December 22 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said that it has approved under the State aid Temporary Framework Bulgaria's 51 million levs ($31.9 million/26.1 million euro) scheme for support if tour operators and travel agents in the light of the coronavirus outbreak.
The scheme aims to address the liquidity shortage the tour operators and travel agents have been facing due to the pandemic, the EU's executive body said in a statement on Monday.
The public support will take the form of direct grants, which will be used by the beneficiaries to refund customers whose travel packages have been cancelled between March 1 and December 31, 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Through the support, the companies will also be able to cover the costs incurred to carry out their main activities over the same period.
"The Commission found that the Bulgarian measure is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Framework. In particular, the support will not exceed 800,000 euro per company and will be granted no later than June 30, 2021," the Commission said.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)