OTP Bank in Romania is one of the partner financial institutions that joins the program to support SMEs in the agri-food sector by allocating micro-grants and working capital grants.
The program, launched by the Ministry of Investment and European Projects, together with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is part of the “Support for Romania” package of measures and aims to reduce the significant impact of rising commodity prices providing support for the recovery of enterprises in the field of agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, and the food industry.
“We are involved in this new program to support local entrepreneurs by providing micro-grants and working capital grants and we openly promote any measures launched that is a useful lever for the return of agri-food activities. This type of support has wide applicability for local businesses and has an impact that can reach up to 20,000 beneficiaries, according to government estimates,” – said Roxana Hidan, Deputy General Manager, Coordinator of the Business Division, OTP Bank Romania.
Through this grant scheme, beneficiaries falling into the category of SMEs, authorized individuals, sole entrepreneurs, agricultural cooperatives, producer groups, and producer organizations or family businesses can access micro-grants of EUR 5,000 or working capital grants, the amount of which is determined according to the turnover registered in 2019, as follows:
- EUR 5,000 for SMEs with a turnover between EUR 5,000 and EUR 33,350;
- up to 15% of turnover, not exceeding the value of EUR 120,000, for SMEs with a turnover higher than EUR 33,350.
Eligibility for accessing microgrants and grants from this program will be assessed by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in partnership with AIMMAIPE, through the IMM Recover IT platform, at the time of its opening. The complete list of eligible areas of activity (eligible CANEs) in which the beneficiaries must operate to obtain this type of micro-grants and grants, the eligible expenses, and the eligibility criteria are described in detail in GEO no. 61/2022, with subsequent amendments and completions.
Source: the Bank`s press release dated May 27, 2022
