On Friday, June 12, the German government okayed a new program of financial support to small and medium-sized companies in the range of 25 billion euros. Advertised as a program with an expected „big impact“, it fails however to respond positively to a number of key demands made by mittelstand representatives
Many mittelstand companies have been in a difficult situation already before the pandemic hit Germany, with the officially-decreed shutdown of production in April and May moving them into a precarious situation—not having any business nor any revenue, being unable to pay corporate expenses like rents, wages, electricity bills and insurances. Many compoanies were heavily indebted already before the pandemic, that is what mittelstand spokesmen have urged the government to do a debt write-off. The government has refused to do that, it also restricts access to the 25-billion fund to those firms that have not received support from the Economic Stability Fund which the government created in April, with companies with up to 5 employees offered 9,000 euros and companies with up to 10 employees 15,000 euros. This is a ridiculously small compensation, given the fact that respective companies may have monthly losses during the shutdown in the range of several ten thousand euros.
