Seven Romanian banks selected to distribute the EUR 1 bln grants to SMEs

Romania's Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment has selected seven local banks to help distribute the EUR 1 bln grants to local small and medium enterprises.

The seven banks are Banca Transilvania, BCR, BRD, Raiffeisen Bank, OTP Bank, CEC Bank, and Banca Romaneasca.

The other lenders were rejected from this project because they didn't meet one of the conditions, namely to have at least one branch in each county.

The size of the grants range from EUR 2,000 to EUR 200,000 per beneficiary and are distributed under the Operational Program Competitiveness 2014 - 2020.

The program includes EUR 2,000 microgrants for SMEs without employees in 2019, freelancers, NGOs, and other organizations, with a total value of EUR 100 mln.

Another EUR 350 mln will be distributed as working capital grants between EUR 5,000 and EUR 150,000 per beneficiary, depending on last year's turnover. The amounts should help companies in the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as those in the hospitality industry or transport.

The remaining EUR 550 mln represents investment grants that can be accessed by SMEs in most activity sectors. The funding is between EUR 50,000 and EUR 200,000 per beneficiary, but the beneficiaries must also provide co-financing for the investment projects (at least 15% for companies outside Bucharest and 30% for companies in Bucharest).

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)