Magazin: Replanning

According to guild president Balázs Erdélyi, no confectionery business has enough money saved up to survive six months without revenues.

Balázs Erdélyi
president
Guild of Hungarian
Confectioners

Based on the information available at the moment, enterprises must prepare for a long process of returning to normal operation, which will be impossible without government help. The guild has already got in touch with the Task Force for Restarting the Economy. In this is special situation new decrees are being published daily and the guild informs members about these. The trade organisation also does its best to help confectionery businesses in any way possible, e.g. the membership fee payment obligation has been suspended. Members are sending feedback on the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic on their business operations. The guild has already sent letters to all the relevant authorities, asking for measures to help confectionery enterprises in their fight for survival.

The guild recommends the following: 1. The employees of businesses that were forced to close due to the pandemic should be eligible for sick pay. 2. Those businesses that lost their revenues should be freed from the burden of having to pay the same rent for their premises as at the time of normal operation (in certain cases the rental fee is several million forints per month). 3. The 5-percent VAT rate should also apply to products bought for on-the-go consumption and in the case of home delivery. 4. The guild says the government should pay the net salaries of employees that used to work for confectionery businesses which had to close. Enterprises should also be freed from the obligation to pay the personal income tax for their employees.

5. When earmarking the funding for restarting the economy, the tourism and hospitality sector should be prioritised, as it won’t be able to get back on its feet without financial assistance. 6. Hospitality units operated by sole traders should also have the social contribution payment obligation abolished. 7. In the past, many guild members successfully applied for funding from the Economic Development and Innovation Operative Programme (GINOP) or other similar programmes. In the current crisis situation many of these had to close or they keep working but are unable to meet the criteria required by the programme. Until the end of the pandemic emergency, these should be granted a grace period. //