“First and foremost, we want to help companies, which have lost revenue, restore their solvency in the short term and regain financial stability. Companies will have access to expert advice: plans that will help them optimise their operating costs and thus restore their solvency. If a company’s managers keep thinking that they need the advice and insights of an external business consultant, financial risk management or other expert to improve the company’s performance and solvency, or to optimise costs, this is a great way to part-finance this advice,” said Agnė Vaitkūnienė, Director of the Investment Management Department of the Innovation Agency.
She said that future project promoters would be able to purchase consultancy services to optimise operational costs such as direct costs of products sold, wages, maintenance of raw materials and equipment, and administrative costs. The measure is very simple and the project implementation plan (PIP) can easily be drawn up and managed by the enterprise itself. Reporting is also straightforward, requiring only the output, i.e. a report drawn up by a business consultant or expert, the conclusion of which includes measures and ways of improving the company's performance (anti-crisis performance management plan, cost optimisation plan, etc.).
The companies will have 12 months to implement the projects in Central and Western Lithuania. This region covers the whole of Lithuania, except Vilnius County. The maximum amount of funding per project is €10,000 for the purchase of anti-crisis performance management services and €5,000 for the purchase of performance cost optimisation services. The total amount available for the implementation of the companies' projects is €2.5 million.
Companies that have been in business for at least three years are eligible for funding. Revenue from own production or services is taken into account in assessing the drop in revenue, while revenue from resale is not taken into account.
“We look at a number of financial indicators when assessing applications. To qualify for funding, companies must have annual revenues of more than €200,000 in 2019 and more than half of their annual revenues must be generated from their own production. We also look at how much the revenues in 2020 and 2021 have fallen compared to 2019. The greater the drop, the higher the competition score. We encourage businesses that have lost income to contact the experts at the Innovation Agency, seek advice, apply and restore their financial stability”, explained Ms Vaitkūnienė.
The full terms and conditions of the call are available on the Innovation Agency's website. The deadline for project applications is 20 February 2023.
For those interested in accessing funding under this instrument, the Innovation Agency is organising a special online training on 15 December. Prior registration is required.
To strengthen the Lithuanian economy, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation plans to implement measures totalling almost €1 billion by the end of 2023. Of this, €365 million are earmarked for business, innovation and investment.
