January 12 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday it approved a 40 million euro ($43 million) Croatian scheme to support companies processing agricultural products in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.
The purpose of the scheme is to mitigate the impact of the exceptionally severe increases of energy prices on companies processing agricultural products, which cannot be passed on to final consumers or with which they are unable to cope, the Commission said in a press release.
Under the scheme, the aid will take the form of limited amounts of direct grants to compensate companies for the increase of costs of energy sources other than natural gas and electricity, and direct grants for the additional costs incurred due to severe increases in natural gas and electricity prices.
The aid shall not exceed 2 million euro per company. As regards the aid for additional costs due to exceptional natural gas and electricity price increases, the overall aid per company shall not exceed 50% of the eligible costs, up to a maximum of 4 million euro. The aid will be granted no later than December 31, 2023.
($ = 0.929 euro)