Background information

The Technology-COVID call, which was developed on the basis of a flash analysis of entrepreneurs' needs, has been prepared within the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovations for Competitiveness 2014 (Operační program Podnikání a Inovace pro konkurenceschopnost, OPPIK ) Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo průmyslu a obchodu České republiky, MPO ČR .

Small and medium companies could apply for the financial support on the expansion of capacities or the introduction of new protective equipment solutions such as respirators or ventilators. It was also possible to support the rapid introduction of both medical and non-medical solutions that could have helped combat coronavirus infection, including measures to mitigate the impact of further spread and consequently address the effects of this situation.

The call was published 15 March 2020 and opened for applications 4 May 2020. It ends 5 June 2020. Planned allocation for the call had been CZK 300,000,000 (€11,194,030), however, the final allocation increased.

Content of measure

Small and medium- sized companies could apply for financial support for expansion of their production capacities if the company manufactured products that were essential for combating COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligible for the support were small and medium enterprises doing business in the Czech Republic, except of Prague region. The minimum amount for one project was CZK 250,000 (€9,090 approx.) and maximum amount was CZK 20,000,000 (€727,272 approx.). The amount of the funding in the eligible expenditure of the project was supposed to be in the range of 35% for small companies and 45% for medium companies.

Eligible expenditures were in particular labour costs, cost of materials, water, energy, cost of purchasing the necessary services, software etc.

Use of measure

The call was closed 5 June 2020 with 144 applications. As of 2 October 2020, 115 applications with total allocation of CZK 419,521,798 (€16,000,068 approx.) were recommended for the support.

In February 2022, the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic published an evaluation Analysis of the ESIF measures responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluation of the ESFI. This analysis evaluates some of the COVID-19 antiepidemic measures, namely COVID I interest-free state loan, COVID II state guarantee programme, COVID III state guarantee programme, COVID Prague and Technology-COVID call within OPPIK.

This evaluation shows that the positive impact of the above mentioned antiepidemic measures cannot be yet statistically confirmed. The moratorium on debts and mortgages declared in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic played a major role regarding the survival rate. However, in combination with the above mentioned measures, it has likely only delayed the insolvency of a number of beneficiaries. In general, no statistically significant difference in the trends of employment rates was observed when comparing supported and unsupported enterprises.

The evaluation study also has demonstrated that the support was not strongly focused on the economic sectors that were most affected by the pandemic (tourism, HORECA, accommodation services). In general, above mentioned measures applied were appropriate, however, should have been more targeted on most affected sectors and regions.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	SMEs	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	Companies European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement as case not in social partner domain	No involvement as case not in social partner domain
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

No involvement.

Views and reactions

No information.

Sources

• 07 April 2020: Technology-COVID (Technologie COVID) (www.oppik.cz)
• 11 June 2020: Call XII Technology-COVID has been closed/Výzva XII. Technologie COVID-19 – příjem žádostí ukončen (www.agentura-api.org)
• 15 October 2020: MPO ČR: Technology-COVID call/MPO ČR: Výzva Technologie COVID (www.mpo.cz)
• 25 February 2022: Analysis of the ESIF measures responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluation of the ESFI/Analýza opatření reagujících na pandemii COVID-19 a vyhodnocení EFSI (www.dotaceeu.cz)