Ceiling of combined state aid support for HORECA businesses increased to 1,800,000 euros

The Senate plenary adopted on Monday OUG No. 10/2021 on a set of specific financial support measures for the COVID-affected tourism companies; the regulatory act was amended so as to increase the ceiling for the combined state aid support to 1,800,000 euros from 800,000 euros. OUG No. 10/2021 aims at removing certain deficiencies identified by the European Commission of OUG No. 224/2020, an act that sets measures in place to reduce the negative impact of the pandemic on the HoReCa businesses. Under OUG No. 10/2021, tourist guides are included among the beneficiaries of the aid scheme, the period of the state aid scheme is extended from June 30, 2021 to December 31, 2021, and the term for the disbursement of the respective amounts is amended from 30 days from the signing of the financing contract to June 30, 2022, within the limit of the budget credit. The basis for calculating the aid will be certified and acknowledged by an expert accountant, an accounting firm, a financial auditor or an authorized financial audit firm. The maximum ceiling of the aid that can be granted to a single company based on the scheme provided for by OUG 10/2021 is maintained at the equivalent in RON of 800,000 euros. "State aid may be combined with other aid, support measures granted under Section 3.1 of the Communication from the European Commission - Temporary framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the context of the current COVID-19 outbreak, within the equivalent ceiling in RON of the amount of 1,800,000 euros, as well as with aid granted on the basis of other sections of the communication, in accordance with the provisions of its specific sections regarding combined support," stipulates the article amended by the Senate. The ordinance will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. AGERPRES (RO - author: Livia Popescu, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)