Czech Business Today

The Czech Republic received the first CZK 23 billion in pre-financing from the National Recovery Plan (NRP) at the end of September. The money from the EU’s emergency recovery fund will go mainly to green and digital projects. Under the digital transformation, funds are earmarked for investments in very high capacity networks, the expansion of e-government services and the digitisation of companies. The green transition should be supported by projects aimed at switching to cleaner energy sources and increasing the energy efficiency of buildings.

The aim of the debate was to inform participants about the types of projects that will benefit from the Nation Recovery Plan and how they can apply for it. The key areas of investment and the ways Czech companies will be able to have their projects funded from the NRP were discussed by representatives of the European Commission, Czech public administration and business organizations during an online debate co-organized by CEBRE.

As mentioned by the representative of the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic Josef Schwarz, the main aim of the NRP is to revive and transform the economy after the coronavirus crisis. In the Czech Republic, the NRP is intended in particular to help address challenges such as slowing growth, labour shortages, demographic developments linked to an ageing population and rising public debt. While it introduces new activities, it also builds on activities from the previous programming period or activities that have already been implemented from the budget and will now be financed by the NRP.

As mentioned by the Deputy Minister Marian Piecha, while almost all Czech ministries are involved in the NRP, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has the coordinating role. In addition, he also stressed that it will be possible to combine money from the NRP with private funds. Businesses will play a key role in the implementation of the NRP and one of the main areas the money should be used for is the green transition.

For example, companies are planning investments in projects focused on heating, energy storage systems and waste heat recovery. However, as mentioned by the Vice-president of the Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Associations of the Czech Republic Vladimír Budinský, financial resources needed for the implementation of the Green Deal for Europe are significantly higher then those available in the NRP.

According to the President of the Czech Renewable Energy Chamber Štěpán Chalupa, the NRP will intensify investment in renewable energy sources and therefore he welcomed its focus on the green transition. Chief analyst of the Czech Chamber of Commerce Karina Kubelková stressed that the twin transition also requires a skilled workforce. Digital skills especially are lacking on the labour market and the NRP should provide funding for these types of projects as well.