The Apoiar Gás Programme is aimed at energy-intensive companies in the Manufacturing Industry sector.

Who are the beneficiaries?

Companies that, regardless of their legal form, exercise as their main business activity an economic activity code registered in the Information System of the Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities (SICAE) platform and comply with the eligibility criteria and conditions.

Eligibility criteria and conditions for access

Only companies that meet the following criteria and conditions will be able to benefit from the Programme:

• Be legally constituted on 1 January 2021;
• To have an industrial establishment on mainland Portugal;
• To have organised accounts, under the terms of the applicable legislation;
• To have fulfilled all obligations related to taxes and social security;
• To have positive equity capital on 31 December 2021;
• Develop activities:
  • In a sector or sub-sector identified in the Ordinance 140/2022of 29 April, as rectified by Declaration of rectification no. 15/2022of 6 May;
  • In the industrial manufacturing sector, provided that a declaration signed by a certified accountant responsible for the company's accounts proving that it is an energy-intensive company, within the meaning of the first part of paragraph a) of no. 1 of article 17 of the Directive 2003/96/EC ¹ of 27 October 2003 restructuring the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity, by reference to the acquisition costs of energy products and electricity, and cumulatively demonstrates that the costs with the acquisition of natural gas amount to at least 2 % of the value of production in the reference period, which is comprised between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021;

¹ "Energy-intensive business" shall mean a business entity, as referred to in Article 11, whose purchase costs for energy products and electricity amount to at least 3,0 % of the production value or for which the national energy tax payable amounts to at least 0,5 % of the value added. Within this definition, Member States may apply more restrictive criteria including sales value, manufacturing process and industrial sector."

Ineligible companies

The companies integrating the sectors of:

• Energy production;
• Refining of petroleum derivatives;
• Fisheries and aquaculture;
• Primary production of agricultural and forestry products;
• Processing and trade in agricultural products listed in Annex I to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and processing and trade in forestry products.

Companies that are subject to sanctions adopted by the European Union, namely:

• Those specifically designated in the legal acts imposing such sanctions;
• those owned or controlled by persons, entities or bodies subject to sanctions adopted by the European Union; or
• those active in sectors targeted by sanctions adopted by the European Union, to the extent that support would undermine the objectives of those sanctions.

Obligations of the Beneficiaries

During the support granting period, counted from the application submission date, and in the 60 working days following the submission to final payment, beneficiary companies may not:

• Distribute profits and dividends, in any form whatsoever, namely as a withdrawal on account;
• To terminate employment contracts under the collective dismissal, redundancy or dismissal for unsuitability modalities, foreseen in articles 359, 367 and 373 of the Labour Code, approved by Law No. 7/2009of 12 February, in its current wording, respectively, or initiate the respective procedures;
• Cease activity.

Financing Rate and form of the "Apoiar Gás" Programme

The rate of support is 30% on eligible cost, and the support is given in the form of a non-refundable grant with a maximum limit of 400,000.00 euros per company.

The eligible cost to be considered is determined by multiplying the number of natural gas units purchased by the company ^_ to external suppliers as final consumer in the eligible period ^_ by the value corresponding to the variation between the price the company pays per unit consumed in a given month and the unit price paid by the company, on average, between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021.

For the purposes of this Notice, an eligible period is understood to be the time period between 1 February 2022 and 31 March 2022.

Application of the "Apoiar Gás" Programme

Applications are submitted through a simplified electronic form, available at 2020 Desk.