Three new calls for aid schemes under the Development Law, with a total budget of 525 million euros, were announced by the Ministry of Development and Investments.

Specifically, this concerns the 4

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’, and the 6

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’, and the 6th call

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’, and the 6th call for the aid scheme ‘General Entrepreneurship

Specifically, this concerns the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’, and the 6th call for the aid scheme ‘General Entrepreneurship’ under the Development Law 4399/2016, with the start date for submitting applications for inclusion of investment projects on the 8th of December 2020 and the closing date for submitting applications for inclusion of investment projects on the 31th of March 2021, as well as the 4th call for the aid scheme ‘Aid for Machinery and Equipment’, with the start date for submitting applications for inclusion of investment projects on the 8th of December 2020 and the closing date for submitting applications for inclusion of investment projects on the 30th of September 2021, provided the budget of this scheme is not exhausted earlier.

Within the framework of the calls, aid of up to 55% is provided, on the basis of the Regional Aid Map, depending on the size of the undertaking and the location of establishment.

Total Budget

Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises

Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises : The total budget of this scheme amounts to 2 05.000.000 euros, of which 200.000.000 euros concerning the aid forms of grant, leasing subsidy and subsidy of the cost of created employment come from the Public Investment Budget and the 5.000.000 euros concern the aid form of tax exemption.

General Entrepreneurship

General Entrepreneurship : The total budget of this scheme amounts to 17 0.000.000 euros, of which the 70.000.000 euros concerning the aid forms of grant, leasing subsidy and subsidy of the cost of created employment come from the Public Investment Budget and the 100.000.000 euros concern the aid form of tax exemption

Aid for Machinery and Equipment : The total budget of this scheme amounts to 15 0.000.000 euros and concerns the aid form of tax exemption

The following is a presentation of the main points of the above Development Law 4399/16 schemes:

  • Beneficiaries
  • Sole proprietorship (provided that the value of the investment projects does not exceed 500.000€)
  • Commercial company
  • Co-operative
  • Koin.S.Ep, A.S, O.P, AES
  • Companies under formation or under merger
  • Consortia, subject to registration in GEMI
  • Public and municipal undertakings and their subsidiaries

The following are not considered beneficiaries and are excluded from the aid under the schemes:

a) undertakings in difficulty, as defined in paragraph 18 of article 2 of the GBER (article 1 paragraph 4 point c of the GBER),

b) undertakings which do not confirm that, during the two years prior to submitting their application for aid, they have not carried out a relocation (article 2 point 61a of the amended GBER by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1084 of 14 June 2017) to the business establishment where the initial investment will be carried out and do not undertake that they will not do so within a maximum period of two years after completion of the initial investment for which aid is requested.

c) undertakings implementing investment projects carried out at the initiative of and on behalf of the State, on the basis of a relevant works contract, concession or service provision contract.

Participation in the cost of the investment project

Own contribution may also consist of external financing. The alternative ways of covering own funds are:

  • Increase in share capital or company capital from new cash contributions
  • Capitalisation of existing taxed reserves and retained earnings
  • Utilisation of existing taxed reserves and retained earnings
  • Disposal of assets
  • Bank loan
  • The minimum amount of an investment project is 50.000 euros for Cooperatives.

Contents of investment project

Creation of a new unit

Expansion of the capacity of an existing unit

Diversification of the output of a unit into products or services not previously produced there

Fundamental change in the whole production process

Acquisition of assets of a unit that has ceased operations

Eligible categories of investment

Investment projects in all sectors of the economy are included, subject to the paragraphs of article 7 of the call. What follows is a presentation of some indicative eligible activities.

