Framework criteria for enterprises applying under the Recovery Programme

Applicants must:

1. Be micro, small or medium-sized enterprises as defined in SMEA, or large businesses, whose number of employees, assets and/or turnover exceed the number of employees, assets and/or turnover provided for by SMEA;

2. Be enterprises, which were not in distress on 31 December 2019, as determined by verification of preset regulatory criteria. With the last changes to the programme, relief from the "State Aid Temporary Framework" has been created for micro and small enterprises. It is sufficient for them not to have been subject to insolvency proceedings under national law and not to have received any rescue aid or restructuring aid (i.e. state rescue or restructuring aid).

3. Financing and guarantees can be enjoyed by enterprises, which have encountered difficulties or have been in straitened circumstances after December 31st, 2019 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

4. Eligible enterprises must be doing business and registered in Bulgaria and have at least three completed financial statements, with sales revenue as well as book profit for at least one of the last three years.

5. Since the funding covered by the guarantee under the program is state aid, borrowers are prohibited from financing the same expenditure using both a loan under the program and any other state/de minimis aid. (‘same expenditure’ means, for example, payment of a specific invoice dated November 30, 2020 or payment of rent for a specific office for the month of December 2020, or payment of salaries of specific employees, for a specific month.) If for the specific expenditure the client uses state/de minimis aid, the client cannot use the loan to cover the same expenditure (prohibition of double financing).

5. If a borrower, or a related person thereof, has benefited or is currently benefiting from any other state/de minimis aid, for the same type of expenditure as the expenditure the borrower seeks funding for in the form of a loan under the program (e.g. total salary costs, total rental costs, total costs for the maintenance of facilities), the borrower must state this to the commercial bank in the statement form required by the program and avoid double financing.

The borrower must not have breached the state aid rules and been entered in the Deggendorf Register specifically created for this purpose.