Measures to improve the business environment
Stimulating local government competitiveness
Two groups of measures have been developed to stimulate the competitiveness of the Niš economy:
- Measures aimed at strengthening the business entities already present in the city
- Measures aimed at directly attracting new investors.
These measures should help create a better business environment and motivate private capital to invest further.
Within these measures, subsidies are allocated, ie grants to companies for specific purposes, but also organization of a Forum of Advanced Technologies, building a Science and Technology Park, improvement of the tourism potential of the city, providing incentives for agriculture, non-financial support for beginners in business, etc.
A support measure for MSMEEs in order to improve competitiveness
Assisting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs (MSMEs) in order to strengthen the competitiveness of their products and create a better market position. The funds are allocated to cover up to 50% of eligible costs excluding VAT, with a limit of up to RSD 300,000.00 per business entity, depending on the activity selected. In 2019, RSD 19,500,000.00 was allocated for the implementation of this measure.
WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO COMPETE?
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, who are not in difficulty and are registered in the territory of the City of Niš. According to special criteria, funds are also allocated to companies that use the services of Start up Center and all coworking spaces in the territory of the City of Niš.
FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED FOR?
- joint or individual appearance at the fair or visit to the fair;
- arranging the business in accordance with the requirements of international business standards (implementation of standards, certification, recertification) and the „CE“ branding of the product;
- procurement of new equipment and / or machinery, machine parts or specialized tools;
- electronic presentation of the company;
- testing new products;
- improvement of the existing and development of new products / services.
Support measure for MSMEEs, for cooperation projects with scientific- educational institutions, innovation organizations and associations
This measure is being implemented in order to promote cooperation between MSMEEs and scientific and educational institutions, innovation organizations registered under the Innovation Act and associations. The funds are allocated up to RSD 800,000.00 excluding VAT per selected beneficiary. The planned amount of funds for the implementation of this measure is RSD 10,500,000.00.
WHO HAS THE RIGHT TO COMPETE?
The project activities must be carried out by MSMEEs and partners in the project are scientific-educational institutions, innovation organizations, associations.Both project leaders and project partners must be registered in the teritorry of the City of Niš.
FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED FOR?
- implementation of a project that will be more directly linked to the economy and scientific-educational institutions or innovation organizations. The project should enable the improvement of production processes and procedures through the implementation of scientific achievements for MSMEEs. At least three business entities and one science-education accredited institution or registered innovation organization must participate in the project. Partners can be associations that are supportive of MSMEEs, accredited scientific-educational institutions or registered innovation organizations. A partner can also be a consumer protection association, in which case the maximum amount of funds allocated per project is RSD 500,000.00.
- organizing an international event of a tourist-economic character and / or a group visit to events abroad, with the aim of promoting the economic- tourism potential of the City of Niš. Project partners should be associations that are supportive of MSMEEs.
A measure to improve the availability of MSMEEs
One of the priority goals of local economic development is to enable businesses to realize the development and growth of existing operations by providing favorable funding sources. For this reason, the City of Niš this year subsidizes interest on bank loans taken by business entities in order to improve their operations.
WHO CAN BE A LOAN BENEFICIARY?
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, who are not in difficulty and are registered in the territory of the City of Niš.
The minimum loan amount for which interest will be subsidized is RSD 100,000.00 and the maximum amount is RSD 1,500,000.00. The loan repayment period is 12 months.
THE CITY SUBSIDIZES INTEREST ON LOANS FOR?
- Predominantly trading business entities,
- Organizing games of chance and lotteries and similar activities and purposes,
- The production and marketing of goods and services that are considered prohibited under domestic regulations or international conventions and agreements.
In 2017 and 2018, the most favorable conditions for lending were given by the Bank Intesa, which fulfilled all the conditions prescribed by PLER and offered the lowest interest rate on loans. So, the borrower enters into a business relationship with the bank, which also bears all the risk of granting and collecting the loan from the beneficiary. The City of Niš has a role to control the restricted placement monitoring.
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