"I am pleased to see that entrepreneurs have been active to apply for state support and all entrepreneurs have had a chance to submit their application," Minister of Foreign Trade and IT Raul Siem said in a press release. "The strong interest shows that entrepreneurs deem necessary the measures taken by the government's decision to help the tourism sector and small businesses."

Siem noted that Enterprise Estonia has been quick to make these financing decisions, and that help has already reached entrepreneurs and the economy.

As of Thursday, over 4,500 applications had been filed with Enterprise Estonia, 3,200 of them for the partial compensation of losses for small entrepreneurs and the remaining 1,300 for support for the tourism sector.

Of the five target groups in the tourism sector, Enterprise Estonia's budget was exhausted fastest in the area of tourism attractions, which is why reception of applications has been concluded in this group.

Applications are also no longer accepted for separate support for tourism enterprises operating on Estonia's islands, for which the government allocated a special budget. Island tourism businesses can now submit their applications together with all other applicants in the tourism sector.

The government-allocated support to the tourism sector in the amount of €25 million and support to micro and small businesses in the amount of €10 million is being paid out as one-off non-repayable grants. The primary condition for receiving support is that the applicant's difficulties are clearly attributable to the crisis.

Applications, which must include a description of how the virus has impacted the company's economic activity, are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.

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