Government extending some subsidy programmes and introducing new ones
On 14 October 2020, the government approved several subsidy programmes for entrepreneurs affected by the coronavirus pandemic. This involves extending the effectiveness of some of the previous subsidy programmes and introducing some new ones. The individual programmes’ detailed conditions will be disclosed in the upcoming days.
The government approved the extension of the COVID – Rent subsidy programme with new funds for allocation amounting to CZK 1.2 billion. Entrepreneurs entitled to this type of subsidy are those who perform retail activities and provide services to customers in leased retail premises and whose provision of services to customers and sale of goods in these premises was banned or significantly curtailed as a result of the adopted emergency measures. The amount of support shall be 50% of the total rent for the July to September 2020 period and shall no longer be conditional upon a discount provided by the lessor. In the Minister of Industry and Trade’s opinion, it is good that the programme had already been approved by the European Commission, thus allowing the retrospective compensation of rent even for the period preceding the escalation of the second wave of the pandemic.
The COVID – Culture programme will also remain in effect, offering CZK 750 million for allocation. Support shall be provided in respect of expenses incurred for unrealised cultural events or projects that should have taken place between 1 October 2019 to 20 November 2020 as well as expenses for performing continuous culture-related activities in the period from 1 March 2020 to 20 November 2020.
An entirely new subsidy programme, COVID – Bus, should help entrepreneurs in non-scheduled bus transport; the COVID – Sport II programme mainly targets professional sports clubs and sports event organisers. The government is also preparing the AgroCOVID Food Industry subsidy programme intended to provide support to food producers whose production headed towards public food services has been significantly curtailed by the government’s emergency measures; the programme’s conditions are yet to be approved by the government.
The government has also approved a proposal of how to use funds from REACT-EU within the Integrated Regional Operational Programme 2014–2020. The European Commission is planning to allocate EUR 47.5 billion to member states, while the exact allocation amounts are not yet known. The government has preliminarily agreed that 56% of the final allocation will be intended for healthcare, 15% for investment in facilities for athletes, and 29% to support the Integrated Rescue System and retirement home constructions conforming to a passive building standard.
The above information is based on press releases issued after the government sessions. The individual programmes’ final criteria will be made available once specific calls to participate in the programmes are announced.