The Ministry of Economy has launched three public calls for allocation of 1.7 billion dinars worth of grants for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners.
The Ministry of Economy grants will be available through three support programmes – development projects, beginners in business and procurement of equipment.
The programme for promotion of entrepreneurship through development projects will have a grant budget of 500 million dinars for grants and SMEs and small business owners can already apply for it. This programme entails financial support that is 20% grant and 80% a favourable loan from the Development Fund.
In order to facilitate a more balanced development in all parts of the country, the Ministry of Economy has made 30% of the grants available to the most undeveloped areas in Serbia.
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The grant budget for beginners in business is 200 million dinars. This programme entails financial support that is 30% grant and 70% a favourable loan from the Development Fund, with 40% of the grants under this programme available to undeveloped municipalities.
As far as the financial support for procurement of new equipment goes, the grant budget is set at 1 billion dinars. The Ministry has also launched a public call to find co-financing partners for this programme, i.e. banks and leasing companies. The selection process is expected to be completed by February 11th. After that, the Ministry will launch a public call for small and micro companies, small business owners and cooperatives for allocation grants. This programme entails financial support that is 25% grant, 70% will be financed by banks or leasing companies, while the remaining 5% will have to be covered by the grant recipients themselves.
The Ministry of Economy has been successfully implementing SME support programmes for years. Taking into account the needs of businesses and their strong interest in this type of support, the Ministry has simplified the tender documentation while available funds have been growing year-on-year. The goal is providing systemic support to the SME and small business sector, improving their competitiveness and modernizing production, supporting launch and expansion of their operations, creating new jobs and contributing to the overall economic growth.
Public calls will be in force until the available funds are spent, but no later than December 31st, 2019.
(eKapija, 28.01.2019)
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