Loans for women entrepreneurs and young people in 2021.

In 2021, the Ministry of Economy, in cooperation with the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia, is implementing the Programme to Encourage Entrepreneurship through Financial Support for Women Entrepreneurs and Young People.
Entrepreneurs and micro and small businesses registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency no earlier than five years before the year in which the application is submitted are eligible to apply to the Public Call, provided that their:

• the founder and legal representative is a woman. In a business entity with multiple owners, the majority stake must be owned by one or more women (at least 51%), and one of the legal representatives must be a woman;
• the founder and legal representative must be a natural person aged up to 30 years. In a business entity with multiple owners, the majority stake must be owned by one or more natural persons aged up to 30 years (at least 51%), and one of the legal representatives must be a natural person aged up to 30 years.

Business entities that meet the Programme's requirements may qualify for financial support in the form of grants of up to 35% of the investment value, or up to 45% of the investment value for business entities located in local self-government units classified in the fourth development group under Article 12 of the Law on Regional Development and the Government act establishing a single list of the development levels of regions and local self-government units. The remaining investment amount will be financed by a Fund loan with a repayment period of up to 5 years, including a grace period of up to one year, at an annual interest rate of 1% with a bank guarantee or 2% with other forms of security, with a foreign currency clause. The total amount approved per application may not be less than 400.000,00 dinars or more than 6.000.000,00 dinars for any business entity.

Investments eligible for funding under this Programme include:

• purchase of equipment/vehicles (new or used, no more than five years old);
• ongoing maintenance of business or production premises, up to 350.000,00 dinars;
• operating costs, which may account for no more than 20% of the total investment.

The accurately and correctly completed Unified Application for a loan and grant, together with the supporting documentation in accordance with the Program, must be submitted to the Fund at the following addresses: 14a Bulevar Nemanjića, Niš, and Knez Mihailova 14, Belgrade. The public call is open until the available funds are used up, and no later than 31.12.2021. The required documentation (submit in two copies) and details of the Program are available on the website of the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia.