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LACHEZAR BORISOV
BGN 156 million is awarded for small and medium-sized companies that have closed due to the measures.
There will only be two weeks for the application period and seven days for the payment of the funds of the new measure of working capital for micro, small and medium-sized companies, which were forcibly closed due to restrictions due to the pandemic. This was specified by the Minister of Economy, Lachezar Borisov, during the government session on Wednesday. For this, the program was approved, for which OPIC will allocate 156 million BGN. A specific beneficiary will be the ANR, which will announce the selection procedure and the companies will apply it completely electronically. The aid will be as a percentage of the turnover without VAT for the same period last year, or if the company is new, for October. The amount will be 10 or 20% depending on the sector.
“The Minister of Finance, together with his colleagues from the National Revenue Agency and Parliament, have done a great job so that we can turn a revenue agency into a payment agency, so that the money reaches the beneficiaries the way faster, “Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said.
The anticipated possibility of financing by the ANR will be temporary, since this money will be later compensated by the OPIC, specifies the government’s decision.
The 156 million BGN is diverted from two other OPIC procedures: to restructure the organization of work in companies in a COVID environment and to provide liquidity to so-called small large companies.
However, Minister Borissov promised that other funds would be provided for the second procedure so that it could begin. This happened on Wednesday and it was clear that the European Commission has approved this aid. It is for companies with an annual turnover of at least BGN 500 thousand in 2019, where the turnover has decreased by at least 20% for three months since February 2020 compared to the same three months last year. They belong to small businesses, but are not covered by the current measures.
They are allocated BGN 78.2 million. The plan will be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and will be available to small businesses operating in certain sectors and meeting certain requirements.
56 million BGN save tourism
With its decision, the cabinet on Wednesday allocated BGN 56 million in the field of tourism to avoid the consequences of COVID-19, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov announced during the government session. Tour operators and travel agencies will receive free of charge 4% of their declared annual turnover without VAT for 2019. According to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mariana Nikolova, the amount is around BGN 51 million and will compensate almost 1,600 companies. This aid will be notified first by the European Commission.
The remaining BGN 4.9 million will also be allocated to tour operators for the use of charter airlines at EUR 35 per seat. This aid has already been authorized by the EC.
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