COVID-19 pandemic: Green light for prolongation of compensation scheme for Norwegian companies

The EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) today approved amendments and a prolongation of the temporary compensation scheme for companies in Norway which have incurred substantial losses in turnover resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The original scheme was approved by ESA on 17 April 2020, and formed an important part of Norway’s economic pandemic response. The scheme was set up to avoid a wave of bankruptcies and lost jobs arising from companies’ inability to pay their unavoidable fixed costs because of the restrictions imposed on society in response to the pandemic.

Today ESA gives the green light for Norway to prolong the scheme for three more months, until 31 August 2020. 

As the pandemic restrictions are lifted and the economic environment improves, the Norwegian authorities will adjust the amounts of aid in the following ways:

• reducing the adjustment factor in the aid calculations to 0.7 for June and July and to 0.5 for August (from 0.9 for companies closed by governmental order and 0.8 for other companies). 
• decreasing the maximum compensation per month to NOK 70 million in June and July and to NOK 50 million in August (from NOK 80 million).
• ending the previous requirement to deduct the first NOK 10 000 of fixed costs. 

You can read ESA’s decision here.