Anti-Crisis Shield as Support Related to Preventing and Counteracting the Coronavirus Pandemic

In the article an attempt was made to answer the question as to which of the available benefits of the anti-crisis shield have been used by enterprises in the catering and cosmetics industry in the Olsztyn and Lidzbark Districts in the province of Warmia and Mazury. The existing support for entrepreneurs to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic has been evaluated. The study demonstrated that respondents benefited from various forms of anti-crisis shield support. The most common were exemption from payment of social security contributions, an economic downtime benefit for persons engaged in economic activity, a subsidy of part of the costs of employees’ wages and social security contributions, a subsidy of part of the costs of economic activity for an enterprise not employing workers, the granting of benefits for the protection of workplaces, and, finally, one-off redeemable micro-loans. The research conducted has demonstrated that the majority of the surveyed entrepreneurs rated the governmental measures as satisfactory. In the group of the surveyed entities, loans to cover current business costs proved to be the most popular instrument of the anti-crisis shield. Entrepreneurs have not closed or suspended their businesses as a result of the anti-crisis shield support, among other things.