The Agency for Rural Investment Financing has released the conditions for accessing the funds available for processors through the National Program for the Development and Support of the Food Industry, INVESTALIM.

The applicant's guide and its related annexes can be found on the official website of the Agency, www.afir.ro, on the page dedicated to the state aid scheme - click here for direct access to the page. Based on these documents, potential beneficiaries can start preparing the documentation required to access the INVESTALIM funds.

Applications for funding approval can be submitted by potential beneficiaries starting from October 27, 2023, at 08:30 AM.

The National Program for the Development and Support of the Food Industry, INVESTALIM, is implemented from 2023 to 2026 through the INVESTALIM state aid scheme, with a total budget of 590 million euros, provided from the state budget. The annual allocation for investment projects is approximately 147.5 million euros.

Eligible beneficiaries for this type of support can be newly established enterprises or existing enterprises, both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises, established in accordance with Law No. 31/1990 on commercial companies, republished, with subsequent amendments and completions.

The non-repayable support intensity ranges from 30% to 70%, and the level of aid that an enterprise can receive can go up to a total maximum of 57.75 million euros.

Eligible activities for which funding is provided through the INVESTALIM state aid scheme include: meat processing and preservation, manufacturing of meat products, fish, crustaceans, and mollusk processing and preservation, potato processing and preservation, fruit and vegetable juice manufacturing, fruit and vegetable processing and preservation, oil and fat manufacturing, dairy product and cheese manufacturing, milling and bakery product manufacturing, sugar manufacturing.

The processing of agri-food products will also be financially supported through Measure 22 - Investments in the conditioning, storage, and processing of agricultural and horticultural products, as part of the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) 2023-2027, with a financial allocation of 210.3 million euros.

The maximum value of an investment project can reach up to 10 million euros for establishing fruit and vegetable processing units and for the milling, oil, and mixed feed industry, up to 7 million euros for establishing processing units, and up to 3 million euros per project for modernization. The non-repayable support intensity for this intervention is 65%.