Supporting SMEs that were affected by the pandemic in the Region of Western Macedonia
About this good practice
- What is the problem addressed and the context which triggered the introduction of the practice?
Lack of liquidity due to the pandemic was the problem addressed. The ROP funded 50% of the expenses of the companies during 2019, such as supplies of raw materials, rent, employee benefits, operational expenses.
Beneficiaries were regional very small and small companies (including self-employed – freelances).
The main criteria for the companies to be funded, were:
• They should have started to operate before 1/1/2019
• During 2019 they should had fewer than 50 employees
• Their expenses should be more than 10,000 euros
• A non-eligible sector was agriculture
• The funding should have been spent within 2021
- How does the practice reach its objectives and how it is implemented?
The call was funded by Greek state and ERDF under the operation program “Western Macedonia” of NSRF 2014 – 2020.
The call supported small and very small enterprises of the region of Western Macedonia that were strongly affected by the pandemic.
The state funding covered 50% of the enterprises expenses for the year 2019 (starting from 5,000 euros up to 40,000 euros maximum).
The action was implemented by the Managing Authority of ROP of the RWM 2014 – 2020 (with the technical support of the company KEPA-ANEM MAKE, that is a civil non-profit company, a legal entity under Private Law, based in Thessaloniki) according to the legislative framework for the implementation of NSRF 2014 – 2020.
Resources needed
The proposals that were submitted were 4,758 in total.
3,030 of them were rejected or not granded and 1,728 were finally granted.
The grants per beneficiary were from 5.000 € to 40.000 € and the total availiable budget was 40.000.000 €.
Evidence of success
1.728 beneficiaries were granted for their expenses that came out from the following categories:
• costs of consumer goods
• costs for raw materials and consumables
• total cost of provided services
• total rents paid in use by the company
• total benefits to employees
• various operating expenses
Potential for learning or transfer
Funding was the baseline of supporting SMEs and entrepreneurship during the schock phase of the pandemic.
Although It seems that this is not the main point for most of the eco-innovative companies, it was a light touch support to overcome some financial problems.
The good practice has a strong learning and transfer potential in similar cases in the future for other EU regions, as the main funds came from the ERDF.