Around 100 companies in the Leiria Region affected by storm Kristin have eligible applications to the Reindustrializar Line, but were left without support due to the exhaustion of available funds. The president of the Intermunicipal Community (CIM), Jorge Vala, warned that the companies are in a situation of "overbooking" due to lack of funding, and it is essential that these applications be approved.
The affected companies come from various sectors of activity, mostly from the municipalities of Leiria and Marinha Grande, although companies from other municipalities in the region are in the same situation. Jorge Vala argued that financial reinforcement is necessary and appealed to the Minister of Economy and the Portuguese Development Bank to deliver this support.
CIM expressed deep concern over the situation, considering the reinforcement of the financial allocation of the Reindustrializar Line necessary and urgent. In a statement, the Community warned that significant investments for the recovery of economic activity, modernisation of companies and strengthening of the resilience of the business fabric in the territories affected by the storm are at stake.
CIM also revealed that some applications were penalised in the ranking for not submitting a damage certification document, although this absence was not due to company responsibility, but rather to the fact that municipalities did not have or did not issue this type of document. The Community argued that these situations should be evaluated to prevent administrative differences between municipalities from penalising companies already affected by the storm.
