In the Official Gazette (Part I) no.1106 of 16 November 2022 was published the Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no.154/2022 on the establishment of a state aid scheme to support operators in the industry of manufacturing of mill products, oils and fats, dairy products and preparations for farm animal feed.
The recently approved document establishes a state aid scheme in the form of a grant to operators in the cereal processing and oil manufacturing industry for the production of wheat flour, malt and sunflower oil, to operators in the dairy products manufacturing industry for the processing of raw milk raw material and to operators in the farm animal feed preparation manufacturing industry for the production of compound feed.
The State aid scheme in the form of a grant is granted to partially compensate for the increased costs of transport, storage and processing incurred by operators in the cereal processing and oil manufacturing industries, the dairy products manufacturing industry and the manufacture of preparations for the feeding of farm animals, and to partially compensate for the increased costs incurred by them in building up stocks of raw materials of wheat, maize, barley, sunflower, soya and rapeseed, raw milk raw material.
The grant represents the maximum amount to be granted per operator in the cereal processing and oil manufacturing industry for minimum quantities of wheat flour, malt and sunflower oil, per operator in the dairy manufacturing industry for minimum quantities of drinking milk and dairy products, and per operator in the animal feed manufacturing industry for minimum quantities of compound feed.
It is important to note that the scheme applies until 30 June 2023 inclusive, throughout Romania, and is cumulative with any other support schemes financed from the state budget under section 2.1 – Limited aid point 41 paragraph (a) of the European Commission Communication (2022/C131/01), subject to the maximum threshold of 500,000 euro/beneficiary.
In accordance with Article 108 paragraph (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the State aid scheme is notified to the European Commission.
Payment of the State aid referred to in this scheme shall be made until 30 June 2023 inclusive.
According to the normative act, the beneficiaries of the aid scheme are the economic operators that carry out activities in the following classes:
a) CAEN code 1061- Manufacture of other products of milling;
b) CAEN code 1041 – Manufacture of oils and fats;
c) CAEN code 1051 – Manufacture of dairy products and cheese;
d) CAEN code 1091 – Manufacture of prepared animal feeds.
In order to be eligible for the grant, the beneficiaries mentioned above must cumulatively fulfil the following conditions:
a) to apply for the State aid provided for in this Emergency Ordinance;
b) to build up stocks for processing, i.e. stocks of wheat from 15 August 2022 to 1 November 2022 inclusive or stocks of maize from 1 September 2022 to 1 November 2022 inclusive or stocks of sunflower from 15 August 2022 to 1 November 2022 inclusive or stocks of raw milk raw material from 15 August 2022 to 1 November 2022 inclusive or stocks of raw materials for compound feed, i.e. wheat and/or barley and/or maize and/or soya and/or rapeseed from 15 August 2022 to 1 November 2022 inclusive;
c) to hold an environmental permit/integrated environmental permit issued by the competent environmental authority, or a veterinary authorisation/registration certificate issued by the veterinary and food safety authority, as appropriate, or in the absence thereof to declare on their own responsibility data on the operational milling/processing capacity of the establishment;
d) to submit a monthly production report from the year 2022;
e) to hold a registration certificate issued by the National Trade Register Office, with the mention of the CAEN code(s) mentioned above:
f) to submit invoices/files from the marketing booklet for agricultural products, relating to the constitution of stocks and issued during the periods referred to in point (b), indicating the quantity;
g) they are not undergoing reorganisation, liquidation or bankruptcy, according to the records of the National Trade Register Office, on the date of submission of the application for aid.
The maximum amount of the grant to be awarded per beneficiary is 500.000 euro.
The financial grant is awarded in lei, at the euro/leu exchange rate communicated by the National Bank of Romania on 1 August 2022, i.e. 4.9287 lei/euro
The total financial resources necessary for the implementation of the scheme are 985.740.000 lei, equivalent in euro of 200.000,00 thousand euro, distributed as follows:
a) EUR 114,000.00 thousand for beneficiaries with CAEN code 1061 – Manufacture of milling products for the production of wheat flour;
b) 10.000,00 thousand euro for beneficiaries with CAEN code 1061 – Manufacture of grain mill products for the production of malt;
c) 42,730.00 thousand euro for beneficiaries with CAEN code 1041 – Manufacture of oils and fats for the production of edible sunflower oil;
d) 13.270,00 thousand euro for beneficiaries with CAEN code 1051 – Manufacture of dairy products and cheese;
e) 20.000,00 thousand euro for beneficiaries with CAEN code 1091 – Manufacture of prepared animal feeds for farm animals for the production of compound feedingstuffs
Please note that the total financial resources provided above are provided from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for 2023.
If the total amount of applications at CAEN code level exceeds the financial resources allocated per CAEN code, the amount due to each beneficiary is reduced proportionally.
All the documents submitted in order to apply for the state aid granted according to the present emergency ordinance are kept at the DAJ (County Agricultural Directorates), respectively of the Bucharest municipality, for a period of 10 fiscal years from the date on which the state aid was granted.
All documents attesting the state aid due are kept by the beneficiaries of the state aid for a period of 10 fiscal years from the date of receipt of the amount due.
The text of this scheme and the information relating to each beneficiary whose financial support exceeds the amount of EUR 10,000 are published on the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at www.madr.ro and on the websites of the DAJ and the Municipality of Bucharest respectively.
Legal basis:
Emergency Ordinance (OUG) no.154/2022 on the establishment of a State aid scheme to support operators in the industry of manufacturing mill products, oils and fats, dairy products and preparations for farm animal feed.