The European Commission authorised, on Thursday 23 March, a €1 billion Finnish scheme to support companies in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023.
The Finnish aid consists of two measures:
- limited amounts of aid in the form of direct grants to eligible beneficiaries, channelled through electricity suppliers, to offset part of these beneficiaries' monthly electricity bills, with a total budget of €400 million;
- liquidity support, in the form of guaranteed loans for electricity suppliers, to enable delayed payments of electricity bills, with a total budget of €600 million.
Under the first measure, managed by the State Treasury, eligible beneficiaries will be entitled to receive a maximum individual aid amount of €250,000. Households can also benefit from this measure. However, the support to households does not constitute State aid within the meaning of EU law and therefore does not have to be assessed by the Commission.
Under the second measure, the guaranteed loans provided by the State Treasury will help electricity suppliers that are currently facing liquidity shortages as a consequence of the extension granted to customers for the payment of electricity bills. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)