The Agency for Rural Investment Financing has published the draft version of the Applicant's Guide for funding provided through the National Program for the Development and Support of the Food Industry, INVESTALIM, on the official website of the Agency, www.afir.ro, in the Communication/Public Debate section.

"As a complement to the interventions that finance the processing of agricultural and fruit products in the Strategic Plan for CAP 2023 - 2027, AFIR will implement the INVESTALIM program, also dedicated to processors in our country. Through INVESTALIM, we have 590 million euros available, concrete support that can genuinely contribute to the consolidation and development of the Romanian food sector.

With the non-repayable funds provided through INVESTALIM, as well as through PS PAC 2027, we manage to transition from raw material production to processing and preserving them, to the production of value-added products, a stage that can mark the advancement of the food industry.

In this regard, we have launched the Applicant's Guide for the INVESTALIM state aid scheme for public consultation, where we await comments, and subsequently, we will release the final version of the guide and prepare for the application submission period," said George CHIRIȚĂ, Director-General of the Agency for Rural Investment Financing.

The public consultation period is 10 calendar days from the date of publication on the website, until September 30, 2023. All interested parties can submit suggestions and observations regarding the guide published to [email protected].

After analyzing the suggestions received by the end of the consultation period, AFIR will publish the final version of the Applicant's Guide to prepare the documentation for access to INVESTALIM funds by applicants.

The implementation of the National Program for the Development and Support of the Food Industry, INVESTALIM, for the period 2023 - 2026 is ensured through the INVESTALIM state aid scheme, with a maximum budget of 590 million euros, and an average annual budget of approximately 147.5 million euros.

Eligible beneficiaries for this type of support can be newly established enterprises or existing enterprises, both 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 reach a total maximum of 57,750,000 euros.

Eligible activities for funding under the INVESTALIM scheme include: meat processing and preservation, meat product manufacturing, fish, crustaceans and mollusk processing and preservation, potato processing and preservation, fruit and vegetable juice production, fruit and vegetable processing and preservation, oil and fat production, dairy and cheese production, milling product manufacturing, bread production, pastry and fresh pastry product manufacturing, and sugar production.