The sanitary restrictions that have forced to close shops and companies or to greatly limit their hours have led the Valencian Government to launch a shock plan of direct aid for an amount, for the moment, of 380 million euros. The funds of the Resistir Plan may be increased depending on the evolution of the pandemic and its consequent restrictions for the most affected sectors – tourism, hospitality, nightlife and cultural and sports activities – which have registered a 40% drop in their business volume in the last year, according to data from the Bank of Spain.
The injection of the Generalitat Valenciana will benefit, according to the forecasts of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Model, 22,000 companies, 44,000 freelancers and 136,000 workers. With the exception of aid for the self-employed and micro-SMEs, any company in the affected sectors, regardless of its size, can benefit from the aid. Furthermore, the grants are not incompatible with each other.
Juan Pérez Ballester, general director of the Economic Model, Autonomous Financing and Financial Policy, explains that “the current measures are a quick reaction to an emergency situation.” “We have tried to create different instruments to cover different needs,” he says. Those responsible for the Treasury consider that this package of aid of 380 million covers the current demand but they do not rule out providing more funds for these and other sectors that may be affected by health restrictions.
Parenthesis aid: 160 million managed by municipalities
The direct aids managed by the town councils amount to 160 million and will mean 2,000 fixed euros per micro-company or self-employed in the leisure, tourism, restaurant and hospitality sectors, in addition to 200 euros for each worker. In the case of Parenthesis Grants, the benefited companies may not have more than 10 workers (the maximum that an employer can receive is 4,000 euros). The consistories have until February 5 to join these funds.
Direct aid to freelancers, companies and workers in ERTE: 105 million
The grants for viability and the promotion of employment, with 80 million, allow to cover Social Security expenses for entrepreneurs and the self-employed (the deadline for submitting applications will begin on February 4 electronically through Labora). The affected sectors will receive a fixed amount of 600 euros for each of the workers or self-employed up to a ceiling of 12,000 euros, regardless of the size of the company. The Treasury expects this line to reach 180,000 beneficiaries.
The self-employed who have already received an extraordinary Social Security benefit in December and January and who are not part of the hospitality, tourism, leisure and restaurant sectors, will receive an additional 300 euros. The extraordinary aid package for the self-employed amounts to eight million euros.
Direct aid to people who continue in ERTE (48,000 in the Valencian Community last December) aims to complete the money that these workers receive from Social Security. The complementary aid, of 150 euros per month, does not need processing. The Generalitat crosses the data of the people in ERTE with the Social Security so that the beneficiaries receive the income without any type of procedure.
Additional aid to ERTE, worth 17 million, is processed ex officio by the Generalitat Valenciana: “Nobody has to ask for anything, we are proactively, through an agreement with the SEPE, who will enter the those affected “, indicates the general director of Economic Model, Autonomous Financing and Financial Policy. “It is the simplest for the third party and the most agile for management,” Pérez added.
Two IVF loan lines: 100 million
The Valencian Institute of Finance (IVF) has opened two different lines of loans for any company, regardless of its size, which also includes other affected sectors such as taxi, travel agencies or sports and physical training. Applications are processed through the IVF website.
Thus, subsidized loans, between 15,000 and 750,000 euros, include non-repayable tranches of up to 30%. The subsidized loans have an interest of 0.5%, a one-year grace period, and their repayment term has been extended to six years. The IVF has decided to speed up the process with a form that only requires documentation and an electronic signature.
The financing line for participating loans amounts to 800,000 euros and is aimed at businesses with insufficient own resources and suffering from a limited economic-financial situation in order to provide them with solvency. The return period is 15 years, with a delay in the return during the first two years.
Direct aid to sectors with sustained losses: 15 million
The Resistir Plan also provides direct aid worth eight million for freelancers or companies linked to nightlife and entertainment as owners of public establishments of discos, dance halls and cocktail bars with and without live musical performances, among others. These grants, pending to be agreed at the Leisure Table and approval in the coming days, will range between 3,000 and 10,000 euros, according to the calculations of the department headed by the minister Vicent Soler. For crafts and sectors linked to traditional festivals, the Generalitat has included seven million in direct aid.
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