Magazine: It started this year and continues next year

After 32 grants this year another 40 funding opportunities will be announced next year by the Prime Minister’s Office, within the framework of the HUF 1,300-billion new Rural Development Programme (VP). About 44 percent of rural development resources will be used directly to finance investment projects. From this sum 80 percent of the money will be spent on small and medium-sized farms. From the funding 50 percent will be non-refundable, with the exception of Pest County where this ratio is going to be 40 percent, while young farmers won’t have to pay back 60 percent of what they get. The agri-food sector’s contribution to the GDP and employment is about 10 percent. In 2016 the Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) is to launch its Growth Supporting Programme (NTP), which will help commercial banks return to lending; at the same time MNB will phase out its former scheme, the Lending for Growth Programme (NHP). This step may increase the budget for lending to SMEs with HUF 250-400 billion in 2016. According to FruitVeb, a HUF 32-billion programme will be announced in December for funding technological development projects in the fruit and vegetable sector, with the use of geothermal energy being one of the priorities. Fruit and vegetable growers can apply for funding for new plantations and improving their irrigation systems from a HUF 22-billion budget and there will be HUF 30 billion available for building greenhouses. In 2015 young farmers receive more than HUF 3 billion worth of extra financial support. Altogether 10,200 young farmers applied for this extra funding, the aim of which is to motivate them for staying in agricultural production. In this scheme young farmers tendered for funding for 154,000 hectares of land – this means that the average size is 15 hectares; payments start early next year