GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

The Scheme is included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) of Cyprus for the period 2021-2026 and will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the European Union (EU).

The total amount that will be allocated for the financing of the Scheme, during its implementation period, amounts to €10 million, with the possibility of submitting proposals for €14 million so that if savings occur during the evaluation of the proposals, the runner-up businesses to join the Scheme.

The minimum amount of the eligible total budget of a proposal (eligible expenditures) is set at €5,000. The intensity of the subsidy (% subsidy) amounts to 50% of the eligible budget of the proposal with a maximum subsidy amount of €50,000.

In the case of companies that are established or will be established in mountainous and disadvantaged areas, the intensity of the subsidy (% subsidy) amounts to 60% of the eligible budget of the proposal with a maximum subsidy amount of €60,000.

The potential beneficiaries of the Scheme are existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will implement expenditures in the category of digital upgrading (including e-commerce), as well as new small and medium-sized enterprises whose investment proposal necessarily includes e-commerce and/or the application of advanced digital technologies.

Businesses should be established or established in Cyprus, excluding areas where the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control due to the Turkish invasion.

The companies that can receive a subsidy under the Scheme are those that undertake the implementation of investment in eligible sectors and activities and as such are those that are not included in Annex I of the EU Treaty. Therefore, the following economic activities are excluded:

• Business activities related to the primary production or processing or marketing of agricultural products as listed in Appendix I of the Treaty of the European Union
• Activities related to the fishing and aquaculture.

The Scheme is adapted and will be implemented based on Regulation (EU) No. 1407/2013 of the Commission of 18 December 2013, regarding the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid. Based on Regulation (EC) no. 1407/2013 of the Commission and specifically Article 3, paragraph 2 of the Regulation, the total amount of de minimis subsidies that can be subsidized to a single company per three (3) financial years amounts to € 200,000.

Closing date of call: 31/03/2023 or until the exhaustion of the amount of €14 mil.