EN
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 voivodship within a research project of the Scientific Research Committee (KBN) "The role of economic entities, institutions and local societies in sustainable development of rural areas and agriculture". The analysis concerns the period 1999-2003.