The European Commission announced on Friday 29 July that it had authorised a €2.9 billion Italian scheme to help businesses meet their liquidity needs in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The scheme was authorised under the Temporary Crisis Framework for State aid, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022.
The objective of the Italian scheme is to provide liquidity support to small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The aim is to ensure that sufficient liquidity remains available for the affected companies by allowing banks to continue lending to the real economy. This support will take the form of guarantees covering part of the new eligible loans granted by commercial banks and direct grants covering the guarantee premiums.
The scheme, which will be managed by the State Guarantee Fund (“Fondo di garanzia”), will be open to companies with fewer than 500 employees in all sectors, except the financial sector, as well as to self-employed workers affected by the crisis, the Commission said in its statement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)