STT: Millions of rental compensation went to family members and large shopping centers



[ad_1]

As you know, the second package of business aid prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation does not contemplate the measure applied by the previous government. Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė explained that a letter received from the STT also contributed to that decision.

The STT’s anti-corruption analytical intelligence offers suggestions to ensure the equality of eligible entities, the fair use of funds and the transparency of the process, and to avoid potential corruption risks if similar measures are needed in the future.

The data on the use of the measure evaluated in the analysis includes the mitigation of the consequences of the first quarantine, until September 1, 2020. Applications can be submitted from May 4 to December 1, 2020.

For 94 objects, half of the funds

According to information provided by Delfi, the partial rent compensation measure (DNMK) was implemented, for which a total of 40 million euros was allocated last year. The tenant could receive compensation if he rents a premises for prohibited or restricted activities during the quarantine period and the landlord reduces the applicant’s monthly rent by at least 30% after the quarantine date. percent If the landlord did not agree to make a rent discount, the tenant could not claim compensation.

“According to DNMK’s description, rental costs or rental services could be reimbursed. However, the description does not detail what additional rental costs related to the rental of the facilities it is proposed to reimburse.

While the definition of rental and leasing services was clarified in the description last September, it was not clear what specific costs incurred by the tenant could be reimbursed. Due to insufficient disclosure of the content of the provisions in the description, in practice they could be applied ambiguously and create unequal conditions for applicants to request compensation.

The description stipulates that the applicant (tenant) and the landlord cannot belong to the same group of companies and / or the applicant cannot rent premises from the landlord when the landlord is a natural person with a majority of votes in the applicant company ”, writes STT .

However, the Office’s analysis identified cases in which the applicant was related to the owner through natural persons by kinship, company ownership and management ties.

“For example, the same person owned the shares of both the applicant company and the lessor company, or the person owned the applicant company and his spouse owned the lessor company and so on. 29 cases of this type were identified, of which almost 372 thousand. – will be indicated on the letter.

The analysis of the premises for which compensation was claimed showed that a total of 1,073 leases were claimed during the period analyzed.

“Of these, up to half of the funds allocated for compensation were allocated to 94 rental objects: 9 million euros. A more detailed analysis of these premises revealed that more than 7 million euros were reimbursed for premises located in large supermarkets ”States the document.

The Authority also identified cases in which the companies that operate these premises benefited from another measure, such as micro-enterprises. For example, some of them have received from 9 to 11 thousand. EUR under the measure “Subsidies for micro-enterprises”, as it met the definition of micro-enterprise established in the description of this measure.

According to the STT, if the description of the measure included the definition of microenterprise provided by the Law for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, these companies would not have received support, since the definition includes not only the number of employees but also the data financial company.

The revenue of the mentioned companies in 2019 amounted to 4-21 million. The value of the specified assets is between 52 and 220 million euros. analyst note.

STT information on partial rental compensation

STT information on partial rental compensation

© No.

It is added that STT had previously carried out anti-corruption evaluations of the draft description of the DNMK measure and the draft amendment to the description of the DNMK measure and submitted appropriate proposals, but not all comments submitted by STT were taken into account.

Delfi has previously published a list of the 20 largest owners in Lithuania.

It is strictly forbidden to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source .



[ad_2]