Funding for Investment Projects of New and Under-Establishment SMEs Implemented in the Mainland Areas of TJTPs

Beneficiaries of the action are new and under-establishment SMEs, as defined in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 651/2014, who will implement an investment plan related to at least one of the eligible activities included in ANNEX XVIII "ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (NACE codes)."

Under-establishment refers to businesses that will be established after the electronic submission of the funding application.

New refers to businesses that, as of the date of issuance of this call, have not completed a full fiscal year, i.e., their commencement date is after 1/1/2025.

A completed full fiscal year means a fiscal year lasting at least twelve (12) months, for which the final financial result has been accounting-determined and the appropriate tax forms (e.g., E3 & N forms) have been submitted to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE).

The basic participation conditions for potential beneficiaries, among others, are the following:

1. The potential beneficiary (business) operates or will operate in Greek territory.
2. The investment will be carried out exclusively within one area (spatial unit) of the Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis as defined in the table below:

3. The potential beneficiary:

• has not submitted a commencement of operations to the competent Tax Office at the time of electronic submission of the funding application (under-establishment business).
• does not have, as of the date of issuance of the Call, a full completed fiscal year (new business), as defined in the call, for which the final financial result has been accounting-determined and the appropriate tax forms (E3 & N forms) have been submitted and cleared by AADE.

4. The business qualifies as an SME according to Annex – SME DEFINITION of Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003, taking into account the conditions for maintaining this status.
5. The same entity (partner/shareholder/business) does not participate in more than one (1) investment project concerning an under-establishment business.
6. The potential beneficiary has submitted one and only one funding application (one application per Tax Identification Number).
7. The potential beneficiary is not an undertaking in difficulty, according to Regulation (EU) 651/2014 (Article 2, Para. 18 "Definitions").
8. The proposed investment project relates to one or more of the eligible NACE codes included in Annex XVIII: ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES (NACE codes) of the call, in which the potential beneficiary commits to operate until the submission of the first request for payment of the grant (including the advance payment).
9. The proposed investment project meets the condition of having an incentive effect and, therefore, work on the investment project has not started before the submission of the funding application, as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 651/2014.

i. The proposed investment project constitutes an initial investment, as defined in Article 2, paragraph 49, point (a) of Regulation (EU) 651/2014, specifically, the investment in tangible and intangible assets must be one or more of the following:

Creation of a new establishment.

1. Expansion of the production capacity of an existing establishment. The additional production capacity of the establishment due to the investment project can only be accepted if the existing production capacity of the establishment can be certified by official documentation.

iii. Diversification of the output of an existing establishment into products or services not previously produced by the establishment. For aid granted to large enterprises or SMEs for the diversification of an existing business establishment, the eligible costs must exceed by at least 200% the book value of the assets being reused, as recorded in the fiscal year preceding the start of works.

10. The financial contribution of the aid beneficiary for the costs subsidized under Article 14 of Regulation (EU) 651/2014 amounts to at least 25% through own resources or external financing and in a form that does not contain elements of state aid.
11. The proposed investment project is financially viable and specifically:
12. the financial contribution of the aid beneficiary amounts to at least 25% of the total eligible costs, either through own resources or external financing, and the potential beneficiary has submitted the relevant supporting documents,
13. the potential beneficiary demonstrates solvency and submits the relevant solvency documents (only for new businesses),

iii. the potential beneficiary submits a business plan that certifies the future viability of the investment and is realistic.

12. The potential beneficiary has not, in the two years preceding the application for aid, relocated to the business establishment where the initial investment for which aid is requested will be carried out, and commits not to do so within a maximum period of two years after the completion of the initial investment for which aid is requested.
13. If the potential beneficiary operates in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, they must not have committed one or more of the infringements referred to in Article 10(1)(a) to (d) and Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) No 508/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
14. The potential beneficiary operates or will operate exclusively in one of the following business forms: OE, EE, EE KATA METOXES, EPE, EPE MONOPROSOPY, AE, AE MONOPROSOPY, IKE, MONOPROSOPY IKE.
15. The potential beneficiary maintains Simple or Double-entry books according to Law 4308/2014, as applicable. Companies (new businesses) with a simple accounting system, as well as under-establishment companies, commit to maintaining a double-entry accounting system from the start of the investment project.
16. The potential beneficiary operates legally, possessing the appropriate licensing document, in accordance with current legislation and their activity (new businesses).
17. The potential beneficiary is registered in the Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners under Article 20 of Law 4557/2018 (A' 139), as applicable.
18. The potential beneficiary is not a financial and insurance organization, public enterprise, public body or public organization and/or their subsidiary, Legal Entity of Public Law (NPDD), or a company in whose capital or voting rights local authorities and all the aforementioned public bodies participate, directly or indirectly, with a percentage greater than twenty-five percent (25%) individually or jointly (as well as companies assimilated to them, as main partners), sports club, association, sports limited company.
19. The potential beneficiary is not an offshore company.
20. The amount of the subsidized budget of the investment project is greater than the minimum limit set in the Call, and the expenses of the application are linked to the NACE code(s) of the investment project and the categories of eligible expenses.
21. The potential beneficiary complies with legislation on health and safety of employees and prevention of occupational risk.
22. The potential beneficiary complies with the provisions of the Commission Communication (2021/C 373/01): Technical guidance on the climate proofing of infrastructure for the period 2021-2027.
23. There is no outstanding recovery order against the potential beneficiary following a previous European Commission decision, by virtue of which aid granted by the same Member State is declared illegal and incompatible with the internal market.
24. The potential beneficiary commits that there are no grounds for exclusion under Article 39, paragraphs 1-4, and Article 40 of Law 4488/2017 (A137/13.09.2017).
25. The potential beneficiary commits to creating a minimum number of new dependent employment positions (AWU), which will be additional to those held in the last 12 months before the submission of the funding application, and this increase will be maintained for at least 3 years after the final disbursement of the investment. The minimum obligation is defined as:

