Romania may add EUR 200 mln to grant scheme for investments with major impact

After reviewing the projects filed by companies seeking grants for their investment projects under a new round of the state aid scheme 807/2014 for projects with a major impact on the economy, the Romanian Ministry of Finance announcedthat it proposed to increase the budget of the scheme by RON 1 bln (EUR 200 mln) to RON 7.38 bln.

Between June 15 and July 26, the Ministry held a registration session for financing investments greater than EUR 1 mln.

The session had a budget of at least RON 700 mln, with the possibility of supplementing it, and it generated significant interest among investors, who submitted 193 funding applications.

Following the scoring calculated based on the value of the investment, the type of initial investment, the place where the investment will be made, the profitability (in the case of active enterprises), the value of the subscribed and paid-up capital (in the case of newly established companies), four projects worth a combined RON 3.2 bln (EUR 640 mln) were envisaged for financing at this moment, within the RON 700 mln budget, out of a total of 193 submitted.

Daimler, the German group that owns the company Star Assembly from Sebeş, the third largest exporter in Romania, is asking for state aid of RON 185 mln (EUR 37 mln) for a total investment of RON 675 mln, the ministry announced.

Along with Daimler, the investments of the companies Paper Invest (paper manufacturing), Knauf Insulation (construction materials) and Interpork Plus (meat and meat products) are envisaged for financing at this moment, each of the projects exceeding EUR 100 mln each.

Increasing the budget to RON 1.7 bln would allow financing projects of companies such as Tesla Energy Storage, Pirelli and Continental.

(Photo: Wanida Prapan/ Dreamstime