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Albina Jašinskienė from Kaunas has been selling men’s clothing for 26 years. The business was successful before the quarantine, but after the forced closure in December, the business went into debt.
“Approximately 2,5 thousand. Debt in euros. Imagine: 4 months. And now, when it opens, people do not go. My season in which I work: autumn and winter. It just took me. My assets are invested”, says A Jašinskienė.
A similar situation exists in the department of Levita Luobikienė, which sells women’s clothing. Only these autonomous trader debts are even higher. Merchants must primarily rent a commercial space.
“I have a debt of 4.5 thousand euros, plus the fifth month, because we hardly trade, there was no human trafficking. For 5.5 months we had no income,” says L. Luobikienė.
Payments to merchants were promised in May, but no support is available so far. It is true that some traders have been able to take advantage of the market tax bonus, but it is said that it does not even cover the minimum loss.
“After 300 months of quarantine for two months, and all the others, both those of services, such as production and trade, have still not received compensation or subsidies for most of the autonomous victims of COVID-19,” says Zita Sorokienė, merchant representative.
Zita Sorokiene
Traders are misled and frustrated by the promises of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (EIM).
“I am very, very angry, because I believe that our country has never had such a government in so many years, because that segregation, division – UAB, AB – are loved, we are like orphans”, A. Jašinskienė is upset.
“70 percent. Lease contract that we had been promised, but so far we do not see any progress. We live with that expectation and already with fear, because we are talking about closings,” adds L. Luobikienė.
In June, employers received the description of the aid measure, but it is described as discriminatory because the aid is not intended for everyone. Z. Sorokienė says that isolated entrepreneurs without any logic.
“It just came to our attention then. All freelancers who carry out activities in temporary structures have been excluded from this description,” he says.
Neither will those who have previously received € 300 receive support: “Except for those who have benefited from a market tax credit, although, as I said, it was for a two-month quarantine.”
EIM declined to comment on why such conditions arose, but simply sent a concise written response:
The EIM has delivered to the Government the concept and draft amendment to the measure “Subsidies to Self-Employed Victims of COVID-19”.
Traders are already loading things, jobs are being emptied every day. The Ministry’s entrepreneurs have their suggestions on how to change the aid plan for the affected companies and they are still waiting to receive a dialogue.
For self-employed traders affected by COVID-19, a grant of € 20 million is envisaged for grant applications. EUR. So far, just over 5.5 million have been distributed. EUR.
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