Extra €120 mn to Be Released in Aid to Gastronomy and Tourism Sector

Extra €120 mn to Be Released in Aid to Gastronomy and Tourism Sector

Bratislava, April 7 (TASR) – An additional €120 million will be released to help the gastronomy and tourism sector, Parliamentary Chair Boris Kollar (We Are Family) and Prime Minister Eduard Heger (OLaNO) announced on Wednesday, adding that €220 million will thus be allocated for the sector in total.“We’ll be able to help a lot of entrepreneurs engaged in the gastronomy and tourism sector who have been decimated by the pandemic, as this sector has been affected the most,” stated Kollar. Ex-premier and current Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) said that businessmen engaged in the sector will be compensated with up to 10 percent of the shortfall in their sales. In line with the revised rules, entities that were set up during 2020 and thus can’t compare their sales to 2019 can apply for this aid as well, said Transport Minister Andrej Dolezal (a We Are Family nominee).

Until now a call has been made under which it was possible to draw aid for April-October 2020. “Thanks to this money we’ll be able to issue a further call for November 2020-March 2021 practically immediately,” stated Dolezal.

The list of entities eligible for aid in the next stage of the scheme includes catering and accommodation facilities, travel agencies, aquaparks, swimming pools, tourist guides, congress and exhibition organisers, botanical gardens and zoos, amusement parks, cable-car and ski-lift operators, museums, historical monuments and tourist sites, said Dolezal.

The basic condition for applying for the state aid is a drop of at least 40 percent in sales compared to 2019. Each month is assessed separately, and the amount of aid will be derived from the calculated loss. The limit for drawing this aid has been set at €200,000 per applicant, as this is a so-called ‘de minimis’ aid scheme.