BCR in Romania offers entrepreneurs pre-financing and co-financing solutions for projects financed through the Competitiveness Operational Program 2014-2020, measure 4.1.1 – Investments to increase the resilience of SMEs.
The program aims to support companies that were profitable in 2019 and that have been affected by the pandemic with non-refundable grants for investments in retrofits, new production capacities, or service activities. The amount of financing that can be granted is between EUR 50,000 and EUR 500,000, and the ceiling allocated in the program amounts to EUR 420 million, with distribution in three schemes, it is possible to increase the allocation for each scheme separately.
- Scheme 1 – de minimis aid through a grant for investments necessary for service provision capacities; value: between EUR 50,000 and EUR 200,000. The budget allocated to this type of aid: is approximately EUR 60 million.
- Scheme 2 – state aid using a grant for investment in retrofitting; value: between EUR 50,000 and EUR 500,000, but not more than five times the turnover in 2019. The budget allocated to this type of aid: is approximately EUR 180 million.
- Scheme 3 – state aid using a grant for investments in re-technology of SMEs in the food and construction industry; value: between EUR 50,000 and EUR 500,000, but no more than five times the turnover in 2021. The budget allocated to this type of aid: is approximately EUR 180 million.
For the first two types of aid, the funding application submission period is only seven days, between August 23rd, 2022, 10:00 a.m. and August 29th, 2022, 11:59 p.m. The estimated start date for the submission of funding applications under the third aid scheme is September 20th, 2022.
All projects selected for funding under this program, through the three measures, must be completed by the end of 2023.
BCR support for entrepreneurs
BCR offers entrepreneurs who want to access this program several support solutions:
- The pre-financing loan – if they do not want to use the mechanism of pre-financing requests or payment requests offered by the financier (Ministry of European Investments and Projects), they can use a pre-financing loan or bridging loan to ensure cashflow- the necessary to implement the project. Thus, the entrepreneurs access a maximum percentage of 100% of the value of the approved grant.
- The co-financing loan – depending on the measure of financial aid for which they apply, the entrepreneurs will need co-financing for the implementation of the project (minimum 5% of the value of eligible expenses, maximum 75% of the value of eligible expenses). BCR can partially or fully cover this funding requirement so that they can comply with the conditions set for each aid scheme.
- The loan to cover non-eligible expenses, including VAT (if applicable) – non-eligible expenses can be covered using a loan so that the implementation of the project is as fast as possible.
- The current account/special account dedicated to the implementation of the project – BCR experts can ensure the rapid opening of the account or accounts dedicated to the implementation of the project, according to the requirements imposed in this regard by the financier (Ministry of European Investments and Projects).
- The dedicated guide – BCR’s funding program specialists have developed a complete guide on the conditions and steps to implement the program, which can be downloaded from the BCR website.
More details about the program can also be obtained from the mfe.gov.ro website.
Source: the Bank`s press release dated August 22, 2022
