Bulgaria is one of the most energy intensive economies in the EU and has the lowest ranking on the EU’s Innovation Union Scoreboard. In order to support the Bulgarian government’s actions fostering green investment and economic growth, Norway has allocated over €13 million to the Bulgarian ‘Green Industry Innovation’ programme. The programme aims to increase the competitiveness of enterprises through greening of existing industries, green innovation and entrepreneurship.
The new call places a particular focus on investment projects within existing enterprises, wanting to extend their production capacity, diversify their production/products, or to improve/change their production process. The total budget for this call is approximately €2 million.
Maximum project implementation time is 10 months.
What is supported?
Support is available for activities within the enterprise applying for funding, in one or more of the following areas:
- Implementation and investment in innovative environmentally friendly technologies
- Green improvement of products, processes and services
- Material efficiency, recycling and greening of businesses
The following secondary activities are also eligible for funding:
- Marketing activities (local/regional/national fairs, market research etc.)
- Training related to the green investment within the enterprise
- Sharing best practices on eco-business between Norwegian and Bulgarian entities
In addition to grant support for projects in Bulgaria, travel support for partner search and partnership projects is likewise available.
Who can apply for funding?
- Small and medium sized private enterprises (SMEs) constituted as legal entities in Bulgaria
- Large private enterprises constituted as legal entities in Bulgaria
- Norwegian entities can apply directly for travel support only
Enterprises, research institutions, NGOs, organisations and clusters, from Norway and Bulgaria are eligible as project partners.
Partnerships are not mandatory, but donor partnership projects are strongly encouraged and will be prioritised during the project assessment process. An eligible donor partnership project shall consist of at least one Bulgarian legal entity and at least one legal entity from Norway and must demonstrate added value to both parties.
When is the application deadline?
Applications for travel support must be submitted by Saturday 31 January 2015.
Applications for project support must be submitted by Thursday 26 February 2015, at 12.00 local Norwegian time (UTC+1).
Visit the programme website for further information about this call