Businesses: Emilia-Romagna launches a 34 million package to support access to credit

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Emilia-Romagna Region is launching a coordinated package of measures worth over 34 million euros to support businesses’ access to credit and facilitate their investments. Specifically, the plan comprises three complementary measures: the reopening of the Multi-purpose Fund, to which 22 million euros have been allocated; the extension of the measure linked to the EuReCa 2021–2027 to all economic sectors, which will receive 7.6 million euros, and the refinancing of the special regional section Special-ER of the central guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises, with a ceiling of 4.43 million euros. The aim is to offer businesses in Emilia-Romagna a diversified support system, combining subsidised loans, interest-reduction grants, guarantees and counter-guarantees. All these instruments are designed to meet different needs and facilitate productive investments, innovation projects, growth strategies and initiatives for the energy transition.

These three initiatives, in fact, form part of a unified strategy to support investment and improve access to credit for businesses in the Emilia-Romagna region. The Multi-purpose Fund offers subsidised loans to support the growth of new businesses and the energy transition, whilst the measure linked to EuReCa reduces interest costs and strengthens loans guaranteed by Confidi. Finally, Special-ER expands the guarantee scheme’s capacity to support SME investments. With this new package, the Region is therefore consolidating a financial platform that combines direct grant schemes with revolving funds, guarantees and credit facilities, with the aim of multiplying the impact of public resources and mobilising new funding for the regional production sector.

The first measure in the package concerns the reopening, from 12 October to 30 November, of the Multi-purpose Fund, a subsidised finance scheme supported by European funds allocated to the Emilia-Romagna Region and established as part of the 2021–2027 ERDF regional programme. Following the significant results achieved during the previous programming period – in which a total of 523 projects were approved for over €83.5 million, of which 459 have already been disbursed, totalling over €72.5 million – the initiative is relaunching with €22 million made available to businesses in the current funding window. Of this, €13 million is earmarked for the GreenER section – dedicated to energy efficiency projects, self-generation from renewable sources and the circular economy – and €9 million for the StartER section (designed to support the creation, launch and initial development of new businesses).

The scheme consists of a loan divided into two parts: a public tranche equal to 75 per cent of the total amount, granted at zero interest, and a bank tranche equal to the remaining 25 per cent, subject to an agreed rate not exceeding the six-month Euribor plus a maximum spread of 4.99 per cent. In this way, businesses can finance their investments whilst benefiting from the absence of interest on the majority of the loan and from pre-determined terms on the bank-provided portion. The loan term can be up to 96 months, facilitating investment planning over a medium- to long-term horizon. Looking specifically at GreenER loans, these range from €25,000 to €1 million, with a term of up to 96 months. 75 per cent of the amount is granted at zero interest, whilst the remaining 25 per cent is subject to an agreed rate. A non-repayable grant is also available to cover technical costs. For the StartEr section, on the other hand, funding ranges from 20,000 to 500,000 euros, with a maximum duration of 96 months and 75 per cent provided at zero interest. For women-led businesses, the zero-interest portion rises to 80 per cent, regardless of the business’s length of operation.

The second new measure in the package concerns the extension of the scheme linked to the EuReCa 2021–2027 regional guarantee platform, implemented by the Emilia-Romagna Region in collaboration with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the Confidi network. The scheme, initially aimed at businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector, has been extended to SMEs operating in all economic sectors (excluding businesses involved in the primary production of agricultural products, fisheries and aquaculture), and its budget amounts to €7.6 million. This is in addition to the sector-specific scheme due to be launched shortly for the tourism sector, with non-repayable grants dedicated to the accommodation sector.