Investment Loans for Rural Development - applications received by July 5, 2021

Borrowers

Eligible borrowers are farmers and entities doing business in the agricultural products processing industry as well as entities doing business in the forestry industry set up in the following legal forms:

• • family farms,
  • crafts businesses registered for performing activities in the agricultural industry,
  • companies (processing entities included),
  • co-operatives (processing entities included).

Eligibility criteria for borrowers and eligible sectors are listed in the complete wording of the loan programme.

Eligibility criteria

Investments are eligible in the following measures, sub-measures and types of operations under the Rural Development Programme of the Republic of Croatia for the 2014-2020 period (RDP):
 

Measure 4: Investments in physical assets
Sub-measure 4.1: Support for investments in agricultural holdings	Type of operation 4.1.1: Restructuring, modernisation and increased competitiveness of agricultural holdings Type of operation 4.1.2: Disposal, handling and use of manure fertilizer in order to reduce the harmful effects on the environment Type of operation 4.1.3: Use of renewable energy sources
Sub-measure 4.2: Support for investments in processing/marketing and/or development of agricultural products	Type of operation 4.2.1: Increase in value added to agricultural products Type of operation 4.2.2: Using renewable energy sources
Measure 6: Farm and business development
Sub-measure 6.4: Support for investments in creation and development of non-agricultural activities in rural areas	Type of operation 6.4.1: Development of non-agricultural activities in rural areas
Measure 8: Investments in forest area development and the improvement of forest viability
Sub-measure 8.6: Support for investments in forestry technologies and in processing, mobilisation and marketing of forest products	Type of operation 8.6.1: Modernisation of technologies, machines, tools and equipment for wood harvesting and forestry cultivation Type of operation 8.6.2: Modernisation of technologies, machines, tools and equipment in pre-industrial wood processing

Purpose of loans

Loans ae intended for the financing of new investments under the eligible sub-measures of the RDP as follows:

Fixed assets	Investments in long-term tangible and intangible assets in accordance with eligible purposes under the relevant sub-measure of the RDP
Working capital	Financing of investment-related working capital (up to 30% of investment eligible costs or EUR 200,000, whichever is higher)

Manner of implementation

•Via commercial banks*

*Banks have been selected through public procurement procedure.

Loan amount, disbursement period and repayment

A loan is funded from the proceeds provided under the Programme Contribution and from the proceeds provided by commercial banks in proportion 50:50.

Portion of loan funded from the Programme Contribution can be in kuna or in kuna indexed to EUR, whereas portion of loan funded from commercial bank's sources is committed in kuna indexed to EUR.

Generally, borrower's own share in investment amounts to 10% of total investment value, VAT not included, and it is possible to finance up to 100% of total investment value, VAT not included, depending on the assessment by commercial bank.

Loan amount	from EUR 50,001 to EUR 1,000,000 in HRK equivalent value in accordance with the middle exchange rate of the Croatian National Bank on contract execution date
Grace period	up to 3 years or 5 years for investment in perennial crops
Disbursement period	up to 18 months
Repayment period	up to 180 months (15 years), grace period included repayment period cannot be modified after loan approval

It is not allowed to cumulate aid under the Programme Contribution proceeds on one and the same project, which means that this loan cannot be combined with:

• ESIF grants, neither as pre-investment nor as co-investment;
• other ESIF financial instruments, such as HAMAG-BICRO guarantees;
• other financial instruments, such as HAMAG-BICRO guarantees financed from state budget or financial instruments from the EU central programmes.

Interest

On the loan portion provided from Programme Contribution	0%
On the loan portion provided from commercial bank's funds	in accordance with business decision made by bank

Interest rate is fixed for the entire duration of loan repayment.

Fees

Under this loan programme, neither loan application fees, commitment fees nor fees for loan modification not initiated by borrower are charged.

Security

Collateral securing due fulfilment of loan obligations in accordance with assessment/request of commercial bank and securing recovery of awarded aid: 2 (two) debentures of the enterprise with the amount of each one being equal to the amount of gross equivalent of aid awarded under the loan contract plus statutory penalty interest, where the amount of both debentures equals the sum of aid in kuna.

Roles in implementation

On 18 April 2018, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Paying Agency for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development entered into the Agreement on Financing Level I for the Implementation of Financial Instrument "Investment Loans for Rural Development". Pursuant to the above Agreement, HBOR is authorised to be the fund of funds for the proceeds from the European Structural and Investment Funds. Through the public procurement procedure, HBOR selected three commercial banks: OTP d.d., Privredna banka Zagreb d.d. and Zagrebačka banka d.d., with which HBOR concluded Agreements on Financing Level II for the Implementation of Financial Instrument "Investment Loans for Rural Development" on 17 September 2019.

Miscellaneous

Irregularity reports and complaints on loan rejection decisions made by commercial banks can be submitted to the email address: esif.nepravilnosti@hbor.hr.





This document has been prepared with the support of the European Union. The opinions contained in the document do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the European Union.