• Requests for approval for funding can be submitted by potential beneficiaries starting on October 27, 2023, at 08:30.
The Agency for Financing Rural Investments has published the conditions for accessing the funds available for processors regarding the financing granted through the INVESTALIM National Program for the Development and Support of the Food Industry.
The applicant's guide and its related annexes can be found on the Agency's official website, www.afir.ro, in the page dedicated to the state aid scheme.
The INVESTALIM national food industry development and support program is implemented in the period 2023-2026 through the INVESTALIM State Aid Scheme, which has a total budget of 590 million euros, secured from the state budget. The annual allocation for financing investment projects is approximately 147,5 million euros.
Eligible beneficiaries for this type of support can be newly established enterprises or enterprises in activity, both SMEs and large enterprises, established according to Law no. 31/ 1990 on commercial companies, republished, with subsequent amendments and additions.
The intensity of the non-reimbursable support has values between 30-70%, and the level of aid that an enterprise can benefit from can reach a total maximum of 57.750.000 euros.
Eligible activities
The eligible activities for which funding is granted through the INVESTALIM state aid scheme are: meat processing and preservation, meat products manufacturing, fish, crustacean and mollusk processing and preservation, potato processing and preservation, fruit and vegetable juice manufacturing, processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables, manufacture of oils and fats, manufacture of dairy products and cheeses, manufacture of milled products, bread, cakes and fresh pastries, as well as sugar manufacture.
The processing of agro-food products will be supported financially and through DR 22 intervention – Investments in the conditioning, storage and processing of agricultural and fruit products, within the Strategic Plan for PAC 2023 – 2027, where the financial allocation is 210.300.000 euros.
The maximum value of an investment project can reach 10.000.000 euros for the establishment of fruit-vegetable processing units and for the milling, oil and combined feed industry, to 7.000.000 euros for the establishment of processing units, and for modernization up to to 3.000.000 euros/ project. The grant intensity for this intervention is 65%.
DR22 intervention has as objectives:
Developing/modernizing/retechnologically the food industry in a sustainable way;
Supporting the viable development of food chains, collection and conditioning systems;
The need for increased cooperation between actors involved in the food chain;
Development of bioeconomy and circular economy;
Development of a sustainable food sector.
Beneficiaries
- Association forms with an economic role:
• Agricultural cooperatives and cooperative societies, established on the basis of the national legislation in force;
• Groups and organizations of producers established on the basis of the national legislation in force and recognized by MARD.
- Other economic operators that fall into the SME category, according to Law no. 346/ 2004 with subsequent amendments and additions, large enterprises, including farmers who fall under the status of SME/large enterprise.
Non-reimbursable support
The non-reimbursable public support rate will be 65% of the total eligible expenses for SMEs, associative forms and other enterprises and will not exceed:
- maximum 3 million euros/project for modernization investment projects;
- maximum 10 million euros/project for start-up investment projects that propose at least processing investments for the fruit-vegetable sectors, the milling industry, oil and combined feed;
- maximum 7 million euros/project for other start-up investments.
The basic principle of non-refundable financing is that of reimbursement of eligible expenses carried out (actually borne and paid) in advance by the beneficiary.
Pay attention to the scores and project selection criteria as shown in the guide, to benefit from an optimal score!
Indicative list of eligible expenses:
• Establishing, expanding and/or modernizing the conditioning, storage and/or processing infrastructure of agricultural and fruit-growing products;
• Establishment/development of the sales/marketing component, as a secondary component of the project;
• Investments that contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions, as a secondary component of the investment project,
• Investments in the circular economy, as a secondary component of the investment project (intended exclusively for own consumption)
• Investments related to the use of digital solutions in conditioning, processing, marketing and management,
• Improvement of internal quality control as a secondary part of the project;
• Compliance with the new standards imposed by European legislation for the processing and marketing of agri-food products.
• Expenses generated by investments in intangible assets:
• Consulting expenses (Project management for the investment objective)
Submission of the application and the financing file is done online at AFIR.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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