Filenews 17 April 2022 - by Adamou Adamou
A boost to the economy, with immediate and medium-term benefits, is expected to give the new sponsorship plans that will be announced next month, since these are plans that businesses have been waiting for for a long time, either to reduce them from the increased energy costs, or to upgrade digitally.
The reason for the Sponsorship Plan for the Digital Upgrade of SMEs, but also for the Sponsorship Scheme I save, Upgrade in Enterprises. Both are expected, unless unexpectedly, to be officially announced in May and already the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry (YEEB) has begun presenting the plans to organized groups. Sponsorships that are expected to give work to scholars and craftsmen for the implementation of the investments that will be proposed based on the sponsorship plans. Last week there was a relevant briefing to the members of the CCCI, followed by a presentation of the plans to OEB.
To save 30%
First is planned to be announced the Sponsorship Scheme Economize, Upgrade in Enterprises, for which applications are expected to be accepted from May. Based on the presentation made by the officer of the Department of Industry and Technology of the Ministry of Industry Andreas Lizidis at the CCCI, the main objective of the plan is to reduce the consumption of primary energy by at least 30% on average from all supported investments. In particular, the energy upgrade of existing buildings and the promotion of energy saving investments in existing facilities/ infrastructure and production units are aimed at promoting energy saving investments. The project, in addition to small and medium-sized enterprises, is also aimed at NGOs. The budget amounts to €40 million. €36 million of which will be for small and medium-sized enterprises (€1 million of the €36 million will be exclusively for SMEs active in aquaculture) and €4 million for small and medium-sized enterprises and Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs). Under the plan, the NGOs that will be able to benefit from the project are the benevolent Foundations that are registered under the Benevolent Foundations Law, or monastic/ecclesiastical authorities, or other religious authorities recognized by the Republic of Cyprus, for investments in monastic units or other places of religious worship, in which monks/nuns reside on a permanent basis.
The eligible costs subsidised by the project include, inter alia, building works, the installation of Renewable Energy Systems and the installation of various technical systems. In particular, the eligible costs include:
∙ Building works: Thermal insulation of shell: Masonry, beams, ceilings, exposed floors, etc., replacement of frames and external shading of frames.
∙ RES Systems: Solar hot water production or water warm-up systems for steam production, solar systems for space heating / cooling, photovoltaic systems (Autonomous or Net-Billing) and PV energy storage batteries.
∙ Technical systems: Replacement of autonomous air conditioners such as central heating / cooling systems, fuel gas boilers, energy management / automation / energy consumption monitoring / monitoring systems, thermal insulation of hot water pipes, heat recovery systems, high efficiency combined heat and power systems.
∙ Services: Issuance of Energy Performance Certificates for buildings, conduct of Energy Audits.
∙ Saving measures in production and operation processes: Replacement of refrigerators for the maintenance/ storage of products, replacement of engines/pumps/circulators/compressors, power factor correction and/or voltage optimization systems and other energy saving systems in the production process.
Sponsorship rates
Based on the presentation of the project, the grant rate for NGOs is 60% of eligible costs, while for SMEs it is 40% of the eligible costs. The maximum amount of sponsorship that each beneficiary can secure is between €100,000and €300,000 and depends on the type of investment you choose. The minimum energy savings required to be achieved for the smallest type of investment are 35% in energy upgrading investments in buildings and 30% in energy saving investments in the production process.
Applications for the project will only be submitted electronically, through the Sponsorship Plans website of the Industry and Technology Service https://fundingapps.mcit.gov.cy/ and the exact date of acceptance of applications is expected to be announced within the next few days. All costs that will be subsidized should be implemented after the date of submission of each application. Among the supporting documents that will be required for the submission of applications include the proof of ownership of the property, the building permit of a premises or a certificate from a competent building authority confirming that it was legally erected, a copy of the existing EAC bill(s), a certificate as to the size of the business and a certificate of non-problematic business, from its external auditor (D/E for NGO), the Energy Performance Certificate of the building and / or a copy of the energy audit report and offers for the expenses to be implemented.
