The Government of the Republic of Serbia has adopted the Regulation on the Determination of the Program for Encouraging the Development of Entrepreneurship through Financial Support for Business Beginners and Youth in 2024 (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulation“), implemented by the Ministry of Economy (hereinafter referred to as the “Ministry“) in cooperation with the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as the “Fund“).
The Regulation plans the allocation of 100 million dinars, which are intended for the implementation of the Program and represent de minimis aid, or earmarked grants, from a total amount of 2 billion dinars, as provided by the Law on the Budget of the Republic of Serbia for 2024 (“Official Gazette of RS”, No. 92/2023) for the realization of the Entrepreneurship Development Support project.
The grants allocated by the Program are intended for:
(1) newly established entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises registered with the Business Registers Agency no earlier than January 1, 2022 – “beginner beneficiaries“;
(2) newly established entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises registered with the Business Registers Agency no earlier than January 1, 2019, whose founder/legal representative/other representative is an individual up to 35 years of age – “young beneficiaries“;
In a company with multiple owners, the majority share must belong to one or more individuals up to 35 years old (minimum 51%), and in a company with multiple legal representatives and managers, all must be individuals up to 35 years old.
Beginner beneficiaries who meet the Program conditions can receive grants amounting to up to 30% of the investment value, or 40% for business entities belonging to local self-government units classified in the third or fourth group of development according to the Law on Regional Development.
Young beneficiaries who meet the Program conditions can receive grants amounting to up to 40% of the investment value, or 50% for business entities belonging to local self-government units classified in the third or fourth group of development according to the Law on Regional Development.
The funds allocated by the Program are intended for:
- the purchase of machines/equipment/tools, new computer equipment and software, and vehicles used for the transport of own products, raw materials, and other transport means involved in the production process and service provision (new or used, not older than five years);
- current maintenance, adaptation of business and/or production premises up to an amount of 1,000,000.00 RSD from the total investment funds, regardless of whether the premises where the current maintenance activities are conducted are leased or owned by the applicant;
- operating costs, which can participate up to 25% in the structure of the total investment for which Fund funds are sought.
The Program is implemented by the Ministry announcing a public call for submitting applications for grants, published in at least one daily newspaper distributed throughout the Republic of Serbia, which remains open until the amount of requested funds exceeds the amount of available funds by 35%, but no later than December 31, 2024.
All interested parties are entitled to submit only one application for grants under this Program, while a second application can be submitted during the public call period only if the initial application is rejected.