200.000 euro from European Union for pensions and bungalows

Either it’s about agrotourism or camping, villas, holiday villages or entertainment activities, the SMEs, natural persons or ONGs can access non reimbursable funds for developing this type of investments in the countryside. The value of financing is of maximum 200.000 euro, money which the beneficiary hardly receives after
he had invested them.

The beneficiaries of European funds have received the approval to deposit till 30 October the projects directed to a new type of investment – the one in developing the touristic activities from the rural areas. The so-expected launch of the first session of requesting projects for the measure 313 within the third Axis – “Improving the quality of life in the rural areas and diversification of the rural economy” of the National Rural Development Program (NRDP) took place on September 18. The budget is of almost 108,8 million euro, what represents 20% of the budget of 544 million euro forecasted for this measure. Most of the funds, about 70,7 million euro, are allocated to the investments in the infrastructure of touristic receiving, for construction, modernization, extending and endowment of the pensions. For recreation activities such as setting up equitation routes, swimming pools, spaces for camping, there were allocated 18,5 million euro, other 16 million euro, being invested at small level in infrastructure, and 3,5 million euro are directed for development and marketing of the touristic services related to the local tourism.

Beneficiaries of funds

All the non-reimbursable funds which sustain the touristic activities have as objective to develop these activities in the rural areas, and to contribute for increasing the number of jobs and of the alternative incomes, as also to transform the rural areas in more attractive areas, both for investors and tourists. In order to touch this objective it is taken into account the development of the information systems and touristic promotion, the access in the natural areas of tourist interest, increase of the number of tourists and the also of the period of stay. Concomitantly, the investments in rural tourism want to be also a measure for occupying the labour force, dedicated especially for women and young persons to rural areas. The funds can be accessed by micro-enterprises from the rural environment, by natural persons, the communes by legal representatives, mayors, as also by the associations of intercommunitary development associations realized between communes and non-governmental organizations. In what concerns, the natural persons that want to obtain non-reimbursable financing, these must be authorized as natural persons, family company or individual company, till the data of signing the financing contract. According to the applicant guide, the villages that belong of towns and urban areas aren’t eligible for accessing these funds.

Types of financed investments

The main attraction of this measure it is represented by the possibility of investing in pensions, this type of accommodation structure being a very popular one, among Romanians and foreigners that visit Romania. The pensions that were built, modernized or extended with European funds must have at least 15 rooms and to be classified for at least 3 daisies, and the agrotourist pensions maximum 8 rooms and minimum one daisy. Unlike the touristic pensions, within the agroutourist pensions there must be carried on at least one activity related to agriculture, livestock, cultivating of different sort of plants, orchards, the food being partially assured from local products. Beside touristic and agrotouristic pensions, there are also sustained the investments in villas, bungalows, chalets, campings, holiday villages, touristic stops and accommodation structures placed on floating pontoons. Beside the construction and expanding activities there are also sustained the investments for public utilities, purchasing the equipments of producing power from renewable sources, as solar board or solar trap. Another type of investment that can be accomplished with the funds obtained as a result of this demand of projects is the one in activities of entertainment such as sports activities (alpinism, speoturism, deltaplanorism), and recreation activities such as cyclotourism, carnivals, all these being organized with touristic purpose. The investments in infrastructure at small level are also sustained by the European financings. These make reference for example to building and modernization of the local centers of touristic information for touristic promoting, development of local electronic systems of reservation for the structures of touristic accommodation, connected to the local and national systems.

To all these are also added the accomplishment of the touristic markings, refuges, renewing the railway lines with narrow gauge and the arrangements connected to its functionality. With the help of the European money there can be lightened the thematic routes, such as “wine road”, pottery road”, the road of the carvers in wood”. And if the funds support the construction of pensions, realizing of entertainment spaces, also from EU it is obtained financing for the marketing of the new touristic services by elaborating of the promotional materials as presentation booklets and information panels. For all these types of activities there are sustained the expenditures with purchasing machines, equipments, hardware, software, the costs related to realizing the project being represented by taxes for architects, consultants, feasibility studies, justificative memories, taxes for delivering the certificates, notifications and authorizations. The expenditures don’t have to exceed 10% of the total value of the project, and for the projects that don’t include constructions the limit is of 5%.

Financing up to 100%

The funds that can be obtained are of maximum non reimbursable 200.000 euro, and for a project to be eligible the minimum eligible value of a project has to be of minimum 5.000 euro. The financing will cover till 100% from the eligible expenditures, but without exceeding 200.000 euro, in case of the investments of public interest that don’t generate profit. For the investments that generate profit, the non reimbursable help will be of up to 70% of the eligible costs and it won’t exceed for investments in agrouturism, and 50% of the eligible costs for other types of investments in rural tourism, but not more than 200.000 euro. But, for realizing an investment with European funds, the beneficiary must firstly dispose of money. And that’s because the funds are granted after realizing the investment and don’t cover the entire costs but only the ones that are included in the category of eligible costs in the applicant guide. For example, if there are invested 300.000 euro to build a touristic pension of at least three daisies, of which 200.000 are eligible costs, according to the applicant guide, the investor will receive back 100.000 euro meaning 50% of the eligible costs. The advise of many consultants is that in the moment of realizing the projects, as many costs to enter in the category of eligible costs, for that the own contribution to be as smaller as possible. Within this measure, the beneficiary can obtain an advance of 20% of the value of the non reimbursable help, but firstly he should mark the corresponding box in the financing demand. The ones that haven’t required an advance once with deposing the financing file, still can choose for obtaining ulterior advance. For obtaining the advance it must be done the banking guarantee of 110% of the advance value. So, in case of a project that has obtained financing of 20.000 euro, it can be asked for an advance of 4.000 euro, and the prove of the banking guarantee will be of 4.400 euro.

29 documents up to the European funds

For obtaining those non reimbursable 200.000 euro for investments in the rural environment, the beneficiary has to present first the required documents for the financing file. About 29 documents are asked by authorities for granting this financing. Among the documents that make up the file, there are counted: the justificative memory, feasibility study, balance sheet, urbanism certificate or construction authorization, notification regarding the criteria of framing in the local architecture, the document that certifies the property right on the land or building or the contract of cession on minimum 10 years, the sanitary notification, technical expertise on the already existent construction, the certification of fiscal registration. The complete list next to the Applicant Guide can be accessed on www.apdrp.ro

Selection criteria:

Accessing the funds it is conditioned by respecting several criteria. So, the applicant shouldn’t have benefited of support from other communitary funds for similar investments, during the last three years, the projects have to be located in areas with high touristic potential but that aren’t still enough developed and to create more than one job. Also, the investment must obtain several types of actions financed through this type of projects and to be carried on by women and/or young persons up to 40 years. The projects have that through the proposed activity to contribute to keeping and promoting the traditional culture by purchasing products certificated as brand traditional products for arranging the structures of touristic accommodation. Each of these criteria has a certain score, and within the evaluation process there will be taken into account only the projects that have at least 20 points.