Non-refundable Grants to Grow From HUF 4 to 10 million HUF in Most Popular Tender of New Széchenyi Plan2012. február 21.
The newly published modification of the call for bids “Micro Enterprise Development” will nearly double the amount of non-refundable grants, from HUF 4 to 10 million, and will increase the amount of preferential credits up to HUF 20 million. In addition, the group of beneficiaries will be significantly extended.
“Micro Enterprise Development”, a tender of outstanding significance among the achievements of economic development and a novel scheme even by EU standards, has been available for bidding in any region of Hungary since 1 March 2011.
The novel tender form offers support and credit at the same time through intermediaries as a one-stop-shop, with a processing time of 30 days from the application.
The scheme almost fully provides funding for development projects of the smallest microenterprises of 1 to 9 staff, with a grant of up to 45% available subject to 10% downpayment. The remaining part can be financed by a subsidized micro loan with interests well below the market rates within the“Combined Micro Credit Program”.
A summary of the results so far shows that 1,181 applications have been submitted by businesses to ”Micro Enterprise Development” , a tender announced in January 2011, of which 565 have been subject to a grant decision. In this region grants have been awarded in the amount of approximately HUF 2 billion. The number of applications submitted in other areas of Hungary has reached 2,091, of which 1,179 have been subject to a grant decision, and funding awarded amounts to nearly HUF 4 billion.
Originally set to the end of 2011, the submission deadline has been extended until 31 December 2012.
In January 2012, the amount of credit within the “Combined Micro Credit Program” of the New Széchenyi Plan increased from HUF 8 to 20 million, just like within “Micro Enterprise Development”. The National Development Agency (NDA) will involve in its lending activities savings and credit cooperatives as well as Cooperative Credit Institutes as intermediaries where grants may be requested. This will make the tender for micro enterprises available in even more places within Hungary than before. To view the full list of intermediaries visit the website of MV Zrt. at www.mvzrt.hu.
The abolition of the upper revenue limit (HUF 200 million) has contributed to extending the group of beneficiaries. With that measure the NDA will extend the process to cover major projects as well.
Source: NDA