So far, 4270 Croatian businesses have received a total of 128 million kuna (€17 million) in subsidies to cushion the impact of increased natural gas prices on their operations, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Coric said on Friday.

“In the first two weeks of the implementation of the government measure to mitigate the consequences of increased energy prices, 4,270 businesses applied for a natural gas subsidy allocated by the Ministry and 128 million kuna has been granted. We invite other SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to apply,” Coric wrote on Twitter.

On 1 April, the Ministry, in cooperation with the HAMAG-BICRO agency for SMEs, launched an aid scheme for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with an annual natural gas consumption of up to 10 GWh, providing a subsidy of 0.15 kuna per kWh. This is de minimis aid aimed at reducing natural gas bills. Under the scheme, every month businesses pay the amount stated on their bills, while the Ministry pays the subsidised amount directly to the natural gas provider. The monthly subsidised amount is automatically deducted from the businesses’ vouchers.

The total projected amount of this measure is 600 million kuna (€80 million).