• For the creation of a new establishment or expansion of an existing establishment: 1 AWU per €300,000 of grant
• For the diversification of the output of an existing establishment into products or services not previously produced by the establishment: minimum obligation for employment increase: 1 AWU per €350,000 of grant

If the investment project demonstrates two cases of initial investment with different obligations (e.g., expansion of a unit and diversification into new products), the minimum obligation is defined as that of the "creation or expansion of a unit" category.

26. The potential beneficiary commits that the investment project is not carried out on the initiative and on behalf of the Public Sector, based on a relevant contract for project execution, concession, or service provision.
27. The potential beneficiary commits that the entire investment project and/or the individual expenses included in this specific funding application:

– Have not been financed under another action funded by national or EU resources.

– Do not constitute approved expenses of an investment project in another action funded by national or EU resources.

– If approved, and for the period they constitute approved expenses of the investment project to be implemented, they will not be submitted for inclusion or certification in an investment project of another action funded by national or EU resources.

Exempt from the above requirement/commitment are funding applications/approvals concerning financial products (loans or guarantees) implemented with national or EU resources, which may supplementarily finance the same investment project, provided that state aid cumulation rules are observed and the condition of incentive effect is met.

28. The potential beneficiary commits that until the completion of the investment and depending on the type and nature of the proposed Action, they will ensure appropriate interventions to guarantee access for people with disabilities (PWDs) to building infrastructures, services, and electronic environments, in accordance with the current institutional framework (see Annex XV): "Ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities"). Infrastructures include both building infrastructures and electronic applications aimed at the customer base (e.g., websites and other electronic applications, such as electronic information and/or service points, etc.) in accordance with the guidelines of the National Confederation of Disabled People (ESAMEA).
29. The potential beneficiary commits to implementing the action in a way that ensures:

– respect for fundamental rights and compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

– gender equality and gender mainstreaming – prevention of any discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation

– transparency

– accessibility for people with disabilities

– adherence to the principle of sustainable development and EU environmental policy.

30. The potential beneficiary has electronically submitted a funding application, accompanied by all necessary data, supporting documents, and forms.
31. All conditions of Chapter I and the applicable articles of Regulation (EU) 651/2014 are met. This criterion will be analyzed into sub-criteria according to the applicable articles for granting aid under Regulation (EU) 651/2014.
32. If they have received rescue aid, they must have repaid the loan and the guarantee agreement must have been terminated, or if they have received restructuring aid, it must have been completed.
33. The total score of the funding application is equal to or greater than 65 points.

The above conditions must be met in their entirety. Failure to satisfy at least one or more of them constitutes a condition for exclusion of the investment project and therefore a reason for inability to submit the application and/or its rejection.

The total Public Expenditure of the Action amounts to €40,000,000.

The minimum budget for each investment project is set at €300,000, while the maximum is €12,000,000.

The aid intensity is set at up to 70% for expenses supported under Article 14 of the GBER and depends on the type of investment project (single investment), the size of the enterprise (at group level), as well as the aid regime for expenses according to the applicable article of Regulation (EU) 651/2014.

The maximum duration for completing the investment project cannot exceed thirty (30) months from the date of electronic notification of the final approval of the funding application (evaluation result or appeal evaluation result).

The start date for eligibility of expenses is the date of electronic submission of the funding application.

When the potential beneficiary prepares the proposed budget for the investment project, it is mandatory to link the requested expenses to the eligible expense categories/subcategories.

The methodology to be applied for the evaluation of the action is Comparative Evaluation.