The 2014-2020 financial perspective, which supports the development of enterprises through direct subsidy support from EU funds, is slowly coming to an end. Recent calls for applications for co-financing take place (or are planned) in some voivodeships (Polish regional administrative units) which still have funds dedicated to aid for enterprises, both for investment and research and development projects.
In the case of enterprises operating in the Lodzkie voivodeship (registered seat or branch), two instruments are currently available (the recruitment for applications is scheduled from June 28 to August 31), implemented by the Entrepreneur Service Center (www.cop.lodzkie.pl) as part of the Regional Operational Program. The first one applies to R&D projects focused on the development of new product or process solutions. The project must fit into the so-called Regional Intelligent Specialization (RIS) of the Lodzkie Voivodship, i.e. in one of the following areas: textile industry and innovative materials (optimization of production processes / implementation of new IT solutions), advanced building materials, medicine-pharmacy-cosmetics, energy and renewable energy, innovative agricultural processing , IT. Both large enterprises and SME’s can apply for grants, the maximum or minimum value of the project has not been defined. Co-financing can range from 15% -60% for large companies and from 25% -80% for SME’s. Eligible costs include remuneration of R&D personnel, use of equipment, subcontracting, as well as materials and raw materials used for research. It is worth noting that the possibility of qualifying the purchase of fixed assets that will be used for R&D activities has been introduced. These costs may amount to a maximum of 30% of the total project value, and the level of co-financing may be 85% (de minimis aid). The budget of the competition is 28 million PLN.
The second competition concerns investments in R&D infrastructure, therefore it is dedicated to companies that aim to actively develop research activities and need appropriate technical facilities, including devices, apparatus or intangible assets (e.g. licenses for specialized software). Also in this case, the project must fit into one of the RIS for the Lodzkie region. Co-financing amounts to 35% for large enterprises, 45% for medium-sized enterprises and 55% for small and micro enterprises. The condition for receiving a grant is the applicant’s presentation of a research and development plan to be carried out on the supported infrastructure. Importantly, the entrepreneur may also qualify the costs of R&D works that he plans to carry out on the purchased infrastructure (and which have been included in the R&D work plan), and they can amount to max. 30% of eligible costs. An important disadvantage of this competition is the relatively low budget of PLN 6 million – in practice, this means that several large, highly rated investment projects may exhaust the entire available funds.
As for other regions, in June this year in the Mazowieckie voivodship, the announcement of a competition for innovative SME investments is expected – the competition documentation has not yet been published. It is worth noting, however, that Mazovia has lower aid limits (30-55% for SME’s), and a project implemented in Warsaw itself may receive support at the level of 20-30% (for SME’s). In addition, in the autumn, a competition for SME investments is to be announced in the Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship, but no specific details are available yet.