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On the third weekend in Advent, a shoe shop in Wernigerode, Saxony-Anhalt, closes
Photo: Matthias Bein / dpa
The federal government is launching an aid package worth billions to financially support the companies affected by the recent shutdown.
Extended corona financial aid should protect companies and jobs, said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD).
They would have a volume of around 11 billion euros per month.
It's about livelihoods, said Scholz on Sunday in Berlin after the federal and state consultations.
Many have built up a business over the years and are now worried about having to give up.
A "very comprehensive economic and bridging aid" for companies is planned.
For companies affected by the closure, there will be up to 500,000 euros a month, said Scholz.
The maximum limit under the so-called bridging aid III had previously been 200,000 euros.
The federal government will "stand by everyone who needs help, assistance and support".
As examples, he cited help with fixed costs, tax relief and write-off options for goods that are now not sold.
Up to 90 percent of the fixed costs of closed businesses would be covered.
Retailers warn of the end of many stores
The Vice Chancellor called the adopted tough measures to contain the new corona infections necessary.
"The virus does not go on vacation." It is about health and the lives of citizens.
The federal government wants to shut down public life in Germany next week.
According to the new resolutions, the retail trade, with the exception of shops for daily needs, must close from December 16 to January 10.
The reasons are the rampant infections with the corona virus, the high number of deaths - in some cases more than 500 corona deaths were counted a day - and the increasingly overloaded intensive care units in clinics.
Since the number of infections fell in the summer, the number of visitors to the shops has skyrocketed again.
In the run-up to the now decided, quick closure of the majority of the retail stores, retailers have sent a fire letter to the federal government.
In the open letter, 28 German retail companies warn that most of the shops in city centers will not survive an early lockdown.
It "would be the end of the inner cities as we know them today," according to the dpa in the letter.
"One must not leave the entire Christmas business exclusively to the online giants," write the signatories, which include numerous companies known from pedestrian zones such as the fashion retailers New Yorker, Jeans Fritz and NKD as well as Woolworth, Depot and Tedi.
"If there is another lockdown, trade is threatened with erosion, which will not only have disastrous human, cultural and economic consequences, but also irreparable economic effects." we will no longer recognize our inner cities in the coming year «.
Many trading companies work with low profit margins even without the corona crisis, a large part suffers from the oversupply of goods and, on top of that, has in some cases overslept for years to build a strong online business.
Now companies can hardly react quickly to shop closings and see their very existence endangered.
The bridging aid is a subsidy for corona-related declines in sales.
According to the new plans, the maximum amount should apply to companies that are directly and indirectly affected by closings.
So far, retailers have suffered mainly from the fact that the previously decided closure of hotels and restaurants has reduced the number of customers, in some cases drastically, but unlike the catering and hotel businesses, the retailers themselves have received no help.
During the first shutdown in the spring, the dealers took advantage of the short-time working allowances and thus saved themselves over time.
For the companies affected by the closure, there should now be advance payments similar to the November and December aid.
The new regulations would apply to trading companies, self-employed individuals and self-employed members of the liberal professions who are affected by the planned closings, it says.
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kig / dpa-AFX / AFP / Reuters
