The draft of the ExoEconomy for Business programme has been put out to public consultation. Medium but also small or very small undertakings may receive a grant corresponding to even at 40-50% of the total budget, which in turn can fluctuate from €50,000 to €500,000. Therefore, subsidies can reach up to 250,000 euros while the programme also provides for guarantees. Anyone who is based in... his home, will not be able to be subsidized.

The budget of the Save action for businesses

The public expenditure budget of the action amounts to a total of 200 mill. euro. It will be spread distinctly into 100 mill. euros for the Trade and Services industries. The remaining ECU 100 million euros will be directed to the sector Tourism.

Who is supported

Under the Action, Save for Business, existing medium, small and micro enterprises are supported:

• A medium-sized enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 250 employees and whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million or whose annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 43 million.
• A small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 people and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.
• A microenterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.
• Eligible for the Action are all enterprises in the fields of trade, services and tourism

Businesses based in the beneficiary's residence cannot enter the program .

The objectives

1. Reduction of emissions (CO2) by at least 35%

2. primary energy savings of at least 35%

3. upgrade of the energy class based on EPC by at least three (3) energy classes in relation to the existing classification (or mandatory B' class in the case of a major renovation) in the case of an upgrade of building infrastructure that falls under the provisions of Law 4122/2013

The conditions for participation in theEconomy for Business

1. To have been established as an enterprise, with an eligible for the ACTION ACTIVITY NUMBER CODE until 31/12/2020.

2. Have closed before the date of electronic submission of the funding proposal at least two (2) management uses of twelve months duration.

3. To be active in the Greek territory and to declare as a place/places for the implementation of the actions of this action exclusively per Region. The application for funding indicates the Region in which the investment project will take place.

4. Have the status of small and medium-sized enterprise in accordance with Annex V Definition of SMEs in EU Recommendation 2003/361/EC, taking into account the conditions for maintaining that status

5. To operate legally by having the appropriate licensing document, in accordance with the applicable legislation and their activity.

6. To operate exclusively in one of the following forms: corporate / commercial enterprises: Société Anonyme, Limited Liability Company, General Partnership or Limited Partnership, P.C.C., Sole Proprietorship, Social Cooperative Enterprise of Law 4019/2011 as in force, Cooperative and to keep simple or double-entry books of Law 4308/2014, as in force.

7. To provide a Solemn Declaration by the legal representative of the company that there is no arbitrary construction or no arbitrary use has been installed in the property and if any it has been settled with the provisions of the current law (par.2 of article 83 of Law 4495/2017) or of an earlier one (Law 3843/2010, Law 4014/2011, Law 4178/2013).

8. To have completed the conduct of an Energy Audit, as defined by article 10 of the Law. 4342/2015 and the relevant Ministerial Decision 178679/04.07.2017 of the company in its current situation and to result from the proposed energy saving plans of the energy audit results report, as defined in the above Ministerial.

9. In case the application includes measures to improve the energy performance of the building infrastructure and if provided for by the current legislation, in order to document the necessity of implementing the interventions, the issuance of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required on the basis of the KENAK issued by an Energy Inspector, registered in the Register of Energy Inspectors.

10. To achieve at least the minimum energy target, according to the relevant Module.

11. To submit one (1) and only investment proposal per TIN to this Action throughout the validity period of this call (it is possible to upgrade to more than 1 buildings within the same Region in the same application (TIN), as long as the elements of each building in the proposal are distinct).

12. Not to be bankrupt, liquidated or administered by the court.

13. They must not be subject to any recovery of State aid following a decision by the European Commission declaring an aid unlawful and incompatible with the internal market.

14. Commit that the expenditure included in this application for funding has not been financed, integrated and will not be submitted for funding approval to another programme financed by national or Community funds.

15. There must be no grounds for exclusion under Article 40 of the Law. 4488/2017 (A137/13.09.2017).

16. It must not be an undertaking in difficulty within the meaning given in State aid law in accordance with No. 2014/C 249/01 Communication from the European Commission (see Definition of a Problem in Annex II).

17. To have or commit to a solemn declaration of the Legal Representative that until the completion of the proposal it will take care of the appropriate infrastructure and services in order to minimize the access barriers of people with disabilities, where necessary and necessary. Infrastructure means both the building infrastructure and the electronic applications that 5 are addressed to the customer public (e.g. websites and other electronic applications such as electronic information and / or service points, etc.).

18. There must be ownership or concession of use or lease or legal establishment of usufruct on the property for a period of 3 years after the completion of the investment for small and medium-sized enterprises. The six-year period shall be calculated from the date of adoption of the decision on the inclusion of the proposal. Ownership, lease, usufruct or concession of use must be demonstrated by the request for inclusion in the Action.

19. For expenditure subject to the General Exemption Regulation, the planned operation must fulfil the incentive effect and for this purpose no work must have been started before the submission of the application for funding by the beneficiaries under this call. Otherwise, the entire investment project becomes ineligible for financing

20. With regard to the entire project as well as the individual actions, the conditions for cumulation set out in the De minimis Aid Regulation (Deminimis) and the General Exemption Regulation 651/2014 apply.

The budget of the actions

For industries Trade and Services support projects with a total budget of investment (subsidized budget) up to EUR 100 000, for the sector of Tourism projects with a total investment budget (subsidized budget) are supported from 50,000 up to 500,000 euros. The Capacity of the plant should be up to one hundred (100) beds. The above limits do not include VAT, which is not eligible expenditure

duration of the projects

The duration of the implementation of each proposal may not exceed eighteen (18) months from the date of the adoption of the decision on the inclusion of the proposal

The ExoEconomy subsidy rates for businesses

The public subsidy rate stands at 40% for medium-sized enterprises and 50% for small and micro-enterprises. It will be possible to pay an advance payment of up to 40% of the corresponding Public Expenditure against an equal amount of guarantee, by a banking or other public financial institution established in Greece.