COVID - RENT: THIRD CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic published the third call (as amended by amendments nos. 1 to 3) for applications under the government’s COVID Rent Program (COVID - Rent 3), which is again targeted at assisting those businesses and entrepreneurs that are most affected by the government emergency measures banning or significantly restricting retail business activity - sale of goods or provision of services. Unlike the previous two calls, applications under the program are also open to entrepreneurs who did not have to close their establishments, provided they show a decrease in turnover of at least 50%, as well as lessees that are related to their lessors. Support in the amount of CZK 3 billion has been allocated for this call.

The state will contribute 50% of the total rent (the base rent excluding VAT and any variable amounts) for the period from October through December 2020. The lessee must have, however, paid 50% of the rent for the said period before applying. 

The maximum amount of support is CZK 10 million per lessee; applicants continue to be limited by the European Commission’s Temporary Framework of up to EUR 1,800,000 in aid. 

The paperwork associated with the application has been simplified in that the lessor's signature on their affidavit no longer needs to be notarised. As in the second call for applications under the COVID Rent Program, it is no longer required for the purposes of obtaining the subsidy that the lessor has provided a discount on the rent. 

In order to be eligible to receive support under this latest call for applications, the applicant must, inter alia, be an entrepreneur who, pursuant to Government Emergency Measure No. 596/2020 Coll. of 23 December 2020 (Government Resolution No. 1376), (i) was prohibited from engaging in the retail sale of goods or the provision of services to customers in leased premises, or (ii) whose revenue generated from the sale of goods or the provision of services in leased premises, which could have remained open under the exceptions expressly provided for in points I. 1. a) to I. 1. af) of the aforementioned Resolution, decreased by at least 50% for the relevant period when compared to the same period in 2019.

The applicant may be related to, or be part of the same group, as the lessor; the two parties may not, however, be the same natural person.

The entire text of the third call for applications under the COVID Rent Program is available in Czech here and the accompanying text on the Ministry’s website can be found here (in Czech). Online applications may be submitted from 9 a.m. on Friday 5 February 2021 until 8 April 2021 via the Ministry’s information system.

Should you require any further information in relation to the above support program and its application to your specific situation, do not hesitate to contact us. You can reach out to your regular contact person at PRK Partners or contact us at covid@prkpartners.com.

Updated 2 March 2021