Press releases

Small and medium-sized enterprises (QMM) from the Republic of Moldova will be able to access non-repayable funding up to lei 2 million on the State side for investments in modern machinery and renewable energy equipment. Today, 9 August, The Organisation for the Development of Entrepreneurship (ODA) launched the Technology and Energy Efficiency Programme this will help companies, which have been active in the market for at least two years, to increase their competitiveness and productivity on the domestic and international markets.

The launch conference of the new programme was attended by the Prime Minister, Natalia Gavrilița, Minister for Economic Affairs, Sergiu Gaibu, representatives of development partners, higher education institutions, business incubators and business associations.

Present at the event, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița noted that the Executive would encourage business repowering and implementing energy efficiency actions. “With this programme, we aim to increase the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises, replace inefficient technical machinery with modern technological solutions and optimise production costs by implementing energy efficiency measures. This will help companies to be more efficient and competitive, help reduce environmental pressure and come up with new solutions for the current global energy crisis, which requires us to be more efficient. I hope that this state investment will be useful for your business, help create jobs for our citizens and promote Moldova internationally”said Natalia Gavrilița.

Minister for Economic Affairs, Sergiu Gaibu reiterated the importance of modernising domestic businesses in order to be sustainable. “Retechnology and energy efficiency are priorities for the business in our country, and the programme launched today will help us turn ideas into practice.We enable entrepreneurs to benefit from the programme’s conditions, access the funds made available and develop their business, repowering it.”

“We welcome the launch of the new Energy Retrofit and Efficiency Programme prepared with the technical assistance of the European Union. We expect it to facilitate the implementation of a significant number of modern technologies to increase the competitiveness of Moldovan SMEs and reduce their carbon footprint. Thanks to the new programme, SMEs will certainly have a better chance to benefit from existing business opportunities’, stressed Gintautas BaranauskasDeputy Head of Section of the Cooperation Section, Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Moldova.

Interim Director of the Organisation for the Development of Entrepreneurship, Dumitru Pinian presented the specificities of this new entrepreneurial support mechanism, which extends the scope of the institution’s programmes. “A thriving business starts from modern technologies, lower costs, higher sales and satisfied consumers. This programme will provide companies with a competitive advantage in the market, resilience and access to investments that can bring immediate economic effects through a change in the basic production model, adaptation to new technologies and opt-out for alternative energy sources. Priority under the Programme will be given to business that will demonstrate a positive evolution of economic indicators over the last 2 years of activity and those aimed at streamlining and optimising gas and electricity consumption by replacing equipment with a modern, more energy-efficient or installing alternative energy sources.”

This will allow SMEs to benefit from 50 % non-repayable grant from the investment for technology technology and business repowering, but not more than Lei 2 million for: automation of the production process; the robotisation of production; modernisation of existing technology lines; it solutions for managing production lines; re-use with performing equipment.

Grant for energy efficiency will be 50 % of the eligible investment cost but not more than 1.5 million of RON for renewable energy equipment and facilities, which will ensure that electricity consumption is reduced by at least 15 % compared to existing consumption. The non-repayable financial resources may be used to: solar panels with heating system; photovoltaic panels for the production of the electrical current; mini wind installations for the production of the electrical current; equipment and technological equipment for the production of biogas; equipment and facilities forrmal heating.

An important condition for participation in the Programme is that the founders of the company should be citizens of the Republic of Moldova and hold at least 75 % of the ownership of the company/businesses.

To participate in the Programme, applicants will submit an application form available on the official ODA page, see link https://formular.oda.md/
Registrations are carried out on a continuous basis.

The upgrading and energy efficiency programme is supported by the Government for a 3-year period, with the possibility to extend it, and in 2022 financial resources amounting to Lei 55 million.

More on the new Repowering and energy efficiency programme https://bit.ly/3A8ozTK

All video conference https://bit.ly/3A86Wn7