Public call for participation in the program to support the development of competitiveness in 2022

The Development Agency of Serbia (hereinafter: the Agency) in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy (hereinafter: the Ministry) has developed the Financial Support Program - Program to Support the Development of Competitiveness in 2022 (hereinafter: the Program).

The general goal of the Program is to improve competitiveness, safety and quality of products and services on the market, facilitate access to markets and increase competitiveness, primarily of small and medium-sized enterprises, and thus of the economy as a whole.

The program will contribute to increasing the level of use of standards in production and business organization, product certification, management systems and increasing the use of other services in the field of quality infrastructure.

PURPOSE OF GRANT FUNDS

Eligible project activities:

In his application, the applicant states the project activities he plans to implement if he is granted financial resources by the Agency.

Eligible project activities within this of the program are:

1. Implementation of conformity assessment procedures (examination, control, certification, etc.) of products with the requirements of Serbian and foreign (primarily European) technical regulations and/or realization of the conditions for marking with the prescribed signs (CE, 3A, eco-label, OEKO-TEX standard 100, etc.) including the assessment of the safety of cosmetic products and the creation of a dossier on the cosmetic product with a report on the safety of cosmetic products; implementation of the procedure of voluntary assessment of compliance with Serbian standards, including the possibility of acquiring other Serbian standards - from the Institute for Standardization of Serbia (hereinafter: ISS) in printed or electronic form;
2. Arrangement of business in accordance with the requirements of internationally recognized management system standards (preparation/implementation of standards with the first certification or recertification of one of the systems, or integrated management systems - in the field of quality, environmental protection, food safety, etc., including the possibility of acquiring other Serbian standards - at ISS in printed or electronic form in the field of management systems.

Expenses related to the "procurement of Serbian standards" can only be accepted with the activity "Implementation of conformity assessment procedures" or with the activity "Regulation of business in accordance with the requirements of internationally recognized management system standards". fee for services performed by ISS work in the field of standardization.

AMOUNT OF GRANT FUNDS

Available funds are granted individually to users, with a refund as co-financing in the amount of up to 40% or up to 60% of the amount of justified costs without value added tax (hereinafter: VAT), for each project activity.

Co-financing in the amount of up to 60% provided is for micro, small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs, and up to 40% for large business entities, except for:

- implementation and certification of the SRPS EN ISO 50001 standard where co-financing is provided in the amount of up to 60% for all business entities regardless of their size.

The maximum total amount of funds approved for reimbursement is 1,000,000.00 dinars which one user can achieve for one or more activities.

The minimum amount of approved funds for reimbursement is 100,000.00 dinars, which one user can achieve for one or more activities.

The sum of justified costs for reimbursement for all project activities must be in the range of the specified minimum and maximum amount.

The total budget of the Program is 100,000,000.00 dinars.

Funds are allocated to the beneficiary in accordance with Article 4 of the Regulation on the rules and conditions for granting de minimis aid, as state aid of small value. In accordance with Article 4 of the said regulation, the amount of de minimis state aid awarded to the beneficiary may not exceed 23,000,000.00 dinars in any period during three consecutive fiscal years, including all incentive funds awarded in that period.

Deadline for the completion of all of contracted activities and the realization of payments within the approved project is 12 months from the date of signing the contract with the Agency.

The program will co-finance project activities that were started after June 1, 2022, and were not completed before the publication of the public call.

GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION PROGRAM

The right to participate and use grants is granted to the applicant who meets the following conditions cumulatively:

1. that at the time of submitting the application, he has been registered with the Agency for Economic Registers (hereinafter: APR) for at least two years (in the Register of Business Companies or Entrepreneurs);
2. that no bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings have been initiated against him;
3. that he has settled tax obligations and contributions;
4. that in the last two
5. that the applicant and his responsible persons have not been convicted of economic crimes, as well as that members of the applicant and responsible persons within the applicant have not been convicted of criminal offenses against the economy;
6. that for the same justified expenses for which he is applying, in the last two years he has not used incentive funds from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, the budget of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the budget of local self-government units;
7. that he has not difficulties according to the definition contained in the Regulation on rules for granting state aid;
8. that the applicant's activity is in the field of: production, processing or services of the IT industry (exceptionally, if the applicant's activity code does not correspond to the mentioned areas, the burden of proof is on the applicant);
9. that the applicant's activity is not in the area of: production and trade of tobacco products, primary agricultural production, production of weapons and military equipment, shoe games, production and trade of any product that according to domestic regulations or international conventions and agreements are considered prohibited.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM

The applicant must meet special conditions regarding the competences of the service provider. Service providers can be business entities specialized in performing the service in question. When it comes to cosmetic product safety assessors and the creation of dossiers on the cosmetic product, service providers can also be natural persons.

The service provider engaged by the user must meet the following conditions related to all acceptable project activities, i.e. possess the following documentation:

1. deed on the accreditation of the service provider, when it comes to compliance assessment services and when applicable;
2. reference list with a minimum of three recommendations;
3. evidence that the service provider has at least three employees or other engaged persons;
4. evidence of qualifications and competences engaged persons;
5. the user must not be a person related to the service provider,
6. for a cometic product safety assessor it is necessary to have a public document in the field of higher education, in the field of pharmacy, medicine, toxicology or similar equivalent disciplines or education.

Applications are submitted electronically, by creating a user account at the link https://prijave.ras.gov.rs/standardi and by verifying the internet address.

Public call opened from December 30, 2022 and will last until funds are used up, and at the latest until December 31, 2023.

Additional information, as well as the necessary documentation, can be found at this link.