COVID-19: Weekly Digest on Impact on SMEs in EAP (August 7, 2020)

07/08/2020

2.6 billion AMD (about $5.4 million) was provided to about 13,000 beneficiaries under the 21st programme of the Armenian government to offset the socio-economic consequences of the coronavirus. About 96% of the private companies submitted applications for preserving their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more
The government of Armenia is developing a special support package for the restaurant businesses most affected by Covid pandemic, the Minister of Economy announced during the meeting with the representatives of the restaurant business. Read more
According to the survey “Caucasian Barometer” conducted during February-March 2020 among 1,491 adult respondents, 30% of the population consider unemployment to be the biggest problem. 16% named poverty among the main problems in Armenia. Read more
The Central Bank of Armenia decided to leave the refinancing rate unchanged, at 4.5%. As the Chairman of the Central Bank Martin Galstyan explained that ahead of the crisis, the CB announced readiness to provide necessary liquidity to banks both in drams and foreign currency. Read more

Orders worth more than 319 million AZN ($188 million) were processed by the Azexport portal in January-June 2020. This is 10.4% higher YoY. Azexport portal is an online trading platform, through which Azerbaijani entrerpeneurs are able to sell their goods abroad. Read more
Azerbaijani government will allocate additionally 100 million AZN ($59 million) to support business, according to the Ministry of Finance. A relevant bill has already been submitted to parliament. Also, according to the Assistant to the President, Hikmet Hajiyev, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs can get additional payments due to current situation. Read more
On July 28, almost 30,000 taxpayers requested support from government to partially cover salaries of their workers. These taxpayers had received nearly 98 million AZN ($58 million), including more than 48 million AZN ($28 million) of volume for the second month, Economy Ministry stated. Microentrepreneurs made more than 118,000 requests, and received 63.5 million AZN ($37 million). Read more
Special quarantine regime in Azerbaijan will be softened from August 5. Residents will no longer be required to get permissions to leave their homes. However, most of the remaining restrictions will stay untouched until August 31. Restaraunts and cafes will be closed. Activity of malls will be restricted. Museums and cinemas will also stay closed. Read more

In June, 5,000 more people lost their jobs in comparison to those who were hired. But in comparison to May, when the economy lost over 12,500 jobs, the situation is leveled. Read more
As of July 23, 1,281 business entities received tax benefits granted by the decree on supporting the economy, and 44,000 individual entrepreneurs were subject to reduction in the flat tax rate. Read more
According to the Federation of Trade Unions, the downtime decreased from 58,000 to 28,000 units, and the number of workers sent on forced leave decreased by 25% in June. In July, positive dynamics remained, but there are no specific figures yet. Read more

The pandemic has severely affected the construction sector. The area of the completed buildings decreased by 44.6% and only 810 of the 758,800 sq m were completed in January-June 2020, National Statistics Office reports. Read more
Georgian economy shrank by 7.7% in June, with 5.8% decline in the first six months of 2020 YoY, show the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia. Read more
Georgian Government launches large-scale study on COVID-19 management and impact of pandemic with help of international partners. The study provides an assessment of crisis management, the legal system, and human rights protection systems under conditions of the pandemic. Read more

A new support tool for the development of the Moldovan Business Incubator Network has been approved by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure. 2.2 million MDL ($133,000) will be allocated for this instrument. The aim is to strengthen the capacities of network representatives in assisting and increasing the competitiveness of SMEs in rural areas. Read more
The Government has extended the deadline provided to businesses and non-profit organizations to apply for subsidies in the frame of the established temporary unemployment due to the pandemic. Thus, enterprises and non-commercial organizations that have fully or partially ceased activity will receive a subsidy between 60% and 100% of the income tax and other mandatory payments associated with salaries. Read more

Employment service centers have received over 216,000 applications from SMEs for the state programme of partial unemployment since the beginning of the quarantine. 188,000 of applications came from individual entrepreneurs for the total amount of UAH 1.8 billion (55 million EUR) of financial aid. As of end of July, the growth of unemployed has slowed down. Read more
The adaptive quarantine in Ukraine has been extended until August 31 with introduction of zoning depending on the epidemiological situation in all regions. Red zone, among other prohibitions, will include operation of public transport, visiting educational institutions, activities of shopping malls, cafes and restaurants. Read more
The credit programme for SMEs 5-7-9% is mostly popular among agrarian businesses (62% of credited enterprises) and processing industries (14%). As of August 4, UAH 3.3 billion (100.9 million EUR) of credits were given to SMEs. Read more
The Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs (SUP) has launched SUP Ideas Lab. The goal is to provide peer-to-peer support during online strategic mini-sessions. An entrepreneur can receive free-of-charge expert advice from other members of SUP working in the similar or satellite sectors of business. Read more

EIB lends EUR 10 million to Credo Bank under its Georgia Outreach Initiative to support MSMEs
The European Investment Bank will lend EUR 10 million to Credo Bank, the leading actor on microfinance market in Georgia, and provide more affordable loans to country's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), predominantly from the agriculture sector. Read more
OECD helps small food producers in Moldova to integrate into global supply chains
With OECD support provided under the EU4Business initiative, Moldovan food producers will increase their capacity to work with international supermarket chains and access global markets. Read more
EBRD and EU unlock fresh funding for SMEs in Moldova
Moldovan SMEs will benefit from greater access to finance, as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Union unblock a new tranche of financing. Read more