Firms applying for Danish state aid must promise not to pay dividends or make share buy-backs in 2020 and 2021. Companies would be allowed to pay dividends again if they pay back the aid.

This makes perfect sense, otherwise it's a textbook case of socializing the losses and privatizing the profit. Paying dividends (and stock buybacks) is a trade-off that companies make, that makes the company less resilient. Risk/reward needs to work in both ways, both in terms of gains as well as losses.