Flood recovery: 460 SMEs to receive between 10,000 and 150,000 BAM

A total of 460 small and medium-sized enterprises have applied for grant funds from the European Union's (EU) Flood Recovery Programme, seeking EU assistance to re-establish operational capacities damaged in the May 2014 floods, the EU Delegation to BiH announced, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

This form of financial support for SMEs is part of the EU's Programme worth a total of 42 million euros, aimed at helping citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina overcome the effects of the catastrophic floods. The local economy is one of the sectors most severely affected by the floods, resulting in the loss of many jobs - due to losses in equipment or inventory, companies are unable to retain their employees. The EU's support aims to counteract this trend and help the affected business sector preserve and create 2,000 jobs.
Andy McGuffie, spokesperson for the EU Delegation to BiH/EU Special Representative, said he hopes that EU support for SMEs will stimulate the economic recovery of local communities.

- To ensure that jobs are preserved and new ones are created, the EU will invest in healthy businesses; grant funds will be awarded only to those companies that have no tax debts and that operated without losses before the floods - McGuffie said.

By the deadline, companies engaged in manufacturing and service activities from 24 municipalities most severely affected by the floods applied (Maglaj, Odžak, Domaljevac-Šamac, Orašje, Tuzla, Sanski Most, Živinice, Zenica, Srebrenik, Lukavac, Žepče, Bijeljina, Šamac, Doboj, Prijedor, Banja Luka, Modriča, Laktaši, Srbac, Šekovići, Vukosavlje, Donji Žabar, Čelinac and Brčko).

The individual amount of funds to be awarded ranges from 10,000 BAM to 150,000 BAM per legal entity, while applications exceeding the maximum amount will be considered separately.

- Representatives of relevant entity institutions and local and regional development agencies will be involved in the selection process. Our goal is to finalize the selection process and announce the results by October 15, 2014 - adds Edis Arifagić, UNDP Programme Manager.

The focus of the next activity within the Programme component intended for livelihood support will be agricultural farms, which will have the opportunity to apply for funds needed to replace agricultural equipment destroyed in the floods and/or seeds for sowing.