February 10 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's government has introduced a 100 million euro ($107 million) scheme to support companies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine, it said.
The scheme envisages the payment of compensations for part of the additional costs incurred as a result of increased production prices that were not covered by other aid in the fruit, horticulture and pigmeat sectors, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The government will also back started investments damaged by the increase in construction materials prices as well as higher implementation costs under the scheme, it said.
Earlier this week, the European Commission (EC) said it approved the scheme, as it finds the measure necessary, appropriate, and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the country's economy.
The aid, to be granted no later than December 31, 2023, will not exceed 250,000 euro per beneficiary active in the primary production of agricultural products, 300,000 euro per beneficiary active in the fishery and aquaculture sectors and 2 million euro per beneficiary active in all other sectors.
Under the scheme, the aid will cover part of the salary paid by the eligible beneficiaries to their employees who have been placed on short-time work or temporarily have to fully reduce their working hours to preserve the employment levels and avoid layoffs.
In order to be eligible, companies must demonstrate that their energy costs have increased by at least 1.5 times compared to the reference price of 2021.
($ = 0.93349 euro)