The Commission approved this program yesterday based on the Temporary Framework for State Aid adopted on March 19 and supplemented on April 3 and May 8, 2020.
The Ministry’s announcement on its website also includes a statement from the Executive Vice-President of the EC Margrethe Vestager that this Croatian scheme of around 322 million euros will facilitate access to financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
– We continue close cooperation with member states to find viable solutions to mitigate the economic impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, in accordance with European Union rules – Vestager, who is responsible for competition policy, stated.
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As explained by the Ministry of Finance, under the program, support will be in the form of subsidized loans and state guarantees for loans, and the program will be managed by HAMAG-BICRO – the Croatian Agency for Small Business, Innovation, and Investment.
The aim of the program is to improve access to external financing for those micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that have been hardest hit by the economic impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, thereby ensuring the continuation of their activities.
The European Commission has determined that the Croatian measure is in accordance with the conditions set out in the Temporary Framework. Specifically, the measure includes loans and guarantees for loans for working capital with limited maturity and amount; it is time-limited; it limits the risk taken on by the state; it ensures adequate compensation for guarantees and contains protective measures to enable banks or other financial institutions to effectively direct assistance to users who need it, the Ministry of Finance reports.
At the beginning of April, the Commission approved two Croatian economic support programs. On April 6, it approved the HBOR program for the liquidity of exporters through insurance policies, enabling a total credit potential of around six billion kuna. A few days later, on April 9, the Commission also approved a program aimed at small, medium, and large enterprises, through the instrument of favorable loans from HBOR with interest subsidies provided by the state, with the total credit potential for this measure estimated at one billion euros.
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