The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (hereinafter – LIAA), as the Norwegian Financial Mechanism’s 2014-2021 Programme “Business Development, Innovation and SME’s” (hereinafter – the Programme) operator (hereinafter – the Programme Operator) is pleased to announce an open call for the small grant scheme “Development of green industry innovation and ICT products” (hereinafter – the call). The call objective is to increase competitiveness for Latvian enterprises within the focus areas of green industry innovation and ICT.
What kind of projects are supported?
Within the call, the support provided to projects is in the areas of green industry innovation and ICT. The support is given to project promoters for:
- development of innovative green products or technologies;
- development of innovative ICT products or technologies.
The project’s result is a developed prototype for a new product or technology and increased competitiveness. Additionally, cooperation with R&D institutions and bilateral partnerships with the Kingdom of Norway is promoted.
Who can apply for the call?
A legal person registered in the Commercial Register of the Republic of Latvia who conforms to small or medium-sized enterprise status may apply for the grant. A project promoter may also submit a project application in cooperation with a project partner, which is any public or private entity, a commercial or non-commercial and non-governmental organisation registered as a legal person in the Kingdom of Norway or the Republic of Latvia. An enterprise may submit several project applications within the call.
Bilateral partnership
Partnerships with Norwegian entities are encouraged, and additional points will be awarded as part of the project appraisal. A donor partnership project is defined as cooperation between a project promoter and at least one legal entity in Norway, implementing a project where all entities are not affiliated to each other and perform substantial and relevant tasks in the completion of the project. A contribution comprised only by the supply of testing materials or equipment will normally not qualify for such points.
The partner can be any entity registered as a legal person in Norway. The partner will not receive state aid through this call. Reimbursement of the costs of the partner will be made through invoicing the project promoter. The cooperation should focus on knowledge transfer and R&D activities necessary for development of the new product or technology.
Available funding
The total amount of the funding available for the call is EUR 1 700 000, of which EUR 850 000 is available for green industry innovation projects, and EUR 850 000 is available for ICT projects.
Support for a single project is between EUR 10 000 and EUR 130 000.
Within the call, the maximum available aid intensity:
| A regulation under which the aid provided | Maximum aid intensity |
|---|---|
| Commission Regulation No 1407/2013 (de minimis aid) | 70% of the project’s total eligible costs |
| In case the project promoter has reached maximum de minimis aid (200 000 EUR) he can apply under Commission Regulation No 651/2014 |
|
The project shall be implemented, and expenditures shall be allocated within two years from the date of commencement of the eligibility of the project expenditure specified in the project contract, but not later than 30th April 2024.
The project promoter may request an advance payment of up to 25% from the granted support.
Eligible activities
- Experimental development, including a prototype manufacturing of a new product or technology.
- Business travel including accommodation related to the development of a new product or technology.
- Purchase of materials and similar products necessary for the development of a new product or technology.
- Testing and certification of a new product or technology.
- Strengthening intellectual property rights of a new product or technology.
- The mandatory information and communication activities.
- Knowledge transfer with project partner that necessary for the project.
Direct eligible costs
If the support is granted under the Commission Regulation No 651/2014, expenditures related to the position No. 2, 3, 6 and 7 are not eligible and shall be covered by the project promoter itself.
- Experimental development:
- remuneration costs for staff implementing the project, which together does not exceed EUR 4 000 per month;
- depreciation or rental fees for instruments, equipment and licenses;
- outsourced services related to the development of a new product or technology, but not exceeding 65% of total eligible project costs.
- Business travel and accommodation costs.
- Costs of materials and similar products, including supply costs.
- Outsourced service expenditures for testing and certification of a new product or technology.
- Outsourced service expenditures for strengthening the intellectual property rights of a new product or technology, including fees and translation costs.
- The information and communication expenditures related to:
- organising seminars, conferences and information events;
- the information billboard;
- creating a website or supplementing an existing website;
- outsourced services for organising and providing information and communication activities, including marketing materials, translation, press releases, photos, video, audio, and visual materials.
- Knowledge transfer with project partner (may not exceed 50% of the project total eligible costs):
- remuneration costs for a staff of the project partner, if the relevant costs are directly related to the development of a new product or technology;
- accommodation and business travel costs that are directly related to the development of a new product or technology;
- costs of the independent and certified auditor report on expenses incurred by the project partner.
Indirect eligible costs
Indirect expenditures are related to the rental of premises, utilities, stationery goods, equipment or software purchase or other expenses indirectly related to the administration of the project implementation. Indirect costs shall be calculated as a flat rate of 15% of the personnel remuneration expenditures related to the project promoter and project partner staff.
Application process
The project promoter shall submit a project application consisting of a project application form with annexes, a feasibility study and other additional documents to apply for the grant. The project application form and a feasibility study shall be submitted in Latvian and English. The list of the documents that need to be submitted is available in Paragraph 18 of the call’s Selection Regulation.
The project promoter can submit the project application:
- in electronic form, signed with a secure electronic signature, by sending to the Programmes Operators’ e-mail address - pasts@liaa.gov.lv; or via united portal of public and municipal services www.latvija.lv, or
- in paper form, mailed by letter to the Programme Operator's registered office * - Pērses Street 2, Riga, LV-1442.
* When submitting the project application in paper form, the project promoter shall send the electronic version of the project application to – nor.projekti@liaa.gov.lv within two days from the time of submission.
The deadline for submitting project applications is before 23:59 (Latvian time) on 31st August 2021. If the project application is sent by post, the date and time of submission are counted as the day and time of dispatch, as indicated by the postal stamp.
Selection process and decision-making structure
The Programme Operator shall establish a Selection Committee to select projects (hereinafter – Selection Committee).
The Selection Committee shall evaluate the project application's conformity following the Republic of Latvia's regulatory enactments and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and under the methodology for applying the project application criteria (Annex 4 “Methodology for evaluating the criteria of the small grant scheme in green innovation, ICT and welfare technology areas” of the small grant scheme’s Selection Regulation) developed by the Programme Operator. The Selection Committee provides its opinion regarding the project application – approval, approval with condition/conditions, or rejection. Based on the Selection Committee's opinion, a decision regarding the approval, approval with condition/conditions, or rejection shall be made by the Programme Operator within a period of four-month from the end date of submission of the project application.
The Programme Operator's decision may be appealed by submitting a relevant submission to the Director-General of the LIAA (hereinafter – Director-General). The decision taken by the Director-General regarding the contested decision of the Programme Operator may be appealed by applying to the relevant courthouse of the Administrative District Court.
Additional information
More information about outcomes, requirements for project promoter and partners, eligible activities and costs, preparation, submission and procedure for the application, the procedure for evaluating the projects, decision-making and entry into a contract can be found here: https://eeagrants.lv/en/2021/06/07/an-open-call-for-the-small-grant-scheme-development-of-green-innovations-and-information-and-communication-technology-products/.
Question regarding the preparation and submission of the project application to the e-mail address – jautajumi@liaa.gov.lv.
If the project promoter has requested answers to the questions regarding the preparation and submission of the project application in writing, the Programme Operator shall provide the reply within five working days from the date of receipt of the question, but not later than within two working days before the deadline for the submission of the project application, sending it in the electronic mail to the address specified by the enterprise.
Complaints may be submitted to the Programme Operator by post and by electronic means. For more information on the institutions, where irregularities can be reported, it is available at https://eeagrants.lv/en/report-irregularities/.