The disbursement of the EUR 2,000-150,000 working capital grants to Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) faces a deadlock as only 90 applications are processed each day, the new minister of economy Claudiu Nasui said, quoted by Adevarul.

There are some 18,000 requests on the list to be processed, Nasui disclosed.

The minister said he is currently exploring ways to boost the capacity of processing applications with the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) support.

The scheme, included in a broader program dedicated to Romanian SMEs, microenterprises, and freelancers, was scaled up last October from EUR 350 million to just over EUR 1 billion (including co-financing) after the distribution of grants under the first-come-first-served method prompted protests.

Under the scheme, SMEs in sectors impacted by the COVID-19 crisis can get grants representing up to 15% of their turnover in 2019 (but no more than EUR 200,000).

The European Union's contribution to this program is EUR 765 mln. 

(Photo: Henning Marquardt/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com