Loans for Entrepreneurs in Culture and Creative Industries Enabled with State Guarantees

Entrepreneurs in the field of cultural and creative industries can apply to banks for loans using state guarantees secured by the loan guarantee program for entrepreneurs in the field of culture and creative industries starting Monday, the Ministry of Culture announced.

The Ministry of Culture and Media launched the program in collaboration with HAMAG-BICRO and the Ministry of Finance as part of the second package of measures aimed at stimulating and restarting the production and distribution of cultural content and ensuring additional liquidity for entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries, which have been negatively affected by the ban on gatherings and the cancellation of events, as well as the closure of theaters, cinemas, and concert halls.

The program is based on the Temporary Framework of the European Commission for state aid measures to support the cultural and creative sector during the current COVID-19 pandemic, which was approved by the European Commission on June 17, 2020, and adopted by the Government of the Republic of Croatia on July 2, 2020.

A total of 300 million kuna in loans with a guarantee amounting to 100 percent of the principal of the loan, or a maximum of 800 thousand euros per user, is planned. The shortest duration of the guarantee is one year, and the longest is five years, within which it is possible to grant up to one year of grace period. The loan utilization period is 6 months. The interest rate is defined by the commercial bank, but it must not exceed 2 percent. The program exclusively covers loans intended for working capital.

Eligible users are small business entities registered according to NKD for conducting activities in culture and creative industries, which include architecture, audiovisual activities, heritage, design, performing arts (theater, dance, and music), books and publishing, media, and applied and visual arts.

Eligible users are those who can prove that the coronavirus had a negative impact on their business within the prescribed activities and those who were not in difficulty on December 31, 2019.

Entrepreneurs contract credit obligations for financing working capital exclusively with commercial banks. The Ministry of Culture and Media and HAMAG-BICRO have, up to the time of publication, realized cooperation in the implementation of the Program with Hrvatska poštanska banka, Privredna banka Zagreb, and Raiffeisenbank Austria. Since the Agency is in the process of signing agreements with other financial institutions, the list of banks involved in the implementation of the Program will be updated on the HAMAG-BICRO website.

More detailed information about documentation, procedures, and conditions is available on the HAMAG-BICRO website.

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