November 18 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said that it has approved a 500 million euro ($517 million) Romanian funding scheme to support companies in the context of the Russian war on Ukraine.
In light of the high degree of economic uncertainty caused by the current geopolitical situation, the scheme aims at ensuring that sufficient liquidity remains available to the companies in need, the EU's executive body said in a press release on Thursday.
Under the scheme, which will be administered by the 95% State-owned Romanian public development bank EximBank, the aid will take the form of guarantees on loans and subsidised loans.
"With this 500 million euro scheme, Romania will ensure that sufficient liquidity remains available to companies in need, especially energy-intensive ones," Commission executive vice-president in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said.
The measures will be open to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an annual turnover above 4 million euro and large companies across sectors with some exceptions, such as gambling and betting activities, insurance, real estate activities, energy and fuel distribution and trade. Financial and credit institutions will also be excluded.
The support scheme was approved under the state aid temporary framework adopted by the Commission.
($=0.967 euro)