At its meeting of July 5 this year, the Cabinet of Ministers approved two new support programmes of the Recovery Fund for entrepreneurs, within which undertakings will have access to support for promoting the digital transformation of undertakings, as well as for the implementation of research and development projects for the development of new products, services and technologies in competence centres.
As a small country, we have to take advantage of all the benefits and create products with higher added value. The support programmes approved by the government today are designed to enable entrepreneurs, together with research institutions, to implement projects that promote the development of new products and technologies, as well as the transfer of knowledge to the economy. They will also provide an incentive for entrepreneurs to review their existing operational processes and the use of technology to facilitate the transition to digitalisation, development and increased turnover, which will also lead to increased productivity,” the Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone indicates.
The government approved the investment support programme “Financial Instruments for Promoting the Digital Transformation of Undertakings”, which will enable undertakings to receive a financial instrument for promoting digital transformation, i.e. digitisation, automation and robotisation.
Support will be available to undertakings in the form of a loan with the possibility to repay the principal amount by fulfilling the conditions of the digital development roadmap. The minimum loan amount is 100 thousand euro, the maximum amount is 7 million euro. Loan maturity – up to 10 years. The amount of undertaking’s co-financing should be at least 25% of the eligible costs.
The capital discount available for the repayment of the principal amount of the loan will be up to 35% of the total costs of the project (observing regional intensity conditions of the state support), but not more than 1 million euro if the conditions of the roadmap are met. A capital discount can be received if the preconditions set out in the roadmap are met and a positive EDIC post-evaluation is received no later than 6 months after the project has been completed and submitted to ALTUM.
Within the investment, Riga and Pieriga will be able to receive support amounting to 30% (for large undertakings) or 40% (for medium-sized undertakings), or 50% (for micro or small undertakings) of eligible costs. Within the investment, Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Latgale will be able to receive support amounting to 40% (for large undertakings) or 50% (for medium-sized undertakings), or 60% (for micro or small undertakings) of eligible costs.
Total funding of the programme – 45,143,000 euro. The support programme will be implemented by the financial institution ALTUM. The support programme is expected to be available from Q3 2022. Within the programme, a total of 133 digital transformation projects are expected to be supported by 30 June 2026, raising private co-financing of 37 million euro.