December 2022 – On 1 December 2022, the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic (“the Ministry”) published a call for the submission of applications for the provision of a subsidy to cover additional costs due to the increase in gas and electricity prices (“the Call”). The aim of the Call is to compensate qualifying companies and natural persons (entrepreneurs) for excessive energy prices in August and September 2022. In this article, we present an overview of the related key information.
1 Basis
The Call was published in accordance with the state aid scheme approved by the European Commission under No. SA. 104846 under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework (“the Scheme”).
The Ministry has allocated a total amount of EUR 359,820,623 for applicants under the Call. The total approved amount of the Scheme is EUR 600,000,000.
2 Form of aid
Aid will be in the form of a direct grant and only in respect of the gas or electricity off-taken during the period from 1 August 2022 to 30 September 2022 (“the Relevant Period”).
Aid will be provided in the amount of up to 80 per cent of the portion of costs exceeding:
- EUR 99 per MWh of gas; and
- EUR 199 per MWh of electricity
(“the Eligible Costs”).
Aid will not be provided in respect of the amount of gas or electricity consumed for the production of electricity or heat.
Minimum aid must exceed EUR 50 per application.
3 Calculation of the aid amount
In respect of electricity:
- aid = consumption in MWh * (average price paid for MWh in EUR - 199) * 0.8
In respect of gas:
- aid = consumption in MWh * (average price paid for MWh in EUR - 99) * 0.8
The average price for calculation purposes will be determined as the average price paid by the applicant during the Relevant Period.
4 Eligible enterprises
The aid is aimed at all qualifying enterprises regardless of their size, i.e., for micro, small and medium enterprises as well as large enterprises.
All types of businesses are eligible to apply for aid except:
- credit and financial institutions;
- enterprises that are (i) subject to EU sanctions, (ii) owned or controlled by sanctioned persons, or (iii) conducting business in sectors targeted by EU sanctions.
Enterprises in difficulties are also eligible for the aid.
5 Financial limits
The total amount of aid is limited to:
- EUR 250,000 per enterprise operating in primary agricultural production;
- EUR 300,000 per enterprise operating in the fisheries and aquaculture sector; and
- EUR 500,000 per enterprise operating in other sectors.
6 Application
Applications may be submitted only to the electronic mailbox of the Ministry via the form published on web portal of the Ministry - https://energodotacie.mhsr.sk/. If the applicant claims payment of aid in an amount exceeding EUR 100,000, the application must also contain identification of the ultimate beneficial owners.
The application must be submitted separately for each operational unit (in Slovak: prevádzka).
The deadline for submission of applications is 22 December 2022.
The Ministry will inform the applicant on the approval or refusal of aid within 30 days from submission of the application. If the application is not approved due to formal reasons, the applicant may re-submit the application.
| 7 Critical points |
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| Register of Public Sector Partners |
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| Off-take points requirements |
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For more information, please contact the authors of the article.