<MŽP> In the billion-dollar Green Savings program, there are 35 applications. </MŽP>

Prague - Since April, 35 applications for grants from the program for thermal insulation of housing and the replacement of boilers and windows under the Green Savings program have been submitted. This was stated by representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and the State Environmental Fund at today's press conference. They added that the number of places where applications for grants can be submitted will significantly increase. There will gradually be more than two thousand sales points from banking groups that have succeeded in public competitions and can participate in the program.
However, experts point out that the established conditions are hard to access for applicants and that interest in the program is low as a result. "It shows that households simply are not interested in this program due to the strictly set conditions. Those households that have enough money have already taken advantage of this option long ago, and those that do not have sufficient financial resources are unable to invest as much as the current conditions of the program require," stated David Šeich, the chairman of the Union of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the Czech Republic. According to him, it was a mistake for the state to exclude the corporate sector from the program.
To improve the situation, Šeich proposed, for example, subsidies only for one measure, such as window replacement, which would significantly increase interest. "Since households must meet several measures at once, it is financially unsustainable for most of them," he added.
The head of the program at the State Environmental Fund, Irena Plocková, claims that there is huge interest in the program, but the construction and project process cannot be accelerated. "Since the launch of the program, we have recorded 6,561 telephone and 6,166 email inquiries. Around 120,000 interested parties visit the program's website each month," she said.
In response to the criticism of the program's conditions, Environment Minister Ladislav Miko said that it is not possible to expect that the goals of the program will change. However, he believes that the submitted comments need to be analyzed. Of the submitted applications, 23 are for thermal insulation, ten for the installation of solar collectors, and two for the introduction of heat pumps.
The fund has ten billion crowns available for this year alone, and by 2012, the Green Savings program is expected to have up to 25 billion crowns available, with up to a quarter of a million households potentially receiving grants. "This is the largest subsidy program that contributes to the improvement of energy use in housing," stated Miko.
The banks participating in the program include Česká spořitelna, ČSOB, Komerční banka, LBBW, and UniCredit Bank. "We expect a significant impulse from the involvement of banks in the program," said Miko. The banks will also bring savings in personnel costs for the state administration, as the administrative tasks related to granting the subsidies will be transferred to the banks, he added.
At Česká spořitelna, which is the only one to have already started collecting applications, no one has submitted an application yet, stated bank representative Ladislav Dvořák. He added, however, that the bank has not yet promoted the subsidies.
Other financial institutions are planning to join, mostly at the beginning of July, and UniCredit Bank from mid-July. All banks will be offering co-financing to interested parties, which many individuals will likely welcome since the subsidies will be reimbursed only after the projects are implemented.
The Czech Republic has obtained billions for the program by selling emission allowances purchased by Japan. If the Czechs do not utilize all the billions that the state is currently offering in the program within three years, the unspent money will be returned to Japan.