Through the program, an Investment Plan or Business Plan can be financed.
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Investment Plan" means an investment of fixed and/or intangible new investments and/or expenses made by eligible enterprises, which can be identified in terms of location, planning and benefits, carried out over a period of three (3) years and not completed six (6) months prior to the date of signing the relevant agreement.
Note that for working capitals, the eligible activity code (NACE Code) is the one defined as the main activity. The main activity corresponds to the activity that contributes most to the total gross value added – as measured by earnings before interest, tax and write-offs – of the contracting party. For reasons of clarity, irrespective of the NACE codes of linked or partner enterprises in the same group of companies, activities of financial holding companies whose sole economic activity is holding and managing portfolios of shares, participations and/or investments in other companies shall not be eligible for EIB support.
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Business Plan” investing in: a) tangible fixed and/or intangible fixed assets, or b) working capital, or c) a combination of a) and b) to be eligible for EIB support, an Investment Plan, if it is part of a larger investment, must be autonomous and technically viable on its own (not dependent on the realization of the rest of the investment).
The Total Cost of the Investment Plan must reflect the cost of each part of the Investment Plan. If an Investment Plan consists of activities financed by working capital in the form of new financing, the Cost of the Investment Plan will be equal to the amount of financing. If the Investment Plan includes both fixed assets and working capital, the Investment Plan Cost must be the sum of the cost of both elements.
The "
Investment Plan Cost" includes (i) the cost of all investments required to implement the eligible Investment Plan, which are divided into expenses eligible for EIB support (the "Eligible Expenses") and (ii) expenses not eligible for EIB support. Eligible Expenses represent at least 50% of the amount of the agreement. Eligible Expenses include any of the following categories of expenses:
(a) purchase, renovation or expansion of tangible assets, including development and design costs during the construction phase; purchase of assets other than real property (e.g. construction equipment), for the purposes of renting such to third parties.
(b) investments in intangible assets, namely: (I) RDI expenses (including up to three-year gross wages directly linked to the company's Research, Development and Innovation, elements of the enterprise's activities and development costs, concessions, patents, licenses, trademarks and similar rights and assets); (Ii) Purchase of software processing licenses and other rights and assets with inherent production potential.
(c) working capital required for the activity of the enterprise, e.g. current assets such as inventories, production in progress and finished products as well as receivables, even when provided by a financial institution in the form of revolving credit.
The following categories of expenses are not eligible for financing in the context of financing investment plans, but may be included in the total cost of the Investment Plan:
a) purchase of land, unless it is technically essential for the investment
b) purchase of intangible assets, such as licenses to use non-generated public resources (monopoly rights that do not require investment, such as the right to use a broadcasting frequency), patents, trademarks and similar rights and assets including licenses or rights for mineral resource exploitation and production or rights in the agricultural sector
(c) non-recoverable taxes, such as Value Added Tax (VAT);
(d) duties (tax or duty payable on imports or exports);
(e) financing expenses during the construction period;
(f) note that the purchase of second-hand assets is eligible
The following categories of expenses shall not be eligible for financing under investment plans and shall be excluded from financing:
(a) purchase of land, not technically essential for the investment
(b) purchase of agricultural land.
(c) purchase of goodwill.
as well as recoverable taxes such as Value Added Tax (VAT).
Investment Plans should be implemented mainly in Greece, but investments in other EU member states are not excluded (provided that the company is established in Greece). For the avoidance of doubt, any Investment Plan to be implemented in countries that are not EU Member States are not eligible.
The financing does not concern High Risk Investment Plans. “High Risk Investment Plan” means a Plan that is likely to have significant environmental, climate and/or social impacts and risks that require an Environmental Impact Assessment Report ("EIA") in accordance with Directive 2011/92/EU, as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU (the "EIA Directive").
The Financed Investment Plans (a) are not related to excluded activities as defined above and (b) contribute to at least one of the following EU policy objectives: SMEs/Mid-caps access to finance; Innovation (including Research & Development & Innovation (RDI), Digital and Human Capital (including health and education). Sustainable Cities and Regions (environmental protection, sustainable communities, sustainable transport); Sustainable Energy and Natural Resources. In particular, Investment Plans related to eligible sectors for loans to mid-caps are considered to contribute to one of the aforementioned objectives of the EU policy.
