Grants NOK 1.5 billion more for outdoors and tourism:

The change means that the total jackpot increases to NOK 2.8 billion. This is NOK 1.5 billion more than when the government proposed the compensation plan on Tuesday last week.

This is what Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø said at a press conference in Stavanger on Friday afternoon.

– New infection control measures launched this week, such as restrictions on the implementation of private events, increased requirements for sanitary napkins, encouragement to partner with a few people, impose significant new restrictions on operations and the operating base in the tourism industry, Nybø says.

The compensation scheme will run until February next year. At the same time, the support threshold is lowered.

Nightlife: – Seems rushed

The CEO of nightlife giant Noho Norway, Karl-Henning Svendsen, is far from satisfied with the expansion of the plan.

– It’s good that Iselin Nybø is trying to show action, and she should be honored by that, but I think this is a bit of a rush job: show action. Still not good enough what came, says Svendsen.

He believes that it is not enough for the compensation rate to increase from 50 to 60 percent of fixed costs.

– We need to cover at least 80 percent of unavoidable fixed expenses for it to take effect, he says.

Svendsen is also not happy with the way he works to retain employees.

– Dismissal assistance does not help us keep people working. When turnover is low, we can’t afford to keep people. Therefore, we must have a salary subsidy, so as not to have to fire.

If it doesn’t run on subsidies, then the nightlife giant wants the government to look into the permit scheme. There, they believe that the wage obligation should be reduced from ten days to two.

Perhaps most important to many in nightlife, Nybø, on the other hand, didn’t even stop at the press conference. Payments to nightlife don’t arrive until January.

– The state can save a lot of money by waiting four months, because many will not be able to survive that long, says Svendsen.

He thinks it is difficult for many in the nightlife to cope with fixed costs until the payments arrive.

– Pokémon patches on stomach shots

Kristian Afzelius, operations manager and co-owner of Rodeløkka Invest, which owns a total of 14 restaurants in Oslo, doesn’t think this is a rescue package at all.

– It’s ridiculous. The enlargement does not help. Initially, it didn’t help, but this doesn’t help either, he says.

A quick little mental math doesn’t make the restaurant owner want to look at things.

– The first support would have resulted in 75,000 crowns, now we are approaching perhaps 100,00. This is support for the loss of 3.5 million that we would normally have had in turnover in December. And it’s in a big place, smaller restaurants get smaller.

Afzelius is also reacting to a ten-day wage obligation, especially with the new nightlife bans.

– The government changes from two to ten days of salary obligation in the middle of a pandemic, and immediately afterwards they impose several measures that make it impossible to function. I don’t know what to say, but we must say goodbye now, no question.

Afzelius also addresses what Nybø himself did not mention. Support for October, November and December is paid in January, if there is still someone to pay.

– We in the industry read it as if the government did not pay. They think that people could go bankrupt. Because people want it. And then they don’t have to pay.

– This rescue package is not a rescue package. It’s like putting Pokémon patches on a shot to the stomach, says Afzelius.

The employer also looks at how employees experience regulations. There is complete confusion.

– They ask us, because the authorities do not inform them. Some people wonder if the next few years they will receive 62 percent of 62 percent of salary. Others wonder what happens to their vacation pay. They wonder what they will live on, because 95 percent of them are young people without security or savings, says Afzelius.

Give more to each company

The original requirement of a 40 percent reduction in turnover, the so-called threshold value, is lowered to 30 percent. Nybø explains that this is an accusation that should include several catering companies in the scheme.

The level of support in the scheme is increased from 50 to 60 percent. This means that companies are covered up to 60 percent of the unavoidable fixed costs of companies.

– Helping companies with unavoidable fixed costs helps companies stay afloat and avoid bankruptcy, continues the Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Beyond this, the government increases the maximum payment limit per applicant. Companies will now receive up to NOK 20 million per month in full, while amounts above this will be reduced by 50% up to an upper limit of NOK 50 million.

Believe that the government needs to go further

NHO believes that the improvements to the scheme are not good enough.

– It is good that the government is analyzing the scheme again and that they are meeting with the business community on some of the points that we have requested. It is a step in the right direction, but we still believe that the situation is now so critical for the business community that they must go further, says CEO Ole Erik Almlid at NHO.

The employers’ organization still believes that rates and facilities should have been better in the current situation, both in terms of tourism and other industries that are not covered by the plan.

– We believe that the compensation rate should be increased to 70 percent and that the scheme should be general. The government still has time to adjust this before the matter reaches the Storting. If not, the Storting must change this, says Almlid.

Work: – I’ve wanted this for a long time.

Virke is pleased that the government is showing more longevity to help companies emerge from the crisis.

– We have been looking for this for a long time. Greater predictability for companies hard hit by the pandemic and government-imposed infection control measures are important to secure jobs across the country, says CEO Ivar Horneland Kristensen at Virke.

The valve scheme, which includes small businesses from the tourism industry, such as tourism companies and suppliers, will be strengthened at the same time by NOK 50 million.

The total framework of this plan will therefore be NOK 150 million until the end of the year. The valve scheme will also run through February.

– We believe that the change in the so-called valve scheme is not enough. There are many affected companies that are not included in the scheme and we will move on later, says Horneland in Virke.

Olaf Thommesen, CEO of SMB Norway, believes that the adjustments that are being made now are incredibly important for small businesses, and especially in the restaurant industry.

– Our main position throughout this process has been that the loss of business requirement should not be more than 30 percent, so naturally we are very happy to have been heard, says Thommesen.