Special Help for Companies Whose Income Has Dropped by More than One Fifth

Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali says that the state, in order to preserve the liquidity of the private sector, has decided to extend the existing guarantee scheme and establish a new guarantee scheme to support the most jeopardized companies.

He said for the Biznis.rs portal that the expansion of the guarantee scheme brought two important changes.

The first pertains to the maximum amounts of loans which banks can lend with a state guarantee, which are increased by EUR 500 million to a total of EUR 2.5 billion.

The second pertains to the period of availability of these loans, as they will be available until June 30, 2022.

Mali explained that the expansion of the existing guarantee scheme did not change the eligibility conditions. This means that all entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises that meet the conditions proscribed by the Law on the Determining of the Guarantee Scheme may apply for the loans.

According to him, a second guarantee scheme is also being established, intended for companies from jeopardized sectors, as well as companies in other sectors which had a drop of the income of over 20% in 2020.

The minister explained that the credits covered by the existing guarantee scheme were issued with a repayment period of up to 36 months and a mandatory grace period of nine to 12 months.

– The credits covered by the second guarantee scheme are issued with a repayment period of up to 60 months and a grace period of 18 to 25 months – Mali said.

He added that, by enabling this scheme, the state looked to provide additional support to the particularly affected sectors.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Ministry of Finance

Siniša Mali

private sector liquidity

guarantee scheme

support to most jeopardized companies

Law on the Determining of the Guarantee Scheme

credits

income drop

repayment period