More and more European countries are rushing to support households and businesses so they can resist energy crisis and rising cost of living. OUR Spain now he takes action according to what they decided Greece, Portugal, Poland and Hungary and provides support to more than one million households with mortgages and businesses. In the same time GermanyRussia, at the center of an energy crisis due to its long-term energy dependence on Russian hydrocarbons, is limiting its prices natural gas And her electricity for businesses and households to limit the damage from the energy crisis.

Germany

The Berlin package will cost the German state treasury about 54 billion euros and will come into force on March 1 next year. Retroactive subsidies will be provided for the period from January to February, and for December there will be a one-time state subsidy for those who use natural gas. It will be financed in part by taxing electricity companies’ windfall profits, which the government estimates will amount to several billion euros.

This taxation will apply to almost all types of energy, including renewable sources, with the exception of natural gas and coal production. In the meantime, however, many businesses are warning that the tax, which will be introduced retroactively from September, could hurt investment in the sector.

Domestic gas prices will be capped at 12 cents per kilowatt hour for 80% of consumption, based on last year’s consumption. For industry, 70% of gas consumption will be subsidized and electricity prices will be capped at 40 cents per kilowatt hour starting April 2024. power units exclusively and only on profits received “due to the energy crisis”.

Spain

For German households, gas prices will be capped at 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for 80% of consumption.

The Spanish government has already reached an agreement with the country’s banks, which have agreed to ease the burden on more than a million households in servicing their mortgages by extending their maturities. At the same time, banks will introduce a system of preferential treatment and support for vulnerable families, that is, with an annual income of up to 25,200 euros. These families will be able to restructure their mortgages at lower interest rates during a five-year grace period.

The relevant measures were announced by the Ministry of Finance, which, however, refrained from mentioning the potential costs that they entail for financial institutions, as well as whether banks would need to create additional reserves against problem loans. However, it should be noted that the latest data, especially for August, shows that Spanish bank NPLs are at a historically low level of just 3.86% of the total, well below the lowest record that has existed so far and in December 2013 year it was 13.6%.

Italy

In Italy, in its first budget, the Meloni government is taxing the excess profits of energy companies in order to expand the assistance it provides to families and businesses hit by the energy crisis. As he announced yesterday, the tax rate on excess profits from energy trading will increase from 25% to 35% until at least the middle of next year. The corresponding tax will be calculated on the basis of additional income declared by companies, and not on the basis of sales, as is currently the case. Thus, at least 21 billion euros will be directed to support families and businesses facing rising energy costs. They will be added to the approximately 75 billion euros that the government is already spending to keep the economy functioning.

The relevant bill has been approved by the cabinet, but will be submitted to the Italian parliament and likely to be amended before it gets a final green light. Some of the measures in the new government’s budget are expected to cause acute political tensions within the ruling coalition, which includes Meloni’s party, the Brothers of Italy, Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the Liga.