On 6 March 2017, Development Agency of Serbia announced the Public Call for participation in the Support Program for Innovative Micro, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as the Program). The objective of the Program is improvement of the investment culture of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs in innovation in order to increase competitiveness. The Program is implemented by the Development Agency of Serbia (hereinafter referred to as RAS) in partnership with regional development agencies (hereinafter: RDA).
Requirements for participation in the program
Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs (with single-entry or double-entry bookkeeping) fulfilling the following general requirements cumulatively are eligible to participate in the Program and use grants:
• The prevailing business activity of the Applicant is manufacturing or processing;
• The majority of ownership is local and private;
• They are registered in the Business Registers Agency of the Republic of Serbia before January 1, 2015;
• They are under no registered process of liquidation or bankruptcy;
• They had a positive balance in 2016;
• They have paid all due taxes and contributions;
• They have not been imposed a protective measure of prohibition of activity with a legally binding decision in the previous two years;
• They have not used incentives from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina or the budget of local self-governments for the same project activities from the application in the current year;
• They do not have difficulties according to the definition from the Decree on Rules of State Aid Grant.
Purpose of the grant
The following activities will be supported through the Program:
• improvement of existing and development of new technological processes;
• improvement of existing and development of new products;
• improvement of the existing production process;
• purchase of national patent/small patent rights and patent documentation.
The applicant can only submit one application, and in that application, the applicant can apply for only one project activity.
The Program can also finance project activities that were initiated (contract with the Provider signed in the current year), but not implemented and paid until the announcement of the Public Call.
Unacceptable projects within this program are the following:
• projects related to: tobacco industry, organization of gambling, production and sale of weapons and military equipment, trade, financial sector and primary agricultural production;
• projects belonging to general activities of relevant state institutions or public administration services, including local self-governments;
• infrastructural projects;
• projects limited to charity donations;
• projects already financed with state aid funds;
• projects related to political parties and organizations.
Value of grants
Available funds are approved as co-financing of up to 50% of eligible costs for project activity without VAT, with the maximum value of 1,000,000.00 dinars.
Raspoloživa sredstva se odobravaju kao sufinansiranje u visini do 50% opravdanih troškova projektne aktivnosti bez PDV, a u maksimalnom iznosu do 1.000.000,00 dinara.
The total budget for the Program is 30,000,000.00 dinars.
The deadline for implementation of all activities and payments within the approved project is 9 months from the signing of the contract with RAS.
Eligible costs are costs incurred by the Selected Beneficiary, under the following conditions:
1) They are incurred during the project implementation;
2) They are included in the offer/preliminary contract/contract with the Provider;
3) They are necessary for the implementation of project activities;
4) They are measurable and registered in accordance with the valid accounting standards;
5) They are reasonable and in accordance with the financial management requirements, especially in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency;
6) The costs are not covered by other sources of financing (double financing is not allowed).
Eligible costs within the supported activities include the costs resulting from the following activities:
• For improvement of the existing and development of new technological processes, the following costs are accepted:
- Development of technical/technological documentation;
- Development of documentation for technical solutions;
- Development of a feasibility study for introduction of the new technological process.
• For improvement of the existing and development of a new product, the following costs are accepted:
- Development of technical documentation for the product;
- Development of a product prototype;
- Testing of product prototype.
For prototype development and testing, the costs for materials and the use of equipment can also be accepted, which cannot exceed 30% of the value of activity from the offer/preliminary contract/contract.
These costs must be presented in the following structure:
- Labor costs – price for expert/hour and the necessary hours;
- Cost of materials – unit material price and the quantity of necessary materials;
- Cost of using the equipment – price per day and the number of necessary days.
• For improvement of the existing production process, the following costs are accepted:
- Development of constructive documentation for specialized tools, instruments and means of work;
- Development of new business organization methodologies which facilitate continuous improvement of production processes.
• For Purchase of national patent/small patent rights and patent documentation. the following costs are accepted:
- Purchase of intellectual property rights.
Grants cannot be used for the following:
1) arrears from duties and taxes, loans and loan installments;
2) the cost of guarantees, insurance, interest, costs of banking operations, foreign exchange differences;
3) fines, financial penalties and costs of legal proceedings;
4) customs fees;
5) costs of enforced collection;
6) VAT;
7) purchase of patent rights whose holder is also a member of the company or an entrepreneur, i.e. a legal representative of the business entity.
Documents to be submitted
1. Project application – Form 1 (completed, signed and stamped Application);
2. Applicant’s Statement on Accepting the Conditions for Grant – Form 2 (signed and stamped);
3. Statement on Awarded State Aid of Small Value (de minimis state aid) - Form 3 (signed and stamped);
4. Checklist – Form 5;
5. Certificate from the relevant tax administration that the Applicant has paid all public revenues (taxes and contributions) before the date of announcement of the Public Call (certificate must not be issued before the date of announcement of the Public Call) - an original or a copy certified by the relevant certification body;
6. Financial documents:
6.1. for SMEEs with double-entry bookkeeping: Balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016 - a copy of the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016 issued by APR. If the applicant has not obtained the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016, they should submit the balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016, signed and stamped by the person responsible for the preparation of financial reports and a written statement of the legal representative of a legal entity/entrepreneur that the document is authentic and identical to the copy submitted to the APR for final processing;
6.2. for entrepreneurs with single-entry bookkeeping: Income statement for 2015 and 2016, M-4K form for 2015 and 2016 and the Statement about average number of employees for 2015 and 2016 – Form 4.
If the applicant had single-entry bookkeeping in one of the years for which the financial documents are submitted and double-entry in another year, it is necessary to submit the documentation specified in points 6.1. and 6.2. in accordance with the bookkeeping system in the relevant year.
7. The offer/preliminary contract/contract with the Provider for the proposed activity, stamped and signed by the Provider, with a clearly specified subject and scope of activity, implementation deadline and price for services in dinars and presented VAT;
8. If within the project activity “Improvement of the existing and development of new technological processes“, the application is submitted for improvement of the existing technological processes, the application should include the document describing the previous situation regarding the process;
9. If within the project activity “Improvement of the existing and development of new products“, the application is submitted for improvement of the existing products, the application should include the description of technical characteristics and a photo of the existing product;
10. If application is submitted for “Improvement of the existing production process“, the application should include the description of technical characteristics and a document describing the previous situation regarding the process;
11. If application is submitted for “Purchase of national patent/small patent rights and patent documentation“, the application should include the relevant proof that the patent/small patent is registered;
12. If the Provider to be hired is a consultancy, the reference list and the CV of the person hired for project implementation should also be submitted.
RAS reserves the right, if necessary, to request additional documentation from the Applicant, but only in case of complete applications.
Manner of application and deadline for submission of documents
Applications with all the accompanying forms and documents are submitted personally or by registered mail to Regional Development Agencies, with a note: Application for the Public Call for Participation in the Support Program to Innovative SMEEs in 2017.
List of Regional Development Agencies with contacts can be viewed HERE.
The public call will last 60 days from the date of publication, until 5 May 2017.
The Public Call, the Manual and other accompanying forms are also available at RDA in hard copy.
For more information please contact RAS via the following e-mail: inovativnost@ras.gov.rs.
Form 2 - Applicant’s Statement on Accepting the Conditions for the Grant
Form 3 –Statement on Awarded State Aid of Small Value
Form 4 –Average number of employees in 2015 for single-entry bookkeeping
+381113398500 
office@ras.gov.rs 
