Small companies fear closure

The insecurity index of small and very small enterprises remains very high, as while the state support measures taken by the government during the pandemic may have averted numerous shutdowns then, the safety net is now gone, which could sound the death knell for some, according to the Institute of Small Enterprises of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (IME-GSEVEE).

The institute’s report, presented on Monday, showed that the rate of small enterprises that run the risk of going out of business soared from 1.7% before the pandemic (in February 2020) to 5.9% in July 2020 and 6% in February 2021. The expansion of support measures in the summer reduced that rate to 4.1% in July 2021, but that remains high in a market that suffered an 80.6% reduction in turnover on an annual basis over the first half of last year.

The fear of numerous shutdowns has not yet materialized, as in 2020 the number of companies exiting the General Commercial Register (GEMH) came to 15,319, against 21,117 in 2019. Over the first nine months of this year the enterprises that were delisted from GEMH numbered 6,533.