Digital upgrade in instalments
In May or at the latest in June, the new plan for the digital upgrading of businesses is expected to be officially announced, a plan that the market has been waiting for since last year. Based on the presentation made recently at the CCCI by the Director of the Department of Industry and Technology Christos Fotiadis, the €30 million was quoted by the CCCI. The grants to be spent in this direction will be allocated in three instalments.
The Plan will be co-financed under the Cohesion Policy in Cyprus during the FP2021-2027 with a total budget of €20 million. (T.Al.A.E.I.A. Program). In addition, a budget of €10 million will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
€10 million is expected to be spent on this year's call for the project (T.Al.E.I.A. Programme), while an equal amount is expected to be spent on the next calls for the plan expected in 2023 (Recovery and Resilience Fund) and 2024. The aim of the project will be to strengthen the digital identity of businesses, to increase the number of small and medium-sized enterprises using Information and Communication Technologies, including in the e-commerce sector, and to promote digital entrepreneurship. The minimum and ceiling of the budget and the intensity of funding continue to be developed and a public consultation is expected to take place to this end. Beneficiaries of the grants for digital upgrade will be existing small and medium-sized enterprises that will implement expenses in the category of digital upgrade, including e-commerce, new small and medium-sized enterprises whose investment proposal concerns e-commerce / store. It is noted that according to the EU recommendation, SMEs, i.e. small and medium-sized enterprises are those that employ less than 250 people and have an annual turnover of less than €50 million or less than €43 million annual balance sheet. Eligible costs for digital upgrading of small and medium-sized enterprises will be the provision of equipment, provided that it is required for the digital upgrade and of course software/programming systems and services in relation to IT systems.
The plan will exclude economic activities falling under the primary production or processing or marketing of agricultural products as well as activities related to the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. The evaluation criteria of each proposal will take into account, among others, the completeness and clarity of each proposal regarding the physical and financial scope of the project, the expected deliverables and the way of its implementation, while it will also examine whether it contains a documented analysis of the scope, the budget and the implementation schedule. The cost of the proposed investment, the size, the realisticity of the timetable and others will also be examined in relation to the needs it is called upon to cover. With the announcement of the project, the electronic submission process of applications will begin, which will be evaluated on the basis of the order of its submission and then the progress of the project will be monitored before there are any payments/sponsorships. The final draft of the Draft Guide of the draft is being prepared will be put as mentioned in a public consultation. It is noted that in the previous sponsorship plan for digital upgrade there was significant interest from businesses since the 2019 plan with a budget of only €6 million, collected 509 proposals from interested firms. Of these proposals, 358 proceeded to the signing of an agreement with the Ministry of Education and by the end of March of this year 163 stakeholders/proposals received an amount of €2.2 million.
The applications for the ECU €25 million are not enough and are currently running
The Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry is currently accepting applications for the Sponsorship Scheme for the creation, modernization and digital upgrading of units for the processing and/or marketing of agricultural products, which is also communicated in the ministry's presentations to business groups. The above plan, with a budget of €25 million, will be implemented by the Commission. it is included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan of Cyprus and is funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The project, aims to support new or existing small and medium-sized enterprises that are or will be active in the sector of processing and/or marketing of agricultural products. More specific objectives of the project are the technological upgrading or creation of modern units for the processing and/or marketing of agricultural products, the development of new products with high added value, the creation of new jobs especially in rural areas and the exploitation of raw materials of agricultural origin, primarily utilizing local production.
The budget for the project amounts to €25 million. This is a target of €5 million should be spent on applications from 'micro' enterprises and €20 million on 'small and medium-sized' enterprises. The eligible costs for the grant include, among others, investments in building upgrades, new equipment, costs for digital upgrading and overheads, with the project setting the minimum amount of the proposed investment (eligible costs) at €10,000. Specifically, the eligible costs taken into account for the calculation of the grant concern investments in buildings and extensions of buildings and premises, in new machinery / equipment, digital upgrade costs, means of transport and overheads.
The call to participate in the project and to submit online applications started on 1 March 2022 and this will remain open until 24 June 2022 or until the available budget is exhausted.
