The Greek government will provide an additional 330 million euros in subsidies to the catering industry to make it easier for them to open the restaurant in the next few weeks.
Since November, more than 70,000 restaurants, bars and cafes have been closed, when the country adopted strict lockdown measures to combat the second round of the coronavirus pandemic. The Catering Association estimates that one in five caterers may not be able to work before the start of the new tourist season.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a meeting with ministers and catering service representatives: “Our goal is clear. We hope to provide you with the most peaceful and open restaurant conditions.”
The Ministry of Finance announced that under certain conditions, each entrepreneur will receive up to 100,000 euros to cover the cost of restarting the enterprise. The total value of the plan will reach 330 million euros.
Government officials announced last month that the hotel may open in April before the tourism industry, which is scheduled to open in mid-May. The hotel industry has received 1 billion euros of soft loans and grant assistance from the state.
When Greece was hit by the pandemic, Greece had not fully recovered from the ten-year debt crisis, and its hopes that Europe’s key summer tourist season would boost the economy were dashed by the new increase in the number of infected people in Europe.
However, in the middle of this week, the authorities relaxed some measures to allow shops to be opened to appease long-weary residents and to appease citizens.
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