Services

State aid and EU funds

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Our team provides advice to both beneficiaries and authorities granting EU & State aid throughout all project stages: from inception, through execution, to completion.

Obtaining Funds

We assist both Polish and international entities in securing funds from state and EU institutions for their investments and innovative projects.

Legal and Tax Support During Project Implementation

Any publicly funded project involves a number of specific conditions, including, in the case of EU funds, the risk of financial corrections. We supports the clients in project settlement. Our team excels at identifying these risks, mitigating them as well as representing clients before relevant authorities and courts.

Our State Aid and EU funds practice is bolstered by a robust tax team, about which you can find more information here.

Beneficiary Defense

We represent clients before national authorities, including handling administrative court cases, and represent beneficiaries before the European Commission in matters related to EU funding, co-financing refunds, and related financial corrections.

Support from Experts Rooted in EU Institutions

Our team includes lawyers with experience in public administration bodies at both the national and EU levels. Their experience facilitates a deep understanding of grant-awarding bodies. This includes Edyta Niemyska, who has been serving as a legal expert representing Poland at Your Europe Advice at the European Commission since 2004, and Piotr Leonarski, who has worked in the Polish Ministry of Finance. Both have extensive experience in advising on projects using public funds.

Services

[ 01 ]

Acquiring Financing from Public Funds, Including European Union Resources:

Audit of existing aid instruments, e.g. activity in the Polish Investment Zone (PSI), R&D/IP Box relief, etc.
Assistance in Choosing the Most Optimal Financing Method
Analysis of Requirements and Constraints Related to Financing
Support in Completing Applications for Funding Acquisition

[ 02 ]

Support for Projects That Have Already Secured Funding:

Evaluation of the compliance of Projects Financed by Public Funds with the conditions of Funding
Evaluation of the Eligibility of Expenditures
Identification of Risks Associated with potential Financial Corrections and Refund of Grants
Alignment of projects with existing financing opportunities
Tax consulting services
Comprehensive analysis of the risk of loss of funding (including the risk of change-of-control) in the case of transactions (sale of shares or disposal of assets) involving the beneficiary, including transactional due diligence on issues related to state aid obtained by the acquired entity.

[ 03 ]

Proceedings:

Representation Before National Authorities (Including the Supreme Chamber of Control, NCBR, PARP)
Handling Court and Administrative Cases Related to Public Funding
Representation Before the European Commission Regarding EU Funding Matters
Assistance in Cases Involving Grant Refunds and Associated Financial Corrections
Public Finance Discipline cases related to the Granting and Settlement of Subsidies

Experience

CMT Group UK

Advising on an EUR 27M EU-Funded Humanitarian Project (ECHO) for the delivery of power generators to Ukraine

EUR 27,000,000

Project value

Geothermal energy Toruń

The law firm assisted Geotermia Toruń sp. o.o. in the preparation of documents for the procedure for selecting a contractor for construction works in the project of building a geothermal heating plant in Toruń. The proceedings were financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund. This is a huge tender worth several million EURO, requiring the adaptation of the conditions of participation in the procedure and the criteria for evaluating offers from a legal and technical perspective to the conditions prevailing on the Polish construction market. In addition, the Law Firm provided legal assistance in the interpretation of the subsidy agreement.

A company from the biotechnology industry

The LSW team provided advice on minimizing the risk of repayment of the entire subsidy at the pre-trial stage in a case involving a project co-financed under the Applied Research Program. The beneficiary concept involved animal research that ended in failure. With a considerable delay, the beneficiary obtained the consent of the National Center for Research and Development to change the method used in the project, from animal testing to human testing. The authority withheld the funding, accusing the project of failure at the stage of animal testing.

PLN 2,500,000

The amount of funding

A company from the energy industry

The LSW law firm assessed ex ante and ex post the admissibility and method of granting and using financing in the light of the principle of transparency in the management of public funds, the principle of efficiency, the principle of proportionality and ensuring compliance of the financial support granted with the conditions of admissibility of public aid, including the possibility of cumulating aid for the beneficiary in as part of the implementation of the "LIFE +" project, financed by the EU funds of the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program 2007-2013. The project included launching a fuel production line using innovative solutions in the field of renewable energy - production of micronized dust from biomass.

approx. PLN 15,000,000

Project value

A company from the IT industry

Comprehensive advice on changing the business model of the beneficiary and its capital group resulting from the conclusion of an agreement on co-financing from EU funds in a regional program. LSW lawyers advised on the possibility of distributing assets purchased in the project to related entities, including: in the light of the EU principle of project sustainability.

PLN 3,270,570.00

Amount of funding