Investments in the Tourism sector

The following investment projects are supported:

– Establishment or expansion of hotels of at least 3*

– Comprehensive modernisations of at least 3* (to belong to or be upgraded). Essential condition: 5 years must have elapsed from the commencement of operation of the unit or the date of completion of the previous modernisation

– Hotel units that have ceased operation, without any change in their use, and provided that they belong to or are upgraded to 3*

– Establishment, expansion and modernisation of camping sites of at least 3*

– Establishment and comprehensive modernisation in traditional or preserved buildings which belong to or are upgraded to a category of at least 2*

– Special Tourism Infrastructure facilities (conference centres, golf courses, tourist ports, ski centres, theme parks, thermal tourism, thalassotherapy centres, spa centres, KEPAT, shelters, motorways)

– Establishment of youth hostels, subject to conditions

– Establishment of condominium hotels (condo hotels), as defined in Law 4276/2014 (Government Gazette A’ 155), provided that the transfer or long-term lease of the supported parts thereof takes place after the expiry of the period of compliance with the long-term obligations of the investment entity

Investments in the Agriculture and Livestock sector

Published in Government Gazette 4122/27-11-2017 is the amendment and supplement to the Joint Ministerial Decision which lays down the special terms, conditions, specifications and restrictions for the inclusion of investment projects in the agro-food processing sector as well as in the primary agricultural production sector of very small, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which may be included in aid schemes under Law 4399/2016.

Eligible expenses

Schemes General Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises

Tangible assets

– Construction, expansion, modernisation of building facilities and special and ancillary building installations, and the configuration of the surrounding area. In aggregate they may not exceed 45% of the total eligible expenditure. For investment projects in the tourism sector the rate is set at 60% for building expenditure, while for investments in the Logistics sector at 70% also for the building expenditure of those investment projects. Finally, for buildings classified as listed, the rate amounts to 80%.

– Purchase of all existing fixed assets, for SMEs, subject to conditions.

– Purchase and installation of new modern machinery and other equipment, technical installations and internal transport means

– Finance lease instalments for new modern machinery and other equipment

– Special and mechanical installations

Intangible assets

– Technology transfer, purchase of intellectual property rights, licences, patents, know-how and unprotected technical knowledge

– Quality assurance systems, certifications, supply and installation of software and business organisation systems

For Large enterprises, eligible expenditure for intangible assets may not exceed 50% of total eligible expenditure and for SMEs 75%.

Payroll costs

Conditions for support of wage cost

mandatory net increase in the number of Annual Work Units (AWUs) compared with the AWUs of the previous twelve-month period from the date of submission of the application for inclusion

the positions must be filled within 3 years from the date of completion and commencement of productive operation

mandatory retention of jobs for 3 years from their filling for SMEs and for 5 years for Large Enterprises with regard to the schemes of General Entrepreneurship and New Independent SMEs

Other categories of expenditure

– Expenditure for Consultancy Services and concerns only new SMEs (seven years have not elapsed from the date of their establishment). Expenditure is encouraged for monitoring the implementation of the investment project, for support in licensing, on financing matters of the investment project, organisation and management studies, market research etc

– Start-up expenditure only for small and micro enterprises to be established. These relate to expenditure for the commencement of business activity, such as legal and accounting services, organisational studies etc.

Scheme Machinery and Equipment

The eligible costs in tangible assets are as follows:

a) purchase and installation of new machinery, including special installations.

b) The purchase and installation of machinery no older than seven (7) years from the date of their first acquisition, originating from a production unit for which all of the following conditions cumulatively apply:

aa) that unit has ceased operation,

bb) the purchase is made by the entity implementing the investment project and is not related to the seller,

Where a family member or an employee of the original owner takes over a small business, the condition that the assets must be purchased from unrelated third parties does not apply.

cc) the relevant transaction is carried out on normal market terms,

dd) assets that have previously been subsidised under other aid schemes are excluded from the eligible costs, and

ee) the purchase is made by SMEs.

c) The lease payments for the financial leasing of new modern machinery the use of which is acquired, provided that the financial leasing agreement provides that the equipment will pass into the ownership of the lessee upon expiry of the agreement.

d) The purchase of means of transport operating within the premises of the included unit. The purchase of passenger cars with up to six (6) seats is not supported.

e) Expenditure on modernisation of special installations (not relating to buildings) and machinery installations.

Types of aid

Schemes ‘General Entrepreneurship’ & ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’

Tax exemption

Grant

Lease subsidy

Subsidy for the cost of created employment

Scheme ‘Machinery and Equipment’

Tax exemption

Aid rates

The aid rates, in accordance with the new Regional Aid Map, are shown in the following table:

Restriction for the grant and/or leasing subsidy incentive: Existing undertakings established prior to 7 years ago, in order to be able to receive a grant or leasing subsidy, must have shown profits before tax for at least one financial year.

