"We do not want any company that finds itself in distress, through no fault of its own in the coronavirus-induced crisis to fall through the grate," said Andreas Dressel, Senator for Finance. The pragamatic hardship regulation should benefit solo self-employed people in particular, Dressel added. Apart from the usual manner of request by examining third parties for grants of up to EUR 100,000, the City of Hamburg has also looked into the possibility of direct requests for grants of up to EUR 7,500 by solo self-employed persons. Astrid Nissen-Schmidt, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, termed this latest grant an "important measure against an impending wave of insolvencies". Now it is important to process applications pragmatically and swiftly so that the money arrives quickly.
The grant is based on a hardship fund of EUR 1.5 billion agreed by the German and state governments in March. The German government and the state of Hamburg are each funding half of the EUR 40 million to be issued in Hamburg.
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