The Norwegian Government's (preliminary) emergency plan for handling the consequences of COVID-19

• The scheme covers companies that have at least 30% decline in turnover compared to the same month the year before and will initially cover March, April and May (for March the rate will be 20%).
• Payments will be made in arrears based on actual sales in the months in question.
• The upper limit for support per company is proposed at NOK 30 million per month, as well as a higher maximum limit for corporations/groups.
• Some sectors are excluded, such as the financial industry, oil and gas extraction and airlines, as well as companies with no activity or who are in bankruptcy proceedings.
• The compensation calculation is two-fold:
  • Companies that have been required to close down will receive coverage of up to 90% of the unavoidable fixed costs.
  • Other companies that still experience a qualified decline in turnover receive coverage of up to 80% of unavoidable fixed costs (minus NOK 10,000 in deductibles).

Note that these measures are proposals from the minority government, and they will now be considered by the Storting. So far, all proposals from the government have been upheld in the Storting.

Download our thematic overview of the Norwegian Government's (preliminary) emergency package for handling the consequences of the coronavirus COVID-19 by clicking on the PDF file at the bottom of the page.

Substantive parts of the package can be enacted by the Government alone, through secondary regulations or general Parliamentary decisions, and have already been decided. Certain measures require legislative amendment(s), and need to go through a Parliamentary vote(s) before being finally passed.

The measures mentioned in this overview are those that are already decided or where reports indicate majority in the Parliament, thus we find it likely that they will be passed.

The details and enforcement of the measures may still be debated. We note that these are just some of the measures and temporary amendments implemented to handle COVID-19 and its consequences.