The European Commission (EC) on December 20 okayed the Polish government’s EUR 1.1-billion support scheme for energy-intensive firms.
Under EU rules, state aid must be approved by the EU to avoid unfair competition, but soaring energy costs in the wake of the post-Covid supply chain bottlenecks and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have hit energy-intensive companies extremely hard.
“The measure will be open to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies that qualify as energy intensive businesses and that are active in particularly affected sectors and sub-sectors,” the EC said in a December 20 statement. “Credit and financial institutions will be excluded from the measure.”
To become eligible for the programme, companies must prove they have suffered operating losses, in particular when their earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) went down by at least 40% or were negative between January 1 or July 1 and December 31 compared to the same period of 2021.
A single subsidy may not exceed 50% of eligible costs and may not be higher than EUR 4 million.
“Energy-intensive companies active in particularly affected sectors that incur operating losses may receive further aid, up to 80% of the eligible costs for the maximum aid ceiling of EUR 50 million,” the EC added. (The First News/Business World Magazine)