In the past few weeks, there have been media reports saying that COFAG (the COVID-19 Federal Financing Agency) is reviewing the potential recovery of coronavirus aid in about 11,000 cases. One problem which already existed previously, i.e. that enterprises sometimes have to wait for a very long time until individual tranches of aid payments are made, might now be exacerbated by an audit-related suspension of disbursements or - even worse - by aid already granted and now being reclaimed.
In this context, affiliated enterprises or groups of companies currently encounter special problems: If grants were applied for or granted to individual businesses when these should have been considered part of groups of enterprises according to the European Union guidelines, the worst case scenario could now involve claims for repayment. This may happen despite the fact that some of the Austrian guidelines only referred to "enterprises". It seems that, in some cases, Austrian guidelines for individual subsidies did not implement EU law requirements completely accurately. The resulting legal uncertainty is now causing considerable problems for businesses.
If your enterprise is also affected by these challenges, we will be happy to advise you. In particular, we will support you in potential legal disputes with COFAG as well as in connection with any implications under criminal law. Moreover, our Restructuring and Insolvency Law Team will also be there to assist you - both in the context of out-of-court negotiations and in the context of any judicial reorganisation proceedings as may be required - if your company is facing economic difficulties due to the refusal of disbursements or a risk of reclaimed payments.
Your contact: Gerold Wietrzyk (Partner) and Thomas Haselberger (Attorney at law)