President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. (source: AP/TASR)
The European Commission approved Slovakia's state aid scheme worth €80 million to support research, development and testing infrastructure for development linked with the coronavirus pandemic.
The commission said the scheme was approved to support industrial research and experimental research projects, as well as testing and expanding the infrastructure linked with the production of products linked with COVID-19, the TASR newswire reported.
The scheme was approved within a temporary legal framework on state aid, which the European Commission accepted in March and completed and updated during April.
Development and production
Public support would be co-financed from European structural and investment funds. The aim of the scheme is to increase and make the development and production of products directly linked with the spread of new coronavirus faster, including vaccination substances, hospital and medical devices, medicine and protective means.
The Commission found out that the Slovak scheme is in accordance with conditions given in the temporary legal frame.
The state aid will cover a significant part of the costs to research and development and other investment projects.
EU executives came to the conclusion that this measure is inevitable, proportionate and suitable for a fight against the coronavirus crisis. This was the base for approval of measures of the Slovak side according to EU rules on state help.
