TY - JOUR N2 - The article addresses the issue of conditions that the borrower is obliged to fulfill during the crediting process. These terms, the so-called covenants are built into credit agreements and are aimed at limiting banks’ risk when financing business entities. However, at the same time, covenants constitute conditions limiting the scope of use of bank loans. Covenants are very diverse. The principle hypothesis of the study assumes that the covenants differ according to the type of credit and the characteristic of the industry and the financial situation of the enterprise. In order to examine the hypothesis, an analysis of 25 credit agreements in three corporations and their subsidiaries was undertaken. These entities belong to fuel, mining and metallurgical sectors. At the same time, we observe the extent to which these covenants were kept during four quarters of 2016 and two quarters of 2017. Due to the confidentiality of the data contained in the loan agreements, the names of groups and their companies were kept confidential at the request of their management. Studies have also shown that abiding by non-financial covenants has been more difficult than abiding by financial covenants. In covenants, several contracts stipulated that a company cannot freely dispose fixed assets, restructure them or use leased assets which hinders the use of those asset to repay debt. One major obstacle was the fact that the company could not undertake any additional business beyond the existing one. This hindered the diversification of companies’ activities, which would improve their competitive position on the market. The author intends to conduct further research on covenants to highlight their flexible use and to increase the availability of bank loans to business entities. L1 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/106860/PDF/sierpinska-sawicz.pdf L2 - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/Content/106860 PY - 2018 IS - No 4 EP - 180 DO - 10.24425/122588 KW - loans KW - financial covenants KW - non-financial covenants A1 - Sierpińska-Sawicz, Agata PB - Komitet Zrównoważonej Gospodarki Surowcami Mineralnymi PAN PB - Instytut Gospodarki Surowcami Mineralnymi i Energią PAN VL - vol. 34 DA - 2018.12.27 T1 - Covenants as barriers limiting enterprises’ use of bank loans SP - 165 UR - http://www.czasopisma.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/106860 T2 - Gospodarka Surowcami Mineralnymi - Mineral Resources Management ER -