The Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR) announced the closure of the funding application submission session under intervention DR-23 “Investments for the processing and marketing of agricultural products aimed at obtaining food products and processed products other than those provided for in Annex I to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,” financed through the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027. The final deadline for project submission was February 16, 2026, at 16:00, in accordance with the official session calendar.

The volume of applications submitted significantly exceeded the available allocation: 273 requests totaling €525.5 million, representing an oversubscription rate of 319% compared to the funds allocated for this session. The “establishment of processing units” component recorded projects worth approximately €400.8 million within the first five days of the session opening. For the “modernization” component, between December 15, 2025 and February 16, 2026, 149 applications were submitted, totaling approximately €124.7 million.

The total allocation for the session was €164.929 million, equally divided between the two components: €82.46455 million for establishment and €82.46455 million for modernization. Non-repayable support may reach up to €10 million for investments in the bakery sector and up to €3 million for other types of investments, with a maximum funding intensity of 65% of eligible expenditures.

AFIR representatives stated that the high level of applications reflects the growing interest in developing processing capacities and strengthening agricultural value chains. Intervention DR-23 is financed through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and co-financed from the state budget, under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023–2027.