• The Ministry of Investments and European Projects answers the questions sent by Arta Albă.
The Ministry of Investments and European Projects responds to the request of the Arta Albă Editorial Office to provide some clarifications regarding the current session of granting non-refundable funds. Thus, the representative of the institution answers us, on 31.05.2022, the questions submitted to the ministry through Request no. 56371/19.05.2022, the following:
1. The difficult period we are going through has affected the economy in all sectors, including milling and baking. What can you tell us about the new financing scheme initiated by the Romanian state through the emergency ordinance of Friday, April 29, 2022? What amounts are we talking about and what are the eligibility conditions?
The new funding scheme proposes measures for the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, fish farming and the food industry, which are a priority of the economic recovery program of the Romanian Government. They must benefit from adequate financing conditions for projects to relaunch activities and for the working capital necessary to carry out the current activity of enterprises seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The support measures from non-reimbursable external funds provided by GEO 61/2022 include:
a) micro-grants awarded from non-refundable external funds in the form of a lump sum of 5.000 euros. The funds allocated for the granting of micro-grants under the POC 2014-2020 amount to a total of 50.000.000 euros.
They are granted, on the basis of a contract for the granting of state aid, with the fulfillment of the following cumulative eligibility conditions:
- have carried out current/operational activity for a period of at least 3 calendar months before December 31, 2019;
- have achieved a turnover/revenue of at least the equivalent in lei of 5.000 euros on December 31, 2019, with the exception of beneficiaries of state aid, micro-enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises that prove through the submitted financial statements that they do not have contract employees individual workers on December 31, 2019, which were established in 2019, with a turnover of less than 5.000 euros, for which the minimum turnover ceiling is calculated by multiplying the number of full months of activity in 2019 with the amount of 415 euros, and of the beneficiaries of state aid authorized natural persons, individual businesses and family businesses, as regulated by the Emergency Ordinance of Government no. 44/2008;
- they maintain their activity for a period of at least 6 months after the granting of the support measure in the form of a micro-grant.
b) grants for working capital granted in the form of a lump sum or as a percentage of the turnover. The funds allocated for the granting of micro-grants under the POC 2014-2020 amount to a total of 250.000.000 euros.
The amount of support from non-reimbursable external funds for working capital is determined as follows:
- for SMEs with a 2019 turnover between 5.000 and 33.350 euros, the amount of the grant is 5.000 euros;
- for SMEs with a 2019 turnover of more than 33.350 euros, the amount of the grant can be 15% of the turnover and cannot exceed the sum of 120.000 euros.
Grants for working capital are awarded to beneficiaries who cumulatively meet the following eligibility conditions:
- have registered an operational profit from the current/operational activity, respectively from the exploitation activity, in one of the last three financial years before the submission of the funding request to obtain the grant, according to the financial statements submitted to the National Fiscal Administration Agency;
- have co-participation in the establishment of the working capital in percentage of 15% of the grant value, on the date of granting the grant for working capital, co-financing which is free of state aid, according to the legal provisions in force;
- maintain or, as the case may be, supplement the number of employees, compared to the date of submission of the application, for a period of at least 6 months from the date of granting the grants, except for situations where individual employment contracts are concluded for seasonal and/or daily workers.
2. This emergency ordinance for the provision of financial support arises as a result of the difficult situation created by the pandemic. It was announced that the deadline for concluding the financing contracts is June 30, 2022. Do you think this period is enough for all those interested to submit the documentation?
Even in the preamble of GEO no. 61/2022, it was mentioned that "the proposed measures are urgently needed to be adopted as a matter of urgency, considering the fact that state aid can only be granted until June 30, 2022, the deadline set by the EC Communication - Temporary framework for state aid measures supporting the economy in the context of the current COVID-19 epidemic (2020/C 112 I/01), published in the Official Journal of the European Union from 4.04.2020, with subsequent amendments and additions".
The period is sufficient considering that the process of analyzing submitted applications is automated and the administrative burden on applicants is minimal.
3. What expenses will be covered by these non-reimbursable funds? What do you think will be the impact on the milling and baking sector?
a) micro-grants awarded from non-refundable external funds in the form of a lump sum amounting to 5.000 euros, will consider the support of the following expenses committed after February 1, 2020:
- expenses regarding stocks of raw materials, materials, goods, as well as other categories of stocks necessary for the current/operational activity carried out by the beneficiaries;
- current and outstanding debts to current suppliers, including utility suppliers, according to concluded contracts;
- expenses related to the rent based on the concluded contract and/or expenses related to the lease or royalty based on the lease contract or concession contract related to agricultural land;
- expenses related to the purchase of services necessary for the current/operational activity, with the exception of consulting services;
- expenses related to the acquisition of inventory items, including inventory items of the nature of fixed assets necessary for the resumption of current/operational activity;
- expenses regarding the purchase of equipment, machinery, installations and technologies necessary to resume current/operational activity;
- expenses regarding the payment of debts to the state budget and local budgets.
Working capital grants
b) grants for working capital granted in the form of a lump sum or as a percentage of turnover, will consider supporting the following expenses committed after February 1, 2020:
- expenses regarding stocks of raw materials, materials, goods, as well as other categories of stocks necessary for the current/operational activity carried out by the beneficiaries;
- current and outstanding debts to current suppliers, including utility suppliers, according to concluded contracts;
- expenses related to the rent based on the concluded contract and/or expenses related to the lease or royalty based on the lease contract or concession contract related to agricultural land;
- expenses related to the purchase of services necessary for the current/operational activity, with the exception of consulting services;
- expenses related to the acquisition of inventory items, including inventory items of the nature of fixed assets necessary for the resumption of current/operational activity;
- expenses regarding the purchase of equipment, machinery, installations and technologies necessary to resume current/operational activity;
- expenses regarding the payment of debts to the state budget and local budgets.
The impact on the milling and baking sector is a major one, providing the resources so necessary for the recovery of the sector.
4. How long after submitting the documentation do you think the contracted amounts can be accessed?
a) micro-grants granted from external non-refundable funds in the form of a lump sum amounting to 5.000 euros, MADR, in partnership with APIA, makes the payments to the bank accounts indicated by the beneficiaries of the micro-grant state aid within a maximum of 15 calendar days from account funding and payment approval.
b) for grants for working capital granted in the form of a lump sum or as a percentage of the turnover, Banks, on account of banking conventions, within a maximum of 7 calendar days, make the payments, based on the payment authorization issued by AIMMAIPE, in the bank accounts indicated by the beneficiaries of the working capital grant type state aid.
5. Do you think this measure will pave the way for the recovery of the economy, or is it only a small part of what is needed?
This measure is part of the package of protection solutions for citizens and the economy entitled "Support for Romania", which is implemented through the relevant ministries within the Government and which involves funding from national and European funds of 11,5 billion lei.
In this context, the three normative acts proposed by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects were approved at the executive level, which support entities in the agri-food and construction fields, as well as people with low incomes, respectively:
- Emergency ordinance no. 61/2022 regarding some measures for the granting of micro-grants and grants for working capital to entities in the agri-food sector with financing from external non-reimbursable funds;
- Emergency ordinance no. 63/2022 regarding some temporary measures for providing material support to categories of people at risk of material deprivation and/or risk of extreme poverty, partially supported by external non-reimbursable funds, as well as some measures for its distribution;
- Emergency ordinance no. 64/2022 regarding the adjustment of prices and the value of general budgets within the projects financed from non-reimbursable external funds.
Eligible expenses incurred starting from February 1, 2020 can be settled.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă.
Read on White Art and: Mandatory monthly reporting of stocks