Additional restrictions

The total amount of aid per submitted investment project may reach up to 5 million euros, and up to 3 million euros for the scheme ‘Entrepreneurship for Very Small and Small Enterprises’

Aid provided to each entity may not cumulatively exceed 10 million euros for an individual undertaking and 20 million euros for the total of associated and partner undertakings. These restrictions apply to investment projects falling under the provisions of Law No. 4399/2016 and for a period of three (3) years from the entity’s application for inclusion of its investment project.

Special categories of aid (Article 12)

In order for an undertaking to be able to apply for the grant aid under the General Entrepreneurship Scheme and in order to receive a grant rate of 100% under the Entrepreneurship Scheme for Very Small and Small Enterprises, it must fall into at least one of the following categories:

Outward-looking SMEs: This concerns undertakings which record at least 10% growth in outward orientation on average over the last three years, or 5% if their exports account for more than 70% of their turnover in the third year, or without growth if exports account for more than 85% of turnover in the 3th year before submitting their project

Innovative SMEs: with research and development costs accounting for at least 10% of total operating costs.

Independent SMEs which, after the entry into force of the law (22-6-2016), proceeded with a merger process either by absorption or by the creation of a new company – excluding acquisition

Increase in employment in SMEs by at least 10% over the last three years. This aid is granted to undertakings established at least 36 months before the application for inclusion is submitted, and the integer part of the quantitative increase in FTEs over that period is greater than zero.

Cooperatives, Social Cooperative Enterprises (Koin.S.Ep) under Law No.4019/2011, Agricultural Cooperatives (AS), Producers' Groups (OP), Agricultural Corporate Partnerships (AES) under Law No.4384/2016.

Investment projects implemented in ICT sectors (Technology, Informatics, Communications) and Agri-food

Undertakings achieving increased added value in relation to the average of their sector as determined by ELSTAT

Undertakings implementing their investment project in V.I.P.E., E.P, E.P.E.V.O, T.Y.K.T. and not concerning modernisation or expansion of existing structures of the supported undertaking.

Undertakings implementing an investment project in special areas as defined in the relevant annex to the law (mountainous, disadvantaged, with particularly high refugee and migration flows, with population decline, island, border areas).

These are undertakings whose investment project is implemented in areas with particularly high refugee and migration flows, and in particular: Agathonisi, Kalymnos, Kastellorizo, Kos, Leros, Lesvos, Samos, Symi, Chios.

Assessment procedure for investment projects

The assessment procedure for this scheme is comparative and is completed within fifty (50) days from the closing date of the cycle for submitting applications for inclusion.

For the scheme ‘Aid for Machinery and Equipment’ the assessment procedure for this scheme is immediate – on the basis of the principle of temporal priority – and is completed within fifty (50) days from the closing date of the cycle for submitting applications for inclusion.

Implementation and completion of investment projects

Start of works: after submission of the application for inclusion. Commencement of work on the investment project before submission of the application for inclusion shall entail rejection of the entire investment project.

General Entrepreneurship & Entrepreneurship of Very Small & Small Enterprises:

The audits of an investment project may be:

Regular (following a request by the investment entity – Administrative or On-site)

Conducted in the following cases:

  • – 50% completion of the financial and physical subject matter of the investment
  • – 100% completion of the financial and physical subject matter of the investment and commencement of production operation
  • Extraordinary (by decision of the Service at any time)

A completeness check of the report which is drawn up by the members of the audit body and the issuance of the completion decision follows.

Support for Machinery and Equipment:

Investment projects falling under this support scheme are audited during their implementation, upon completion and commencement of the investment's production operation, and for compliance with their long-term obligations. The audit is a desk-based review of the file documents (“administrative audit”) and/or an on-site audit. The administrative audit is carried out either by the service or by an authorised audit body, as provided for in paragraph 8.

The on-site audit is carried out exclusively by the above authorised audit body. On-site audits will be carried out on a random sample of at least twenty per cent (20%) of the approved investment projects of the call cycle.