The Moldovan Fund for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development will be created in the country to provide preferential loans to SMEs.
This is provided for by the relevant amendments to the Law on Small and Medium Enterprises, which the Parliament adopted in the first reading. It was agreed that such financing instruments as concessional loans, full or partial compensation of loan costs, and other financing methods will be used. Resources will be provided by the Enterprise Development Organization (ODA), within which the fund will be established, or through banks and non-bank credit institutions. The Fund for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development of Moldova will be created as part of the ODA with the status of an internal unit, without forming a legal entity. The purpose of the Fund for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development will be to provide enterprises with access to available financing through eligible banks and non-bank credit institutions. It is envisaged that the ODA will provide funds to qualifying banks and non-bank credit institutions from the financial resources of the Moldovan Fund for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development on the basis of agreements concluded with them within the established funding limits. The Fund for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development will be financed from state budget allocations, financial resources allocated by development partners and / or donors (credits / loans, financial and technical assistance, grants), income received from lending and re-crediting, usufruct received from the investment of available financial funds, and from other legitimate sources. The size of the fund for the current year is 70 million lei. The government assumes that in the next 3 years the capitalization of the fund will reach 2.45 billion lei. According to government estimates, next year ODA will be able to provide entrepreneurs with about 1 billion lei through the fund. The Foundation for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development of Moldova is designed to create additional opportunities for economic agents so that they can access financial resources in the long term on favorable terms. “Small and medium-sized enterprises make up 95% of the total number of enterprises, so the fund is very important for the country's economy,” said MP Marina Morozova, member of the commission on economy, budget and finance. In this context, she called on eligible companies to gain access to the fund's resources, especially since these funds will be at least 30% cheaper than in the bank loan market. The bill must be approved in the second reading. // 17.11.2022 — InfoMarket
