Coronavirus – COVID III and COVID Plus programmes – Czech Republic

• Czech Republic

• Coronavirus
• Coronavirus - Country overview
• Coronavirus - Workforce issues

22-06-2020

Has coronavirus affected your business? After the launch of the COVID, COVID II and COVID Prague programmes, the Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank (Českomoravská záruční a rozvojová banka, a.s. – "ČMZRB") and Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation (Exportní garanční a pojišťovací společnost, a.s. – “EGAP”) have developed guarantee programmes designed to facilitate access to business financing for sole traders, small and medium-sized enterprises, and to large export companies.

What are ČMZRB and EGAP offering?

• commercial bank loan guarantees

Who are the programmes intended for?

• for businesses whose economic activities have been limited due to Covid-19 and related preventive measures
• the COVID III programme is intended to support sole traders and companies with no more than 500 employees
• the COVID Plus programme is intended to support large export companies with over 250 employees

What are the parameters of the COVID III programme?

• ČMZRB guarantees up to 90% of the loan principal for companies that have no more than 250 employees
• for companies that have between 250 and 500 employees, ČMZRB guarantees up to 80% of the loan principal
• guaranteed loan of up to CZK 50 million
• guarantee period of up to 3 years

What are the parameters of the COVID Plus programme?

• EGAP guarantees up to 80% of the loan principal
• available to companies with over 250 employees
• export in 2019 amounted to at least 20% of the total turnover
• guaranteed loan from CZK 5 million to CZK 2 billion
• loan principal no higher than 25% of the total 2019 turnover
• guarantee period up to 3 years in the case of operating loans, working capital and business maintenance loans, and up to 5 years in the case of investment loans

What can be financed by a loan guaranteed by ČMZRB?

• exclusively operating expenses (e.g. wage and energy costs, rent payments, payment of supplier invoices, purchase of material, inventory and other small assets)
• cannot be used to finance investments, refinancing or repayment of another loan or lease

What can be financed by a loan guaranteed by EGAP?

• operating expenses, working capital, and/or business maintenance
• investment loan with respect to financing of expenses for innovation and improving production
• refinancing of previously taken-out loans with respect to the above

At which banks can you arrange a loan guaranteed by ČMZRB or EGAP?

• all commercial banks that finance businesses
• in order to guarantee a successful application, we recommend contacting your bank advisor as soon as possible

What to bear in mind

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, financing of the wage costs with a loan guaranteed by ČMZRB disqualifies the applicant from participation in the "Antivirus - employment retention" programme. Applicants to ČMZRB are also not eligible for any state aid within the COVID Plus programme.

Applicants for an EGAP guarantee are not permitted to use another state aid instrument in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, which is provided in the form of a loan guarantee or interest rate subsidy of the same underlying loan.

How to apply

Applications are now being accepted for both programmes.