Energy-intensive manufacturers in Latvia will have access to state aid to help compensate growing energy resource costs, as reported by Ministry of Economics.
On Tuesday, 20 September, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the ministry’s proposed support mechanism for energy-intensive processing companies in order to lessen the impact of consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war on the sector.
Support for companies will be available in the form of grants. The volume of support will be equal to up to 30% of natural gas or electricity costs as long as the entire amount does not exceed EUR 2 million per company.
Support is also planned to be applied in the form of advance payment (for November and December 2022). After that, actual costs will be reviewed and the provided support amount will be reviewed if need be, the ministry explains.
Support will be available to companies that meet the following conditions:
the company is engaged in business activities in one of the sectors listed in the appendix provided by the Cabinet of Ministers;
their energy costs account for at least 3% of total costs of business operations;
the company’s total energy consumption was at least 500 MWh in 2021 or the total gas consumption was at least 500 MWh.
The total state budget funding for the purposes of providing compensation to companies is estimated at EUR 50 million. According to estimates from the Ministry of Economics, this would be enough to provide aid to approximately 400 companies.
The State Construction Control Bureau of Latvia will issue state aid to energy-intensive companies.
Companies will be able to sign up for support once the programme has been coordinated with the European Commission.
Support will be available for the period between 1 February 2022 and 31 December 2022.
According to the Ministry of Economics, detailed conditions for receiving support are included in the Cabinet of Ministers rules for support to energy-intensive processing companies to mitigate the economic consequences of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, which will be published on the legislative acts portal.
Businesses under national or international sanctions, as well as citizens of Russia and Belarus who have decisive influence over:
companies that have a direct or indirect activities in the Russian Federation or Republic of Belarus, citizens or legal persons registered in the Russian Federation or Republic of Belarus;
limited commercial-law partnerships whose members are citizens of Russia or Belarus or if these people have decisive influence over members of partnerships;
associations members in which are Russian or Belarusian citizens.