The Agency for Rural Investment Financing has released for public consultation the Applicant's Guide for investments in the processing and marketing of agricultural products to obtain food and processed products, other than those listed in Annex 1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, with funding under intervention DR-23 from the Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027.

The public consultation period for this document is 10 calendar days from the date of publication on the website. Therefore, all interested parties can submit proposals or observations regarding the draft Applicant's Guide until July 2, 2024, via email at [email protected] or [email protected], as well as at [email protected].

The Guide specifies a maximum funding rate of 65% of total eligible costs for non-repayable funding awarded to a project, not exceeding EUR 10 million for establishment investments in the bakery sector and up to EUR 3 million for other types of investments.

Among the eligible investment types under DR-23 intervention, the following are mentioned:

• Manufacturing dairy products, ice cream and sorbet, baking bread, cakes, and fresh pastry products, making pasta, noodles, couscous, and similar flour products.
• Manufacturing cocoa products, chocolate, and sugar products, manufacturing spices and ingredients, or manufacturing beverages such as beer.

The Applicant's Guide and its annexes are available on the Agency's website, www.afir.ro, under the Communication/Public Consultation section, accessible through the Public Consultation link - NEW AFIR Portal - PS PAC information, Online Submission.