COOPERATION OF COOPERATIVE BANKS WITH ECONOMIC ENTITIES IN RURAL AREAS

Activity of economic entities is a very important element of rural areas development. It contributes to increase in income as well as to improvement of living conditions of the rural population. Development of entrepreneurial initiatives requires the existence of institutions that would provide services to business, carry out activities related to business consultancy, help gain capital and participate in enterprises' financing. In rural areas this function can be assigned to cooperative banks, which are the basic financial institutions. This paper presents the aspects of a cooperative bank's cooperation with enterprises operating in rural areas. The paper has been prepared basing on a survey conducted in 15 communes of the Lubelskie voivodeship within a research project supported by the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN). The analysis concerns the period 1999-2003.