beneficiaries of PFR 2.0 Financial Shield

Decisions on redemption of financial subsidies under PFR 2.0 Financial Shield for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be made available in Millenet in Agreements and documents from 13 July 2022.

Detailed information can be found on the PFR websitelink otwiera się w nowym oknie.

Settlement rules

Settlement rules for micro-companies

The total remission of the financial subsidy will be granted to micro-companies which jointly meet the following conditions:

uninterrupted maintenance of business activity until December 31, 2021.
and maintaining the average level of employment in 2021 compared to the number of employees for which they received the subsidy.

PFR will check these conditions automatically on the basis of data from ZUS, so the entrepreneur doesn't need to attach any documents or certificates to the application.

The form of the statement of settlement for micro-companies contains the account number to which the entrepreneur can pay money from the subsidy, if they want to return it before the decision is issued by PFR. The repayments made by the micro-company before the date of the PFR decision reduce the balance of the subsidy to be canceled.

Settlement rules for SMEs

The full remission of the financial subsidy will be awarded to SMEs which jointly meet the following conditions:

uninterrupted maintenance of business activity until 31 December 2021
and settlement of the surplus of financial subsidy received.

In the subsidy application, entrepreneurs generally forecasted revenues and fixed costs for the period from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021. Therefore, in order to settle the subsidy, they must provide the actual fixed costs and the amount of revenues for this period. A special calculator will be helpful in calculating this difference, which can be used in the settlement form. The beneficiary must check whether there is a surplus between the amount of the subsidy calculated on the basis of the expected value of fixed costs and the amount of decrease in revenues, and the subsidy they would have received based on the amount of actual fixed costs and the actual amount of decrease in revenues. If there is a surplus, the beneficiary will have to return it by 15 March 2022 to the individual account indicated in the confirmation of declaration.

Moreover, in order to correctly settle the subsidy, entrepreneurs will have to attach to the form a declaration on the settlement of JPK files in the form of xml generated from the company's accounting program (a different format will not be accepted). Depending on the accounting, these will be JPK_PKPIR or JPK_KR files. Separate files should be prepared for the period November-December 2020 and January-March 2021.

Please note that the amount indicated in the statement of settlement does not have to equal the amount that will be refunded to the PFR. If the entrepreneur has partially repaid the subsidy before the deadline for submitting the statement of settlement, they should reduce the amount indicated in the statement by the value of all returns made under the PFR 2.0 Financial Shield.

Key dates

From 19 January to 28 February 2022, PFR will provide a form of declaration of settlement for a micro-company via electronic banking system. After this deadline, the form of a statement of settlement will be unavailable, and settlement of the subsidy, as a rule, will not be possible.
From 18 November 2021 to 15 January 2022, PFR will make available a form of declaration of settlement for SMEs via electronic banking system. After this deadline, the form of a statement of settlement will be unavailable, and settlement of the subsidy, as a rule, will not be possible.
In July 2022, PFR will issue one of the three decisions to companies, i.e.:
- determination of the amount of the subsidy subject to exemption from the obligation to return (including full remission),
- a call for reimbursement of the entire subsidy
- information that PFR has identified circumstances that make it impossible to determine the amount of the subsidy subject to redemption. The PFR will then ask the beneficiary for further explanations.

Important information

A significant difference from the settlement of the PFR 1.0 Financial Shield is that the deadline for submitting the statement of settlement does not take place one year after receiving the subsidy, and the date of issuing the above-mentioned decisions by PFR does not depend on the time of submitting the statement.

Required statements and details

Companies that did not provide correct documents on the authorization when applying for a subsidy, will find an additional field in the forms, the so-called retrospective statement. By checking them, they will certify that they were authorized to submit an application for a subsidy. In addition to submitting this declaration, they must provide the bank with documents confirming the authorization within 14 days.
Companies will have to confirm in the form that they have made an entry in the Central Register of Real Beneficiaries (CRBP), if they have not done so before.
PKD codes, which the beneficiary enters in the form, are purely descriptive. Beneficiary should provide the company's leading PKD code. It does not have to be related to the list of 54 PKD codes which conditioned participation in the program.

The regulations and the necessary information about the subsidy settlement and redemption process are available at www.pfr.pl.

