iulian sorescuIulian Sorescu, associated partner, head of Financial Department at Noerr, said on Wednesday, during the second day of the Foreign Investors Summit, the 3-day event organized by Business Review magazine, that Romanian authorities are planing to launch a new state aid scheme that focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Aside from the two state aid schemes in place we have to remark the third scheme that is currently under preparation – for small and medium-sized companies,” said Sorescu. He said that for investments of more than EUR 1 million you can receive up to 70 percent financing depending on the location and the size of the company.

“It is a project that is in a very advanced stage,” said Sorescu.

Talking about the two existing schemes, in the past years the application level has increased significantly. He said that for the first time, the funds were not able to cover all the demand this year.

“Maybe the funds should be bigger, maybe it should be allotted based on other criteria so as the offering to be wider so that not only 6 companies out of 36 to receive the financing.”

Live text: Foreign Investors Summit 2016 – Day 2

He said that the current schemes are available up to 2020 so they exist. “The initiative exists but we also have to go on the company’s’ side, which from our point of view, should inform themselves better, to understand the criteria and when they prepare to submit a request for state aid to say that they are meeting the criteria.”

“The flexibility I was talking about earlier exists and doesn’t exist. Talking about public money, the flexibility should be somewhere in the middle meaning that on one hand companies should make a rather prudent business plan so as to make sure it can develop it in the future, to respect those conditions and in the end the money will come.”