Bulgaria’s government has approved a draft version of the new operational program Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Initiative 2014-2020.

The operational program has a budget of EUR 102 M, which is to be used to provide more favorable terms for SMEs seeking debt financing, according to the press office of the Council of Ministers.

The resources granted under the operational program are provided entirely by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and it does not include national co-financing.

The improved conditions are related to higher rate of coverage of credit risk and the possibility for a larger reduction of collateral and interest rates on SME loans.

The operational program seeks to eliminate some of the most common problems encountered by SMEs, including insufficient capacity to gain competitive advantage, inability to raise sufficient capital, limited access to innovative financial instruments and high requirements regarding collateral and cost of debt financing.

The decision of the government paves the way for the launch of talks with the European Commission on the new operational program SMEs Initiative 2014-2020.

The resources of the new operational program targeting SMEs are provided as a result of amendments to operational program Innovations and Competitiveness 2014-2020.

The changes will also prevent a loss of funding under operational program Regions in Growth, according to investor.bg.

The changes to operational program Innovations and Competitiveness 2014-2020 need to be approved by the European Commission.

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