More than 4,000 companies have applied for financial support following the storms that battered Portugal in recent weeks, requesting almost €1 billion in aid, the Minister for Economy and Social Cohesion revealed at the weekend in Sobral de Monte Agraço.
“At a company level there are already many applications, we are talking about more than 4,000 businesses applying, in an amount approaching €1 billion, already exceeding €900 million, and more than 200 cases have already been paid,” said minister Manuel Castro Almeida.
The minister also confirmed that more than 11,000 requests for assistance relating to damage to primary residences have been submitted so far.
Payments have already begun through the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions (CCDR) of the Centre and Lisbon and Tagus Valley regions.
“We gave priority, naturally, to people, then to workplaces, where people’s jobs are, but now it is time to assess many of the losses suffered by municipalities,” the minister said.
The CCDRs have also begun analysing and paying the first support requests submitted by local councils, he added.
On 13th February, the government reported more than 8,200 applications from citizens or families seeking help to repair damaged homes. Over 2,000 applications were also submitted for income loss or hardship support.
Regarding businesses, authorities had counted 3,800 applications totalling more than €850 million, prompting the government to double the emergency liquidity credit line from €500 million to €1 billion.
In agriculture, 4,500 support requests had been filed “from across the national territory, not only from areas under calamity or contingency status”, the government said in a statement.
Portugal has been hit by successive storms since late January, leading to a state of calamity being declared in nearly 70 municipalities after the passage of the depressions Kristin, Leonardo and Marta, particularly affecting the districts of Leiria, Coimbra, and Santarém.
Many companies were forced to halt operations, and some residents remain unable to return to their homes due to damage caused by strong winds, flooding, and landslides.
Last Thursday, the prime minister announced the creation of the Portugal Recovery and Resilience Plan (PTRR), promising to present a structured programme “shortly”.
Source: LUSA
