Listing of enterprises – aid scheme (2)

Enterprises whose legal representative, at the date of submission of the application for funding and throughout the evaluation, selection and contracting period, is in the following situations cannot benefit from the facilities provided in this scheme:

• has been convicted by a judgment of res judicata for an offence relating to his professional conduct, for fraud, corruption, participation in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity to the detriment of the financial interests of the European Union;
• is subject to a conflict of interest, defined in accordance with the national/Union provisions in force, or is in a situation which has or may have the effect of compromising the objectivity and impartiality of the project evaluation, selection, contracting and implementation process;
• has intentionally misled a managing authority, an intermediary authority or an evaluation and selection panel by providing incorrect/incorrect information in the context of this call for projects or other calls for projects submitted for funding under the operational programmes in any of the programming periods;
• has attempted to obtain confidential information or to influence the evaluation and selection committees or the provider/administrator of the de minimis aid scheme during the evaluation and selection process of the call for projects related to this de minimis aid scheme or other calls for projects submitted for funding from the operational programmes in any of the programming periods

            In order to qualify for de minimis aid under this de minimis aid scheme, applicants must submit the following documents to the de minimis aid provider:

• application for funding, including the declarations attached to the application and other documents according to the specific guidelines;
• declaration on the de minimis aid received in the last 3 fiscal years by the single enterprise to which the applicant belongs;
• declaration on the applicant’s compliance with Article 8;
• declaration on own responsibility that the applicant respects the provisions of Article 9 with regard to the respect of the principle of “no significant prejudice”.

Rights and obligations of beneficiaries, eligible activities and eligible expenditure:

Beneficiaries are entitled to receive de minimis aid under the conditions laid down in this de minimis aid scheme and in accordance with the provisions of the aid granting act concluded.

Beneficiaries have the following obligations:

1. to report to the provider/administrator of the de minimis aid scheme all the data and information necessary for monitoring the de minimis aid, in the format provided and within the deadline requested by him;
2. to keep, for a period of at least 10 fiscal years from the date of granting the aid under this scheme, all the documents related to the de minimis aid received in order to demonstrate compliance with all the conditions imposed by European and national legislation in the field of state aid and de minimis;
3. to partially or fully refund the value of the de minimis aid received in the event of non-compliance with the conditions for granting and using the aid, including the related interest, calculated according to the regulations in the field of state and de minimis aid.

It constitutes reasons for full restitution of the received de minimis aid:

• failure to comply with the provisions of Commission Regulation (EU) no. 1,407/2013 of December 18, 2013 regarding the application of articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid, with subsequent amendments and additions;
• failure to achieve any of the objectives assumed by the project, mentioned in the financing contract;
• confirmed cases of conflict of interest or double funding;

any other situations stipulated in the financing contract. Reasons for partial refund of the de minimis aid received:

• making expenses that do not comply with the provisions regarding the eligibility rules for expenses made within the operations financed by PNRR;
• any other situations stipulated in the financing contracts.

The eligible expenses under this scheme are:

1. expenses with tariffs and commissions and other costs necessary for admission to trading, provided by capital market institutions: (i) Financial Supervision Authority; (ii) Bucharest Stock Exchange; (iii) Central Depository; (iv) any institution with a regulatory role;
2. expenses related to the purchase of legal consulting services regarding the prospectus and the activities preceding the listing at the Bucharest Stock Exchange;
3. expenses related to the purchase of financial audit services and financial-accounting consultancy;
4. expenses for the acquisition of brokerage services for the initial public offering, in order to be admitted to trading at the Bucharest Stock Exchange, from a provider authorized as a financial investment services company by a regulatory authority within the European Union;
5. expenses for the acquisition of consultancy services for the sustainability report and ESG rating;
6. expenses related to the adaptation of the company’s internal functions and processes in order to align with the requirements of investors from the public capital markets, especially through the professional education of employees on precisely defined topics such as: corporate governance, implementation of ESG reporting standards, investor relations.These types of expenses can be incurred both in the period preceding obtaining the status of a public company, as well as after the actual listing.

The expenses related to the costs of admission to trading of an initial public offering that exceed the maximum eligible amount of the non-refundable financial aid from the PNRR are borne by the beneficiary. Under this de minimis aid scheme, eligible expenses incurred before the signing of the financing contract can be financed, starting from February 1, 2020, if the procedure for admission to trading at the Bucharest Stock Exchange was not completed before the signing of the financing contract financing.

Duration and budget of the scheme:

This de minimis aid scheme is approved by order of the Minister of Investments and European Projects and is applied from the date of publication in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, until the allocated budget is exhausted, but no later than June 30, 2025. The aid payment is made until December 31, 2026, within the budget allocated to the de minimis aid scheme. Considering that the provisions in force of Regulation (EU) no. 1,407/2013 are valid until December 31, 2023, the Ministry of European Investments and Projects, in its capacity as initiator and supplier of the de minimis aid scheme, undertakes to update this scheme according to the European regulations on de minimis aid in force after the date of December 31, 2023 and to request in advance the opinion of the Competition Council on the respective changes.

All de minimis aid granted, starting from January 1, 2024, based on this de minimis scheme, will comply with the conditions established by the European regulations on de minimis aid applicable at that time.

The funding source for this scheme is PNRR, pillar III, component C9, investment I3, measure 2. The total amount allocated for the de minimis aid that will be granted under this scheme, for the entire duration of its application, is 35 million euros, equivalent in lei, at the InforEuro exchange rate valid under this scheme.

1. a) The indicative allocation of the budget per year is as follows:

1. b) The amounts left unspent in one year will be carried over to the following years during the validity period of the scheme.

The estimated maximum number of beneficiaries of de minimis aid under this scheme is 300 enterprises.

Legal basis:

MIPE order no. 348/2023 for the approval of the de minimis aid scheme “Listing of enterprises on the stock exchange”