MIG reports huge interest from companies in financing with money from the Recovery Plan

Over 10,200 submitted project proposals under the first two procedures of the Recovery and Sustainability Plan under the Ministry of Innovation and Growth - "Technological Modernization" and "ICT Solutions and Cyber Security". They have a total value of over BGN 765 million, according to data from the General Directorate of European Competitiveness Funds (DG EFK) at the Ministry of Innovation and Growth (MIG).

According to the first open procedure for Bulgaria under PVA - "Technological Modernization" - 2,537 project proposals were submitted for 633,841,469 BGN grant aid (BFA) with an expected 1,300-1,400 projects. The total value of the requested funds is over BGN 1 billion. The application process began on July 22, 2022 and ended on September 21, 2022. The budget of the procedure is in the amount of BGN 260 million and is aimed at micro, small and medium enterprises.

The documents were submitted entirely online through the ISUN 2020 system. After the first phase, 2,000 companies continue to be evaluated and ranked. Before the New Year, MIG will announce the companies that will receive funding from the MIG Recovery Plan.

The measure will support businesses in the purchase of new equipment and machines in production enterprises in order to renew and modernize their technical park. These are mainly manufacturing companies - for drugs, medical devices and appliances, computers or optical materials, food, drinks, clothing, businesses that deal with waste collection or recycling materials, film and television studios, radio stations, television and information agencies as well as architectural, engineering or research and development companies. For micro-enterprises, the total grant amount can be up to BGN 180,000, for small enterprises - up to BGN 350,000, and for medium-sized enterprises - up to BGN 700,000.

7,689 project proposals were submitted under the second open procedure of the PVU - "ICT solutions and cyber security" for over BGN 146 million. The application for the measure began on October 17, 2022 and ended on December 19, 2022. The budget of the procedure is 30.6 million BGN. According to it, Bulgarian companies can receive grants from BGN 3,000 to BGN 20,000, and co-financing will not be required. The funds will be able to cover costs for creating corporate websites, mobile applications, online stores, digital marketing, customer relations, business analytics systems, online employee training and web-based services for information sharing platforms and intranets. The increase in cyber security will also be financed, as well as software for optimizing management decisions, protecting information in local networks, etc.

On December 12, a third procedure was announced for public discussion under the PVA - for "RES and batteries for local energy storage" with a budget of BGN 200 million. It is for the construction of photovoltaic systems - the so-called solar panels and batteries for local energy storage, and the energy itself will be produced for own use without being able to be resold. 50% of the investment will be financed through the PVU. In addition to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, they will be able to apply for them, as well as those with up to 499 employees or up to 1,500 people.

The last procedure for this year - the fourth - is for development activities and intellectual property worth BGN 120 million. The public discussion on it ended on December 2, and in a few days it is expected to be open for applications from companies that received the "Seal for high achievements" from the EC, for which the funding in the previous program period did not reach.

In a record short time - between 40 and 50 days - both MIG European programs, outside the Recovery Plan, were approved. The Competitiveness and Innovations in Enterprises Program 2021-2027 with a budget of BGN 3 billion was sent to Brussels on August 16 and approved by the European Commission on October 3 and the Program "Research, Innovation and Digitization for Smart Transformation" 2021- 2027 (PRIDST) with a budget of BGN 2.14 billion - sent on October 26 and approved on December 5. Only under the two new programs together (PCIE and PRIDST) MIG will manage a total of over BGN 5 billion for the period 2021-2027. They will finance rapid development and implementation of innovations, as well as the introduction of scientific developments and their commercialization in production and the activities of the companies. After January 1st, the individual application programs will be gradually opened. It is carried out only electronically through the ISUN system, and more information is published on the MIG website.