The National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FNGCIMM) informs the public about the extension of the application period for the IMMINVEST PLUS Program until December 22, 2023, at 23:59. Until this date, an additional budget of 4.1 billion lei has been allocated for guaranteeing the most advantageous investment and working capital loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the online platform www.imminvest.ro.

The extension was decided by the Romanian Government due to the depletion of the initial budget of 7 billion lei allocated to the IMM INVEST PLUS Program. This extension is aimed at continuing the program for the components IMM INVEST ROMÂNIA, AGRO IMM INVEST, IMM PROD, and GARANT CONSTRUCT.

This decision was made to meet the expressed needs of both the business environment and the banking system. The National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FNGCIMM) has already provided 7,391 guarantees totaling over 6.2 billion lei, supporting financings of approximately 7 billion lei. This exhausts the initially established guarantee limit by the Government for implementing the IMM INVEST PLUS Program and its components in 2023.

The new budget will ensure access to state aid measures for an additional 4,500 firms, expanding the possibility of providing state aid to around 31,000 companies by the end of the year.

The application process is straightforward and is conducted through the www.imminvest.ro platform. Eligible beneficiaries need to access the dedicated sections for IMM INVEST, IMM PROD, or GARANT CONSTRUCT and follow a few simple steps to upload the required documents.

IMM INVEST PLUS Program 2023

The IMM INVEST PLUS state aid scheme, valued at 695.75 million euros, represents the largest financial support approved at the European level. Its main objective is to support SMEs, continue and develop their activities, support medium-market capitalization enterprises, preserve existing jobs, create new employment opportunities, make investments, and pay taxes, contributions, and other dues to the state and other budgets.

State aid is granted in the form of loan guarantees, subsidized interest rates for a period of 12 months, and zero commissions throughout the credit period across all six components: IMM INVEST ROMÂNIA, AGRO IMM INVEST, IMM PROD, GARANT CONSTRUCT, INNOVATION, and RURAL INVEST.

For guaranteeing, the Ministry of Finance has allocated a guarantee limit of 24.3 billion lei for the year 2023.

Compared to previous programs, the Romanian Government has adjusted this new program in response to business environment requests, resulting in the following main features:

• The guarantee percentage is up to 90% of the loan amount.
• Interest rates on guaranteed loans are 100% subsidized for a 12-month period by the state through the Ministry of Finance.
• Low financing costs, with maximum margins ranging from 0.75% to 2.5% above ROBOR 3M.
• The possibility of refinancing investment loans, including those granted under the previous program.