The European Commission (EC) has approved a EUR 4 bln state aid scheme in Romania, including guaranteed loans and grants, aimed to support local companies facing the effects of the war in Ukraine.

Within the scheme, the Romanian state will guarantee loans of up to RON 17.8 bln (EUR 3.6 bln) and extend grants within a budget of RON 1.9 bln (EUR 360 mln) attached to the guaranteed loans. Specifically, the grants will cover the bank fees (insurance, management) for the entire period of the loan and the interest for 12 months.

Starting September 12, the interested companies can register on the Imminvest.ro platform to apply for the funds made available through the IMM Invest Plus Program, using any of its components: IMM Invest Romania, Agro IMM Invest, IMM Prod, Garant Construct, Innovation and Rural Invest, Wall-street.ro reported.

As regards the size of aid in the form of direct grants, it is capped at EUR 62,000 and EUR 75,000 per recipient operating in the agriculture and fisheries aquaculture sectors, respectively, and EUR 500,000 for each enterprise operating in any of the other sectors.

Support under the scheme will be granted until December 31 2022, at the latest.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Ungureanu Vadim/Dreamstime.com)