what happens (and why companies struggle to pay them) – Corriere.it

The Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, has announced a cut in bills from February which could greatly help companies today having difficulty paying the arrears. Just think that the price increases in 2022 led Italian companies to pay 61.4 billion more than in 2021. The minister said: I don’t want to say things that won’t happen, but we are counting that from the beginning of February gas costs could drop by around 40%, including in bills. The cut will be seen as early as next month. For companies in the protected market – given that Arera, the regulatory authority for energy, networks and the environment, updates the gas tariffs on a monthly basis – we will have to wait for February 2 while longer times are expected for electricity. To find out how much you will have to pay, we will have to wait for the quarterly update and then we will know more in April.

Who can ask for installment payments

The drop in bill costs by 40% is good news for companies that are having difficulty paying bills by installments. A novelty included in the Aid quater decree which establishes for companies the possibility of requesting the installment of the amounts due as consideration for the energy component of electricity and gas for consumption between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023 (and invoiced by 31 December 2023) exceeding the average amount recorded in the period 1 January and 31 December 2021. According to the new rules, failure to pay two installments determines the forfeiture of the deferment benefit. And there are many companies at risk.

The companies most in difficulty

The problem of expensive bills affects thousands of companies. Consider that according to data from Arte, the association of Italian energy resellers and traders, a year ago there were 16,280 companies with active bill installment plans. And this well before the Aid Decree quater. Among the companies in crisis due to bills there are above all small and medium-sized ones. According to the latest Confartigianato report of September 2022, the high energy price puts 881,264 micro and small businesses at risk with 3,529,000 employees, equal to 20.6% of employment in the Italian business system. Among the most exposed sectors: ceramics, glass, cement, paper, metallurgy, chemicals, oil refining, food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastics and metal products. But the increases in energy prices are also hurting 16 other manufacturing sectors including textiles, woodworking, printing, the production of electric accumulators and household appliances, motors and car accessories, the supply and management of water and waste, reads the analysis.The most exposed region if you look at small businesses is Lombardy. In the report, 139,000 companies with 751,000 employees were at risk, followed by Veneto where 77,000 small businesses with 376,000 employees are suffering.

Tourism

The alarm on companies at risk of closure also comes from Confcommercio which reports, between now and the first half of 2023, 120,000 companies at risk as well as an increase in the competitive gap for tourism realities that pay much more for electricity and gas than in French or German ones. An emergency summed up in a number by Carlo Sangalli, president of Confcommercio: We have reached almost 100 thousand euros in extra expenses for a medium-sized hotel for bill costs alone.