maroto kingsMinister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism has reported that the Council of Ministers has finished approve a budget of 244 million euros for the electro-intensive industry with a view to the 2023 call. Likewise, this is linked to the compensation mechanism for the costs of indirect emissions of the greenhouse effect.
So, The minister has defended that these measures “improve competitiveness, reinforce industrial capacities and guarantee employment in these production plants”. In addition, he has stressed that since they came to the Government in 2018, they have mobilized 662 million euros with this instrument “favoring” 960 production plants.
In this sense, Maroto has assured that this mobilization “values” the Government commitment to protect the industrial sectorsomething that is a “political priority” because “in 2018 this instrument had barely six million euros”, and today it reaches 244 million that are made available to intensive industrial consumers.
Lastly, Maroto recalled the aid packages for electro-intensive plants after the impact of the war in Ukraine. He has highlighted that the Iberian mechanism “will be operational” until Maythe extension until June 30, 2023 of the 80% reduction in tolls for electro-intensive consumers and the extension throughout this year of the application of the tax rate of 0.5% of the Special Tax on Electricity, as well as the temporary suspension of the Tax on the value of the production of electrical energy.
gas-intensive aid
At the end of 2022, The Government approved 450 million aid for gas-intensive industries to offset the costs of the “exceptional increase” in natural gas prices. The minister has now announced that they are expanding the sectors that will be able to receive this aid to new ones such as enamels, frits, pigments or textile finishes, among others.
Besides, Maroto has assured that this aid of 450 million euros can be used “very soon” for the production of intensive gas, because “they will already be able to reach the companies”. In this sense, the Minister of Industry has also assured that the ICO-Ukraine line, approved at the end of the year, of 500 million euros with public guarantees of 90% “is already available to gas-intensive companies to mitigate the problems”.
