Thousands of convenience stores receive state aid. The call for tenders for the village convenience store within the Hungarian Village Program will be published soon. In just a few weeks, those village small shops that use the latest state support can get access to several million forints. The government is compensating the lost income due to the food price freeze so that traders can get through the crisis more easily. Attention entrepreneurs: a total of HUF eight billion will be distributed .

The call for tenders for the village convenience store within the Hungarian Village Program will be published soon. Stores should seize the opportunity immediately, because according to the promise of government commissioner Alpár Gyopáros, each applicant can get access to resources of the order of millions, which can be used in a variety of ways by the entrepreneurs who run the convenience store:

they can use the money for operating expenses, covering overhead costs or even for employees' wages.

Successful applicants will receive the grant in a lump sum within a few weeks of applying. According to the government's plans, transfers will start at the beginning of next year.

Deputy Minister of Economic Development János Fónagy pointed out in a parliamentary document written on the subject: the government has developed an 11-point action plan to offset the effects of the failed Brussels sanctions. According to him, the food price cap introduced as part of this not only directly reduces the expenses of customers, but the measure also reduces inflation by about two percent.

However, the loss of income due to price restrictions creates a difficult situation for the small shops in the villages, since a significant proportion of their inventory is made up of products with price caps. That is why the government decided to introduce extra support for them. The goal is to ensure that the service units do not close even in the smallest settlements, and that they continue to serve the villagers.

According to the plans, thousands of businesses can benefit from the funds of the soon-to-be-published tender - which will be available on the Gábor Bethlen Fund Management website. Gyopáros emphasized that all convenience stores that operate in settlements with less than two thousand people and sell food can apply, not only those that received support in 2021. This latter distinction is important because, within the framework of the Hungarian Village Program, it was possible to apply for the development of convenience stores for a small fee. Thanks to the grants awarded in 2021, these investments worth around HUF 50 billion could start.

Gyopáros emphasized: applicants will not have a difficult time in the current procedure, they do not have to use the help of an expert to fill out the simplified documents.

Despite the negative effects of the coronavirus epidemic, the economic and social processes caused by the war, and the sanctioned inflation, in recent years, small settlements in Hungary have become more and more livable. This is primarily due to the Hungarian Village Program, which also moderated emigration in a short time: in more than half of the villages, not only did the weight loss stop in recent years, but the population began to grow again.

Within the framework of the program launched three years ago, the government has already spent 300 billion forints on tender grants that make everyday life more comfortable for the locals. This purpose is served by, among other things, road constructions, kindergarten and daycare developments, or the launch of services such as village buses. The higher-quality small shops also fit into this line.

Source: Magyar Hírlap

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