PFR documents

link opens in a new browser tab Agreement forms and current regulations can be found on PFR website.

Important information

If a customer incurs a debt under the PFR Financial Shield (Polish Development Fund), it is not treated as a breach of the credit transaction agreement concluded with the Bank - i.e. it is not treated as a breach of the covenant not to contract obligations without the Bank's consent.

Worth to know

Appeal application

An appeal may be submitted, if the application has been rejected or a lower financial subsidy has been granted than the one requested, but also when the entrepreneur received the entire amount requested, but the circumstances indicate that his request could have been higher. Appeal applications will be available from 1 February to 31 March 2021.

If you receive a positive decision on granting support in the amount lower than the one requested, you will receive by transfer to the given bank account the amount indicated in the PFR decision, and for the remainder you can submit an appeal after clarifying the reservations listed in the PFR decision. You can submit an appeal only twice.

If you receive a negative decision, you can submit your application again. Remember to clarify in advance the reasons behind the rejection of the application and check the correctness of the data. If you updated details for ZUS/US (Social Insurance/Tax Office) please wait 7 business days before submitting the appeal.

When is an appeal against a PFR decision possible?

1. If PFR makes a decision to grant a lower subsidy than that requested, the Client is entitled to submit a new (appeal) application in order to obtain the full amount of the subsidy requested.

2. The option of submitting such an application is also granted to the Client whose previous application was rejected by PFR.

3. Additionally, you can submit an appeal application if you received the entire amount requested, but the circumstances indicate that his request could have been higher.

What the appeal form should contain and how to submit it:

Appeal application:

may be submitted by another person representing the company
must be submitted in the same bank where the original application was submitted
must contain the ID of the original application
may be submitted not later than within 2 months from the date of receiving of the decision from which the appeal application is submitted, applications submitted after this date will be rejected by PFR

Security

PFR Financial Shield application is available only after signing on to the Millenet electronic banking system. The Bank does not send by e-mail any messages requesting the recipient to visit the Bank’s portal or to log in to Millenet and provide any personal data, sign-on data etc. Such messages are typical examples of “phishing” and aim to fraudulently obtain Customers’ data. “Phishing” attempts should be reported to the Bank, i.e. by phone. If possible, we would like to encourage you to save suspicious mailings and send them to the address given by the Bank employee.

Remember that:

the application is available free of charge after signing on to Millenet, Bank does not allow submitting the application by other systems
it is not necessary to install any apps or software in the computer/phone to fill in the application
only at the end of the application process you will be asked to provide the SMS P@ssword/Mobile Authorisation or a token

The Bank will inform you about the possibility to submit an application by means of electronic channels e.g. a text, a message in mobile app or a message in Millenet. If you receive suspicious correspondence or mailing regarding the application from unknown sender or someone asks you to provide sign-on data and single-use passwords relating to this matter, report it promptly to Bank employees, i.e. by phone.

Please keep in mind that in connection with the application the Bank does not ask for any data to be provided by e-mail or text. Please be careful and show limited trust with respect to e-mails or texts, which contain a request for confidential data or which provide links to the websites of banks or third parties.

Standard security rules in Millenet online banking system

When signing on to Millenet always make sure that the line is encrypted by checking if the address of the website in the browser’s window begins with https:// and whether an icon depicting a closed padlock appears on the bar at the bottom or top of the screen (depending on the browser being used) – the padlock confirms that the website is covered by a security certificate and the line is encrypted. After clicking on the padlock check if the certificate is correct and valid. Please note that only the combination of a correct address and correct content of the certificate can guarantee that the website is legitimate and there is no “phishing” attack.

Detailed information on the secure use of Millenet online banking system can be found on our website for Firms.

FAQ

link opens in a new browser tab Current set of questions and answers can be found on the Polish Development Fund website (in Polish)

Role of the Bank

We will inform you about the possibility of submitting an application and the rules for applying for subsidies
You can conveniently submit the application via Millenet online banking by filling out a simple form and attaching the necessary documents
You can also check the status of the application or make a possible appeal through Millenet

Decisions for the beneficiaries of PFR 2.0 Financial Shield available from 13 July in Millenet