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The accounts of the Government and business owners of restaurants, bars and nightclubs continue to fail. The Government maintains that “in the first nine months of the year [entre janeiro e setembro de 2020], the drop in turnover in the catering and related sectors compared to 2019 was 1,860 million euros ». That is, a decrease of ‘only’ “31% over the same period last year.”
The Ministry of Economy even goes further, and presents comparative terms with other sectors, concluding that restaurants lost less than the retail trade of footwear (-39%), jewelry (-35), retail trade of beverages (- 40%), travel agencies (-74%), tourist entertainment (-60%), hotels (-64%) and even gyms (-35%).
Stories away from those of the businessmen of the sector, who have been demonstrating in the streets through protest actions organized by the A Pão e Água movement, the last of which last Wednesday in front of the steps of the Assembly of the Republic – to ask for more non-refundable support and the reopening of their businesses.
In SOL, José Gouveia, one of the spokesmen of the movement (together with chef Ljubomir Stanisic), assures that “the government’s accounts do not correspond to reality.” «In restoration, the drop is of the order of 60%. We must not forget that the restaurant’s capacity has been reduced to 50%, but that there are also fewer customers. Consumer confidence declined due to covid-19 and then there is the economic crisis that is already beginning to feel. And we have completely deserted spaces, even worse than those that had this break, ”he explains. According to the owners’ accounts, the bill amounted, at the end of September, to 3,600 million euros.
So what is account mismatch like? José Gouveia is peremptory: «They don’t explain themselves. The government just doesn’t know how to calculate. What you say does not correspond to reality. And he is manipulating the numbers so that the situation, to public opinion, does not look so bad, as it really is.
The businessman adds that “the restaurants that have not failed are currently on schedule, with the capacity to wait just another 30 or 60 days, with the hope that there will be a turnaround in the restrictions imposed and in the support of the State that may arise” . And the situation in bars and clubs is even more complicated. They are all technically bankrupt as they all have costs and no income. The losses, in this case, are 100%, because since the pandemic began, since these spaces ended in March, the billing is ‘zero’. It is these numbers that we have to look at, ”he says.
Solutions are not convincing
Faced with the challenge in the sector, the Government decided to present its arguments. The António Costa executive accounted for the support, considering that the restoration “has already received 1103 million euros (523 million non-refundable) until October, equivalent to 60% of the lost income.” At this time, applications are open for the ‘Apoiar.pt’ and ‘Apoiar Restauração’ programs, which restaurants, bars and nightclubs can use until the end of November. The ‘Apoiar.pt’ program, aimed at micro and small businesses, has 750 million euros, of which 200 million are exclusively for catering. ‘Apoiar Restauração’ reserves, in this case, 25 million euros as ‘exceptional and complementary support to those already in force equivalent to 20% of the average billing break recorded in the two weekends with the most intense restrictions’ (in which collection was in force) mandatory from 1pm). The solution, however, is not pleasant, since the accounting for this 20% will be based on the average turnover registered in the 44 previous weekends (between January to October), when the activity was already reduced, in comparison with previous years. . “It is a measure that does not make any sense, because during that period we lived a phase of confinement, with a series of restrictions that abruptly lowered income. What needs to be done is a comparison with the same period last year. Only then will it be possible to see how much restaurants usually charge from January to October, and how much they will have lost in 2020 due to the pandemic. And then we average the weekends and calculate the support for the restaurants ”, defends José Gouveia.
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