Thousands self-employed people receive coronavirus subsidies

Some 28,000 self-employed people in Lithuania who lost income due to the coronavirus crisis have received state subsidies, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis has said.

"As to self-employed people, assistance is already being provided, and (money) has already been paid out to more than 28,000 out of the total registered 45,000 individuals," he told a Delfi TV program on Wednesday evening.

According to Skvernelis, around 35,000 businesses have reported downtime, affecting over 240,000 employees, but only some 10 percent of them have applied for compensation.

A monthly state subsidy of 257 euros is available for self-employed people who lost income due to the COVID-19 crisis.