Favorable loans for green and digital jobs

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has announced a call for grants to increase the competitiveness of the tourism economy through a green and digital transition in tourism. The total amount of funds for this activity is EUR 3,404,340, and the deadline for submitting project proposals is 15 March 2024. The program should contribute to the development of sustainable tourism products, improvement of processes in the catering business acceptable to the environment, digitization and improvement of the provision of catering and/or tourism services, development of innovative tourism products and services, circular economy and increase in energy efficiency. This means that eligible are subjects of small businesses, i.e. trading companies outside the public sector, trades and cooperatives as well as family farms or agricultural holdings, which are registered or will be registered for catering activities after the completion of the project activities. The grant awarding program is made up of five measures. Measure A, with a total value of EUR 1,000,000, supports investments in energy-efficient tangible assets and green transition, as well as digitization and improvement of work processes of existing hotels. The lowest amount of funds that can be allocated for this purpose is EUR 10,000, and the highest amount is EUR 35,000. The investment, among other things, can be in the replacement of energy- and process-inefficient professional catering equipment with efficient ones for the purpose of improving the technological process of food and beverage preparation and providing other services in hotels. Measure B refers to existing and new camps in the NUTS 2 region: Pannonia or Northern Croatia, whereby investments in energy-efficient material assets and green transition, as well as digitization and improvement of work processes are supported. The lowest amount of funds that can be allocated for measure B is EUR 6,000, while the highest amount is EUR 25,000. The total amount of funds determined for this purpose is EUR 800,000. Measure C refers to investments in energy-efficient tangible assets and green transition, as well as digitization and improvement of work processes of existing catering establishments with year-round operations and include a restaurant, inn, bistro or pastry shop. The lowest amount of funds that can be allocated is EUR 5,000, and the highest is EUR 15,000. The total allocation for this measure is worth EUR 700,000. Investments, in addition to those mentioned under measures A and B, can also be in the acquisition of new equipment related to environmental protection and the circular economy. For measure D, a total of EUR 404,340 is earmarked for investments by family and agricultural farms, farmers in new wineries or tasting rooms, as well as digitization and e-bottling for family farms. The lowest amount of funds that can be allocated is EUR 5,000, and the highest amount is EUR 15,000. Measure E, with a total value of EUR 500,000, refers to investments in existing vessels for excursions and renting with or without a crew and providing accommodation services for guests on the vessel. The lowest allocated amount can be EUR 5,000, and the highest amount is EUR 15,000. Among other things, investments can be in the replacement of gasoline auxiliary engines with electric engines, as well as the replacement of existing marine batteries with new models that will be more environmentally friendly.

The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development has announced a call for submission of project proposals 'Vouchers for Digitization' in order to encourage investments by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises aimed at the implementation of digitization and digital transformation of business. This business transformation is carried out through training and services to improve digital skills, including those related to cloud technologies, digital transformation strategies, digital marketing, increasing cyber resilience through system security checks and the application of complex digital solutions. The goal of this Call is to contribute to increasing the level of digital maturity of SMEs through the development of digital business models, strengthening the capacity to implement digitization and digital transformation or improving cyber security, which will ultimately increase the competitiveness and resilience of companies using digital technologies. Project proposals are submitted in the period from 1 to 29 March 2024 year, and the total available amount of funds is EUR 9,954,210.00 euros. Since EUR 6,636,140.00 have already been distributed in the previous deadlines, the remaining EUR 3,318,070 will be allocated in the said deadline, whereby the intensity of support for the applicant's activities is 60 percent. The maximum amount of grant that can be awarded to an individual project depends on the type of voucher. In the award process, the applicant can have only one project proposal at the same time, which requests the award of vouchers for services provided exclusively by one service provider, and which include one or more activities acceptable for the requested type of voucher. One applicant within this Call may use a maximum of two (2) vouchers, provided that they are different types of vouchers, whereby the total amount of support awarded to the entrepreneur must be in accordance with the rules on small value support. The purpose of this Call is to contribute to increasing the level of digital maturity of SMEs through the development of digital business models, strengthening the capacity to implement digitization and digital transformation or improving cyber security, which will ultimately increase the competitiveness and resilience of companies using digital technologies. Acceptable activities of the applicant are the creation of company websites, landing pages, mobile applications, web applications and websites for e-commerce and management of social networks.