Compensation for energy costs for large businesses: applications to be accepted from 15 November
On 2 November 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade published the first call for large businesses to apply for aid with respect to increased gas and electricity costs under the European Commission's Temporary Crisis Framework (TCF). Applications will be accepted from 15 November 2022 to 31 January 2023. CZK 30 billion is available for allocation, but the amount may further be adjusted. The call may end before this date, especially if the allocation is exhausted. Applications should therefore be prepared and submitted as soon as possible.
Support for the increased costs of natural gas and electricity is intended for businesses that have at least one point of consumption and transmission, except for businesses:
- whose business activity according to the CZ-NACE classification of economic activities falls within the sectors in which the windfall tax is proposed to be applied (regardless of whether this tax will be introduced);
- whose electricity and gas prices are capped under Government Decree No. 298/2022 Coll.
Businesses will be able to apply for support for eligible costs, which are determined as the product of:
- the volume of natural gas and electricity units purchased by the company during the eligible period, i.e., from 1 February 2022 to 31 October 2022 and
- the increase in the unit price for these energies, which is determined as the difference between the unit price paid in the eligible period and twice the unit price paid on average by the company for the reference (comparative) period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021.
Applicants may prove eligible costs on a monthly or a cumulative basis for the entire eligible period. At the same time, the amount of natural gas and electricity in September and October 2022 used to calculate eligible costs must not exceed 70% of the beneficiary's consumption for the same period in 2021.
The support will take the form of a subsidy provided to the beneficiary's bank account based on a decision to grant a subsidy issued by the support provider.
The basic amount of aid for all businesses will be 30% of eligible costs, up to a maximum of CZK 45 million. Simultaneously, a maximum subsidy of EUR 2 million shall apply to groups of partner and related companies defined according to the recommendation of the European Commission.
For energy-intensive businesses (with energy costs accounting for at least 3% of the production /turnover value) or businesses in selected sectors (energy-intensive businesses with more than 50% of their turnover for 2021 falling into the selected CZ-NACE sectors, e.g., production of paper, chemicals, hollow glass, copper and other), the following main condition shall also apply:
- The applicant has incurred an operating loss in the eligible period, at least half of which is due to heightened natural gas and electricity costs.
Upon meeting selected conditions, energy-intensive businesses may qualify for aid of up to 50% of eligible costs, or up to 70% in the case of businesses operating in selected sectors, but only up to the lesser of 80% of operating losses or CZK 200 million. Where corporate groups are concerned, a limit of EUR 25 million applies to groups in which energy-intensive businesses apply for aid and EUR 50 million to groups in which businesses operating in selected sectors apply for aid.
Other conditions of the programme include, e.g., the obligation to keep documentation related to the aid for 10 years, during which the relevant authorities may also carry out inspections. At the same time, all members of the company's statutory body must declare that, at the time of the application for aid, they will fully (and not only temporarily) waive any increases in their remuneration (including all components and variables thereof) for the current fiscal period without compensation.
Applications will be administered through the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agenda Information System or a similar system.
Each application shall be accompanied by:
- affidavit of the applicant for aid
- statement of eligible costs
- if eligible costs are reported on a monthly basis, an independent auditor’s report on an assurance engagement.
If the applicant is applying as an energy-intensive business or a business operating in a selected sector, they must also attach:
- an adjusted income statement
- an energy performance statement
- an independent auditor’s report on an assurance engagement
- or a statement of information provided by a business operating in a selected sector.
The preparation of these applications will therefore be time-consuming.
Applications meeting formal evaluation criteria will be recommended for support. We will be happy to assist you in reviewing the eligibility of your application for support.