Background information

COVID – Rent is a subsidy programme prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic (Ministerstvo průmyslu a obchodu České republiky, MPO ČR . This programme helps entrepreneurs who have been prohibited due to the extraordinary measures from the sale of goods and services in their establishments, and thus limited in ability to pay rent.

The idea of the first call of the programme opened 26 June 2020 for the period 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 is to divide rental costs between three entities – tenants, landlords and the state. Under this programme, the state would bear 50% of costs, landlords 30% and tenants 20%. The total amount of the programme is CZK 5,000,000,000 (€186,150,410).

The second call, opened 21 October for the period 1 July to 30 September 2020, covers 50% of the rent, if the tenant cover also 50% (landlords´ participation is not required). The total amount of the programme is CZK 3,000,000,000 (€110,354,975).

Content of measure

Eligible for the subsidy is an entrepreneur:

• who uses the establishment under a lease agreement entered into and effective before 13 March 2020 (for the first call); *his/her retail sale of goods or the provision of services was prohibited due to the government’s emergency measures for at least a part of the period from 13 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 (for the first call) or from 2 July 2020 to 30 September 2020);
• who is not a party related to the landlord of the establishment;
• who is not in default on the payment of its liabilities to selected state institutions,
• who has not drawn the maximum amount of the support as determined by the European Commission’s Temporary Framework per applicant (€800,000).

There are also other conditions must be fulfilled before the application for support is filed:

• the landlord has granted a discount of at least 30% for the period from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 (for the first call only),
• entrepreneur has paid at least 50% of the rent for the same period (for both calls).

The maximum amount of the subsidy for an applicant is 50% of the rent but no more than CZK 10,000,000 (€374,812) in both calls, e. g. maximum amount is CZK 20,000,000 (€749,624).

Use of measure

As of April 2021 it is reported that in the first call, 18,693 applications were supported by the total amount CZK 2,635,000,000 (€101,015,909, in the second call, 32,107 applications were supported by the total amount of CZK 2,790,000,000 (€106,958,021).

As of the 30 June 2021 it is reported that in the first call of the programme, MPO ČR approved 98% out of 18,695 applications in the total amount of CZK 2,600,000,000 (€101,562,500).

In the second call, there were 42,145 applications, 97% of them were approved in the total amount of CZK 3,400,000,000 (€132,812,500).

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Company / Companies	National funds

Social partners

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

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

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

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

Social partners, which are members of the tripartite body (Council of economic and social agreement, Rada hospodářské a sociální dohody, RHSD) were informed and consulted in both formal (requested by institutional settings) and informal ways. They are not involved in the management of policy measures.

Views and reactions

Supportive.

Sources

• 20 May 2020: MPO: State aid related to rent payment in the context of COVID-19/MPO: (www.mpo.cz)
• 19 June 2020: COVID Rent: First call/COVID Rent: 1. výzva (www.mpo.cz)
• 16 October 2020: COVID Rent Second call/COVID nájemné 2. výzva (www.mpo.cz)
• 30 January 2021: MPO: Amounts paid out in some COVID programmes/MPO: Sumy vyplacené z některých COVID programů (www.mpo.cz)