Covid-19 in Bulgaria: EC approves 40M leva state aid for bus companies
The European Commission said on November 16 that it has approved 40 million leva, or about 20.5 million euro, in state aid for Bulgarian bus companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak and restrictions imposed by the Bulgarian government to limit the spread of the virus.
In a statement, the Commission said that it approved the funding under the temporary framework for state aid because the proposal met the framework limit that any aid does not exceed 1.8 million euro per company and that it be granted no later than December 31 2021.
The state aid, to be released as direct grants covering up to eight per cent of net revenues from transport activities in 2019, would be open to licensed bus and coach operators hat have recorded revenues from the activity of transport of passengers by coach or bus of more than 30 000 leva in 2019.
Additionally, to qualify for the state aid grants, the bus companies must have suffered a decline in turnover of at least 20 per cent in any three months of 2021, compared to the corresponding months in 2019, as well as having had lower revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.
(Photo: government.bg)
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