At the end of March 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade published new calls for support - COVID 2022 programmes.
As we have already informed, at the end of March 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade published new invitations for selected sectors to submit applications for aid under programmes COVID 2022 – Sector Aid, and COVID – Uncovered Costs. Today, we will discuss the latter one: Covid – Uncovered Costs.
Just like in the previous invitation, the government intends, through its invitation Covid – Uncovered Costs, to help a designated sphere of business entities most significantly affected by an extraordinary measure of the Ministry of Health approved by Governmental Resolution No. 1028 of 18 November 2021. This measure and subsequent ones resulted in the restriction of retail sales of goods and provision of services and limitations in the area of tourism and organisation of events (sports, cultural and other events) in order to decrease social contacts. The aim of the aid is to prevent the risk of bankruptcy to the designated sphere of business entities in the most affected sectors, protection of jobs and preservation of their business activities.
The invitation is designated for entrepreneurs conducting supported business activities which for the purposes of the Invitation include (as specified in detail in Appendix 6 to the Invitation):
a) Provision of food services, short-term and recreational accommodation services, laundry services, travel agencies and offices
b) Organisation and holding of sports, cultural, conference, fair and other events including associated technical services.
An eligible applicant must comply with the following conditions:
- He/she is a natural businessperson or a legal entity organised under private law and conducts business activities under Act No. 455/1991 Coll., on Trading (the Trading Act), as amended, or in a similar manner;
- His/her turnover from supported business activities in 2019 (or 2018) was more than 50% of his/her total turnover from business activities;
- As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the applicant’s turnover from his/her business activities for the Reference Period dropped by at least 50% in comparison to the Comparison Period (see paragraph 3.3 of the Invitation).
- The applicant must prove that there were Uncovered Costs for the Reference Period.
For the purposes of the Invitation and based on definition 3.12 of the Temporary Framework of the European Commission, Uncovered Costs mean loss reduced by the provided or expected subsidies from programmes under paragraph 3.1 of the Temporary Framework of the European Commission, aid of Antivirus type and other subsidies for costs/expenses included in the Adjusted Profit & Loss Statement, proved according to the conditions in Appendix 2 of the Invitation.
For the purpose of calculating aid for activities under paragraph a), reference period means a period from 1 November 2021 until 31 December 2021 with a comparison period from 1 November 2019 until 31 December 2019, or from 1 November 2018 until 31 December 2018. For activities stated in paragraph b), it is a period from 1 November 2021 until 28 February 2022 with a comparison period from 1 November 2019 until 29 February 2020, or from 1 November 2018 until 28 February 2019.
The amount of aid for an eligible applicant with the Reference Period from 1 November 2021 until 31 December 2021 amounts to 50% of uncovered costs for the respective Reference Period, though up to a maximum of CZK 1.5 mil.
The aid for an eligible applicant with the Reference Period from 1 November 2021 until 28 February 2022 amounts to 70% of uncovered costs for the respective Reference Period, though up to a maximum of CZK 3 mil.
The total allocation designated for the Invitation is CZK 2,000 mil.
An applicant proves his/her business results based on an Adjusted Profit & Loss Statement.
If the proven loss based on such an adjusted statement is more than CZK 3 mil, the applicant must submit an Auditor’s Report containing the auditor’s conclusions on the Adjusted Profit & Loss Statement.
Documents to be submitted
- Adjusted Profit & Loss Statement covering the Reference Period, prepared upon the requirements and criteria specified in Attachment 2 to the Invitation.
- Statement of Drop in Turnover – To prove drop in turnover, the applicant must submit a statement of a drop in turnover in the Reference Period in comparison to the Comparison Period. The statement of a drop in turnover includes revenues/income from all (supported and non-supported) business activities.
- Statement of Turnover from Supported Activities – To prove that the applicant is a business entity whose turnover from the Supported Business Activity in 2019 (or 2018 and/or for the Comparison Period) was more than 50% from the total business activities of the entity, the applicant must fill in the Statement of Turnover from Supported Activities. The Statement of Turnover from Supported Activities includes revenues in accounting group 60: Revenues from Own Products, Services and Merchandise.
- List of Subsidies – The applicant must submit a list of all subsidies and means that he/she acquired or requested and that have not been decided upon as at the date of submission of the application.
- Auditing of the Adjusted Profit & Loss Statement
- Solemn Declaration of the aid recipient that he/she is an eligible applicant and that he/she satisfies all conditions of the Invitation. The declaration is generated from data in the application directly in the AIS MPO system.
You can file your applications from 9 am on 31 March 2022 until 17 May 2022, and the aid is provided from the date of announcement of the Invitation by 30 June 2022 at the latest. For more information, see the website of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. [1]
