Enterprise Estonia's tourism, small business support totaling €17.5 million
Positive financing decisions made by Enterprise Estonia to date regarding crisis support for tourism enterprises and compensation for small entrepreneurs amount to approximately €17.5 million, accounting for half of the budget of the support measure.
Enterprise Estonia will stop accepting applications for support for tourism enterprises and compensation for small entrepreneurs next week.
The deadline for applying for compensation for small entrepreneurs is at 4 p.m. on June 1, and the deadline for crisis support for tourism enterprises is 4 p.m. on June 5, Enterprise Estonia said.
Minister of Foreign Trade and IT Raul Siem said that Enterprise Estonia has been quick to make financing decisions, adding that help has already reached many entrepreneurs.
"The submission of applications has slowed significantly compared to when the support measure was launched, and all target group companies have had the opportunity to submit their application within three weeks," Siem said in a press release. He added, however, that if someone has not yet submitted an application, it is worth doing so as soon as possible.
As of Friday, over 5,000 applications had been filed with Enterprise Estonia, some 3,600 of them for the partial compensation of losses for small entrepreneurs and the remaining 1,400 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, due to which applications in this group have been closed. Applications are also no longer being 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.
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 paid out as one-off non‑repayable grants. The main 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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Editor: Aili Vahtla