Furthermore, the company's investment plan to be financed should not concern:
- the purchase (or construction or renovation) of property for the purposes of sale or leasing the same to a third party, unless it is related to the construction of social housing, shopping malls and/ or offices for the purposes of leasing the same to third parties (such activities can be financed by exception following pre-approval of the EIB in any case);
- purely financial transactions not related to additional capital expenditure or the company’s business activity (including the trading of listed shares, other securities or any other financial product, the business’s refinancing and other) including change in the ownership structure (e.g. mergers and acquisitions); except in cases of change of generation (e.g. retirement of the previous owner) or staff-related changes of business status, which may be eligible if: a) they enable the company to continue its business activity, b) both parties involved in the sale meet the eligibility criteria and c) the total capital required for the acquisition of the business does not exceed five million Euro (€5 million), excluding own funds;
- investments in the health sector with security units, closed psychiatric and/or correctional centres;
- investments in the health sector that do not respect the common values and fundamental principles of EU health policy (sustainable solutions for society based on scientific evidence and equity of access);
- extraction, processing, transport and storage of coal;
- oil exploration and production, refining, transport, distribution and storage;
- gas exploration and production, liquefaction, regasification, transport, distribution and storage;
- electricity generation exceeding the CO2 emission performance standard (i.e. 250 grams of CO2-equivalent per kWh), applicable to power plants and fossil fuel combined generation, geothermal and hydroelectric installations with large tanks;
- heat production/ combined cooling, heat & power generation and supply (CCHP, CHP), with the exception of:
- heat production using renewable fuels or “eligible combined generation”; Eligible combined generation has the following features: (a) It is based on 100% Renewable Energy (RE), waste of heat or a combination thereof or (b) If based on <100% RES and the remaining part runs on gas (no other fossil fuel is eligible): total efficiency >85% where efficiency is defined as (heat generation + electricity) / Fuel consumption of gas > 85%,
- replacement of existing small and medium gas boilers with a capacity of up to 20 MWth unless it meets the minimum energy efficiency criteria, defined as A rated boilers in the EU (applicable to <400kWth) or boilers with efficiency > 90%;
- restoration or expansion of existing district heating networks, which is eligible if CO2 emissions do not increase as a result of burning coal, peat, oil, gas or inorganic waste on an annual basis;
- new district heating networks or significant extensions of existing district heating networks, which are eligible if the network uses renewable energy sources at least by 50% or waste heat by 50% or heat cogeneration by 75% or CHP by 50%;
- construction of new buildings and significant restoration of existing buildings (more than 25% of the surface or 25% of the value of the building excluding land), which do not comply with the national energy standards set out in Directive (EU) 2018/844 on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD).
- businesses with political or religious content;
- desalination activities;
For the avoidance of doubt, the above conditions for heating/cooling of production units also apply to agricultural and industrial buildings, e.g. floral industry facilities. In particular, new installations are eligible for EIB financing only if the relevant electrical energy/heat/cooling production system complies with the above energy efficiency criteria. By contrast, financing for working capital, R&D and equipment other than the electrical power/heat/cooling system used in existing installations is eligible irrespective of the energy efficiency of the existing electricity/heat/cooling systems provided that the project in question fulfils all the other requirements of the Program. Energy efficiency criteria do not apply to heat from industrial process.
For Investment Plans related to energy/ heat generation using biomass, the following sustainability conditions for biomass products should be fulfilled:
- raw materials should come from non-contaminated biofuels within the EU or be certified for sustainability when originating from outside the EU, and must not come from food and feed crops.
- forest raw materials should be certified in line with international standards of sustainable forest certification.
- the use of palm oil products or raw materials from tropical forests/ protected areas is prohibited. Protected habitats include Natura 2000 sites as designated under EU law, habitats recognized under the Ramsar, Bern (Emerald Network) and Bonn Conventions, as well as areas defined or designated as protected areas by national governments.
Regarding the financing of business and investment projects concerning: a) acquisition of vehicles, b) defence sector, c) public order and security, d) social housing for rent and e) the health sector, the special eligibility criteria are detailed
here.