"Lifeline" Support for Businesses

“Lifeline” Support for Businesses financed by the European Union has provided financial support to self-employed, micro and small businesses that comply with the essential criteria within the eligible sectors in order to prevent possible cash flow problems due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The programme, consisting of two phases, provided financial support to the businesses with 1 to 5 employees (including directors) operating in the food & beverage sector in the first phase and the hair & beauty services sector in the second phase.

The aim of the financial support programme is to support the revitalization of the economy while preventing self-employed, micro and small businesses from having to stop their activities and stand on their own feet. This goal has been achieved by distributing financial support of 12.000 TL and 18.000 TL according to the number of employees to more than 1500 businesses operating in the food & beverage and the hair & beauty services sector in the Turkish Cypriot community.

As a result of the survey conducted with the businesses benefiting from the financial support, the application process and the access to the financial support were evaluated as “easy” while the employers response on the EU funded “Lifeline” support that was used mainly for paying the loan, rent, salary and personnel expenses demonstrates the programme has achieved its purpose.

The financial support programme, within the scope of the ‘Innovative Entrepreneurship and Dialogue’ Project funded by the European Union and implemented by Northern Ireland-Cooperation Overseas (NI-CO) has been managed in cooperation with the ‘TC Chamber of Shopkeepers & Artisans (KTEZO)’,’TC Chamber of Commerce (KTTO)’,the ‘TC Restaurants Owners Association (RESBIR)’ , Cyprus Turkish Investment Development Agency (YAGA) and the EU Coordination Centre.