The Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Decree on Establishing the Program for Encouraging the Development of Entrepreneurship through Financial Support for Female Entrepreneurship in 2023, with the aim of strengthening female entrepreneurship, increasing the number of business entities and further encouraging employment.
The program is a combination of grants from the budget and favorable loans from the Development Fund. Through this program, the Government wants to provide systemic support to women's entrepreneurship, in order to give support to women for the continuation and development of their businesses, thereby encouraging the strengthening of entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of the development of our economy.
The funds determined by the Program are intended for financial support to newly founded and existing entrepreneurs, as well as micro and small companies, which are registered in the Agency for Business Registers, and whose founder and legal representative is a woman. In a company with multiple founders, the minimum share that must be owned by one or more women is 50 percent and one of the legal representatives must be a woman.
As stated in the Regulation, the funds determined by the Program are intended, among other things, for the purchase of machines/equipment/tools, new computer equipment and software, vehicles used to transport own products, raw materials and other means of transport involved in the production process and the provision of services (new or used, not older than five years).
The funds from the Program are also intended for ongoing maintenance and adaptation of business and/or production space up to the amount of one million dinars from the total funds for investment, for the purchase of business/production space for business entities that are registered in APR until December 31, 2020 and employ at least five employees (including the entrepreneur herself) on December 31, 2022. Funds can also be used for operational costs, which can contribute up to 25 percent of the total investment structure for which Program funds are requested.
Business entities that meet the Program's conditions can exercise the right to financial support in the form of grants in the amount of 40 percent of the investment value, i.e. up to 50 percent of the investment value for business entities that belong to local self-government units that are classified in the third or fourth development group.
The remaining amount investment by companies and entrepreneurs will be financed from the Development Fund loan according to the prescribed conditions. Depending on the prescribed conditions, a minimum total amount of funds (loan + grant) of 400,000 dinars can be approved, while the maximum possible amount of funds is 12 million dinars.
The public invitation, instructions on how to implement the Program, tender documents, as well as information on the conditions of loans from the Fund, will be published on the website of the Ministry of Economy www.privreda.gov.rs, the Development Fund www.fondzarazvoj.gov.rs and the Entrepreneurship Portal www.preduzetnistvo.gov.rs.
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