NGM: Hungarian micro and small enterprises can apply for site development under more flexible conditions

The government is doing everything it can to strengthen domestic SMEs, and the GINOP Plusz-1.2.4-25 program also serves this purpose, which supports the investments of micro and small enterprises operating in the least developed settlements with European Union co-financing. In response to feedback from entrepreneurs, the Ministry of National Economy is making further favorable amendments to the call for applications for the program launched in March last year.

The modified call will be published on Tuesday, after which applications for support can be submitted according to the new conditions. So far, almost 2,400 applications for support have been received under the program, worth 61.7 billion forints, of which about 1,300 projects have received a total of 31.5 billion forints in support. Of the total budget of 150 billion forints, 87 billion forints are still available to finance new application requirements.

The announcement quotes Richard Szabados, the State Secretary responsible for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, technology and the defense industry, who highlighted:

The modified call for tenders is available on the palyazat.gov.hu page – the NGM announced.

The government decided on the following amendments:

– Stronger focus on site development: the ratio of mandatory fixed asset acquisitions will be reduced from 30 percent to 10 percent. This means that, in addition to the 10 percent purchase of equipment, the mandatory infocommunication development, and the activities supporting the professional implementation of the project, the remaining part of the project can be used entirely for real estate development – whether it is modernization, expansion or new construction.

– More favorable support conditions:

The amount of support that can be applied for is reduced to a minimum of 4 million forints, while its maximum is increased to 150 million forints compared to the previous range of 5–120 million forints. The support intensity remains at 50 percent, meaning that half of the investment is provided by the state. Accordingly, the maximum total cost of feasible projects can be 300 million forints, and the amount of the advance payment that can be requested increases to 75 million forints.

Previously, the total cost of the project could not exceed the company’s previous year’s revenue, but according to the new regulation, the amount of support that can be requested – taking into account the upper limit of 150 million forints – can reach up to twice the company’s previous year’s revenue. Thus, businesses that have proven to have the necessary own resources can implement larger-scale developments compared to their sales revenue.

– The support will be available to a wider range of entrepreneurs: the amendment removes the restriction that excluded businesses that received support under the previous GINOP Plusz Priority 1 from applying. In addition, it will be possible for partner or affiliated businesses of a business to apply independently.

• More flexible establishment rules: in the future, a registered seat, establishment or branch office that has been registered for 60–180 days and is located in the same county as thet other registered office, site or branch office registered at least 180 days before submitting the application for support – or deleted in the meantime. This provides greater room for maneuver for businesses in the event of site reorganization or the establishment of a new site.

• Further simplifications: in the case of the purchase of new equipment resulting in technological modernization, the minimum net value limit for each item will be reduced from 500 thousand forints to 300 thousand forints, thus also helping to implement smaller-value but important developments from an operational perspective – they wrote.