The minimum number of employees, set at 250, need not be met for each of the applicant’s individual entities. The assessment of the headcount criterion takes into account the number of employees in the applicant’s entire economically connected group, i.e. this number of employees may also include the employees of controlling and controlled entities and of entities controlled by the same controlling entity. This approach is in keeping with Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014.

YES. The guarantee is available for loans taken out at multiple banks. However, you must ensure that the total amount of guaranteed financing is no more than CZK 2 billion for the borrowings of a single economically connected group.

When you apply for COVID Plus Guaranteed credit, please bear in mind that credit may be granted only up to 31 December 2020. The COVID Plus Guarantee Agreements must also be signed with EGAP by that date. Another limiting factor may be EGAP’s total insurance capacity allocated to the scheme, which is currently set at CZK 142 billion for 2020. Therefore, we recommend that you do not delay in applying for credit.

NO. According to Government Regulation No 215/220 (the “Government Regulation”), the COVID Plus Guarantee may only cover the borrowings of entities who are not drawing on any other COVID-19-related public support instrument provided in the form of credit guarantees or interest rate subsidies for the same underlying credit. Credit applicants may therefore choose only one of the schemes available.

This is a matter that requires consideration on a case-by-case basis. It is possible under certain conditions. Please contact us to discuss your specific situation.

The maturity of COVID Plus Guaranteed credit must be specified at the beginning of the contracting process for the credit agreement and the Guarantee agreement. The legislation as it stands does not allow a Guarantee to be renewed after the one-year period has ended. If operational financing needs to be secured for a longer period, it would evidently be more appropriate to apply for a Guarantee over a longer time (operational financing has a maximum maturity of 3 years). Borrowers have the option of repaying their COVID Plus Guarantee credit at any time. The European Commission’s Regulation aims for clients and banks to be motivated to switch to financing under market conditions without state support as soon as possible.

Eligibility for COVID Plus Guaranteed credit is assessed by the bank. The right to a COVID Plus Guarantee is assessed by EGAP according to criteria laid down by the Government Regulation (see Section 3). The criteria include the requirement that the borrower’s creditworthiness be scored at a minimum of B-.

The fee for issuing a COVID Plus Guarantee and the maximum credit rate charged by the financing bank are laid down by the Government Decree and are listed in the table below: