The National Credit Guarantee Fund for SMEs (FNGCIMM) announces that the European Commission has approved the relaunch of the IMM Plus state aid scheme, worth approximately 2.5 billion euros (12.5 billion lei).
The European Commission has found that the IMM Plus state aid scheme, the successor to the IMM Invest and IMM Invest Plus Programmes, is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework and concluded that the reintroduced state aid scheme remains necessary, appropriate and proportionate to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State, writes Agerpres, which quotes a press release from FNGCIMM.
"The approval of the IMM Plus state aid scheme represents a significant step in supporting the Romanian economy in the face of the challenges created by the geopolitical crisis in the region. The result of the implementation of IMM Invest and IMM Invest Plus, during the period 2020-2023, represents a European record, being translated into a number of approximately 73,000 guarantees granted by FNGCIMM, worth over 47.2 billion lei, which supported financing of over 55 billion lei. For IMM Plus, we also received the approval of the European Commission to increase support for SMEs and enterprises with average market capitalization within the limit of 280,000 euros for companies in the agricultural sector, up to 335,000 euros for those in the fishing and aquaculture sector and up to 2.25 million euros for companies active in other sectors", stated Dumitru Nancu, FNGCIMM General Director and AECM Vice President.
Under the IMM Plus scheme, aid will take the form of state guarantees for investment and working capital loans and interest and commission subsidies, the objective being to ensure the necessary liquidity for companies affected by the economic disruption caused by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The IMM Plus government program maintains the main advantages of the program from previous editions, namely: state-guaranteed loans, as a percentage of maximum 90% of the value of financing granted by partner banks in the program; the maximum value of loans can be up to 10 million lei, and for the primary agriculture, fishing and aquaculture sectors, the maximum cumulative value of state-guaranteed financing cannot exceed 5 million lei; state guarantees are granted for a maximum period of 72 months for investment loans and 36 months for working capital; interest subsidies for a period of 12 months, except for companies in agriculture, fishing and aquaculture; risk and management fees subsidized for the entire duration of the guarantee.
The aid will be granted no later than June 30, 2024.
