Under 50 employees and turnover below €10 million: the government promises aid of up to €10,000 for businesses hardest hit by looting

The State will create a support fund for businesses affected by the looting and damage committed on the sidelines of the demonstrations of October 17 and 18, announced Serge Papin, the Minister of Commerce to Le Parisien. This fund with "several million euros" will be able to pay aid of "up to 10,000 euros for the hardest hit businesses" and is aimed at "companies with fewer than 50 employees whose turnover is less than 10 million euros", specifies the minister.

“This will concern traders and restaurateurs who have suffered damage, insured or not. The support fund will be effective in the coming weeks, but from today the aid is guaranteed,” adds the minister. In addition to this state support fund, Serge Papin indicates that the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region will mobilize 5 million euros and that “private players, including CMA-CGM [owner of BFMTV and BFM Business] for example, are putting resources on the table”.

“All of this help offers the possibility of restarting fairly quickly or continuing with partial activity,” hopes Serge Papin. Around 3,000 businesses were affected on October 17 and 18, according to the government, which specifies that the number of damaged stores fell significantly during the last day of demonstrations, October 24.

“Less than a hundred were affected on October 24, including around ten who suffered heavy damage. It’s still too many, but it’s a sign that there has been a recovery in terms of order,” Serge Papin declared to Le Parisien. The State promises to track down receivers of stolen products. The latter also recalls that the government has asked platforms like Vinted, Leboncoin or Tiktok to remove advertisements suspected of selling products stolen during the looting.

"1. 737 ads were removed and 237 accounts banned. The platforms transmitted 784 reports of users or ads to the judicial authorities.

Around 500 additional announcements were still the subject of investigations", assures the minister to Le Parisien. At the same time, the public investment bank Bpifrance opened a zero-interest loan intended for traders affected by the damage committed during the urban violence of October 17 and 18, as part of government support measures. The loan, of 5.

000 to 50,000 euros, is reserved for businesses actually affected, and is aimed at individual businesses, VSEs and SMEs created for more than a year and capable of providing at least twelve months of accounting documentation. The loan is available in mainland France and overseas regions, and will be repayable in 36 months, with a capital amortization grace period of 12 months.

Partial unemployment measures have also been put in place to support affected traders.

Machine-translated from French