The European Commission (EC) has approved Romania’s state aid scheme worth EUR 935 million to support companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The scheme was approved under the Temporary Framework for state aid measures to support the economy in the current COVID-19 outbreak.

The public support will take the form of direct subsidies for working capital and investments in production and will be co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The measure will target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in certain sectors and certain large enterprises related to eligible SMEs, which have suffered from the coronavirus pandemic. The objective of this scheme is to provide liquidity to those companies, thus allowing them to continue their activities, start investing, and maintain their workforce.

The Commission found that the scheme for Romania complied with the conditions of the Temporary Framework.

Romania’s Government approved three grants schemes for SMEs worth a total of EUR 1 billion, with most of the money coming from the EU and the rest from the state budget. The three schemes include EUR 2,000 microgrants for companies without employees and individual businesses (PFA) affected by the COVID-19 crisis, working capital grants for SMEs in sector strongly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and investment grants for a wider category of SMEs.

Local companies could start applying for these grants in the second half of September, according to EU funds minister Marcel Bolos.

editor@romania-insider.com

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