Article 23
Refairs to investments of past years concerning which information may be obtained (according to the case in question) from the National Economy Ministry (General Directorate for Private Investments).
Article 23a
BUSINESS PLANS
1 Existing industrial processing undertakings and software undertakings which have been in continuous operation for at least 5 years up until the date of submission of an application seeking eligibility for the provisions of the present article, may submit a comprehensive multi-annual (2-5 years) business plan covering, within the framework of their development strategy, technological, administrative, organisational and operational modernization and development, with the aim of strengthening their competitive position on the international market. The total minimum cost of such business plans should not be less than 1 billion drachmas in the case of industrial processing undertakings and 500 million drachmas in the case of software undertakings.
The business plan may also contain the actions pertaining to the training of personnel which are necessary for its realization. The categories of expenditures qualifying for implementation of the present article will be determined by joint decisions of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology.
2 Applications from undertakings requesting that their business plans be made eligible for the provisions of the present article should be submitted to the General Secretariat for Industry of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology, during the first two months of the year, following the announcement of an invitation to declare interest on the basis of a joint decision by the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology, at least 5 months before the beginning of the time limit for the submission of applications, which (announcement) will be widely published in the financial press. The procedures for examining and approving applications shall be completed by the end of July each year.
By way of exception, in the case of the first implementation of this provision, the invitation to declare interest will be announced up until 31.10.1994.
3 Business plans will be made subject to the incentives of the present article by joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology, following the opinion of the Special Advisory Committee of paragraph 6 of the present article, on the basis of the criteria set out in article 7 of the present law, applied mutatis mutandis, as well as those criteria to be determined by joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology, with the aim of improving the international competitiveness of the Greek economy.
4 The evaluation of each business plan submitted may be assigned to 2 mutually independent special outside study firms of good repute. Each firm shall present a comprehensive evaluation study to the competent service of the General Secretariat for Industry which shall make its recommendation to the Special Advisory Committee of paragraph 6 of the present article. Decisions of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology shall determine the assignment procedures, the maximum number of business plans which can be assigned to each study firm annually, the time limits for delivery of the evaluation studies, as well as all other details necessary for the implementation of the present paragraph. That part of the business plan pertaining to staff training shall be submitted for evaluation to the Ministry of Labour which shall subsequently present its relevant evaluation report to the competent service of the General Secretariat for Industry. With respect to all other matters, the procedures stipulated in this article shall be observed.
5 The business plans made eligible for the provisions of the present article shall be entitled only to a grant of 35 percentage points of the total expenditures of the business plan for all areas of the country, including Area A, subject to adherence to the provisions of Presidential Decree 84/84 (Government Gazette 33/A/84) or any other restrictive provisions concerning the establishment/expansion of industries and craft industries in Area A. The grant shall be provided for business plans or a part thereof with total expenditures up to 5 billion drachmas in the case of industrial processing undertakings and up to 2 billion drachmas in the case of software undertakings. The investorÕs percentage of own participation in the business plan cannot be less than 33% of the total expenditures of the plan.
6 By joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology, a Special Advisory Committee shall be set up at the General Secretariat for Industry of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology, which shall, on the basis of the evaluation criteria of paragraph 3 above, advise as to the eligibility of the business plans for the provisions of the present article.
The members of the committee shall be the General Secretary for Investments and Development of the Ministry of National Economy, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology, the Head of the General Directorate or Directorate of the National Economy Ministry having subject-matter competence, two experts of known repute in matters pertaining to investments in industry, one representative of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEB), one representative of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) and one representative of the Union of Greek Banks. By virtue of the same decision, the alternates of the committee members shall also be appointed. Directors, partners, shareholders and members of the administration of undertakings which have submitted applications seeking eligibility for the provisions of this article, as well as persons who have participated in the drawing up or evaluation of business plans of the present article during the last five years, may not be members of the Special Advisory Committee.
7 By virtue of decisions of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology, special bodies shall be set up for the checking of progress of realization of investment plans with reference to the requirements of the law and the relevant decision of approval. Such bodies will be made up of one senior official of the National Economy Ministry, one senior official of the General Secretariat for Industry and one expert outside surveyor of known repute. The members of the special checking bodies shall be determined by decisions of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
8 The amount of grant shall be paid in accordance with the annual expenditures stipulated in the funding table of the business plan.
A total of 80% of the grant shall be disbursed during the implementation of the business plan and the remaining 20% after the relevant decision certifying completion has been issued.
The terms governing the payment of the grant in instalments shall be determined by joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology. The procedure for the payment of the grant and the necessary supporting documents shall be determined by joint decisions of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology published in the Government Gazette.
9 The other provisions of the present law shall be applied accordingly with respect to issues regulated in the present article, provided such issues are not regulated differently in this article. Wherever reference is made in such provisions to decisions of the National Economy Minister, read joint decisions of the Ministers of National Economy and of industry, Energy and Technology.
Article 23b
SPECIAL INVESTMENTS BY INDUSTRIAL PROCESSING UNDERTAKINGS AND UNDERTAKINGS PROVIDING QUALITY SERVICES
1 Industrial processing undertakings and undertakings providing quality services which carry out the productive investments stipulated below shall be entitled to a grant only, on the condition that they have not received a grant from any other source for the same investment and provided the said productive investments pertain to:
a. Expenditures for studies, equipment, installation and operation of the necessary infrastructures and processes, as well as expenditures for securing the certification of products and quality assurance procedures in accordance with the relevant European standards by organizations accredited by the competent national agency.
b. Expenditures for the conversion of industrial units in order to render them more flexible.
c. The introduction and adaptation of environment-friendly technology in the production process.
d. The manufacture of innovative products, as well as the introduction of innovations in the production process, the making of the invention prototype which has prospects for manufacture and which has been registered with and is the subject of a positive research
report from the Industrial Property Organization (part of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology).
Also, expenditures for fees paid by natural or legal persons for securing an international patent for their invention, as well as expenditures for fees paid for the annual renewal of the international patent for a period of five years, on the condition that an investment has begun pertaining to the industrial exploitation of the invention, the cost of which is at least ten times higher than the said fees.
e. The establishment and expansion of laboratories providing quality services.
f. The establishment of industrial units for the ecological dismantling/breaking up (and possibly the exploitation) of products which have been consumed in Greece.
The above investments under instances (a), (b) and (c) shall be entitled to a grant when carried out by existing undertakings, while grants will be provided for the investments under (d), (e) and (f) to new undertakings also.
2 The minimum cost in order for a productive investment to be made eligible for the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present article is:
a. In the case of investments of subparagraphs (a) through to (d) and for expenditures for the expansion of laboratories in accordance with instance (e) of paragraph 1 of the present article: 50 million drachmas.
b. In the case of the other investments of subparagraph (e) and the investments of subparagraph (f) of paragraph 1 of the present article: 250 million drachmas.
3 Investments shall be made eligible for the incentives of the present article by decision of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology issued following the opinion of the Advisory Committee of paragraph 6 of the present article. The committee shall form its opinion on the basis of the criteria of article 7 of the present law, applied mutatis mutandis, as well as special criteria which will be determined by decision of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology. The same decision will also stipulate the function, rating and way in which the above criteria are applied as well as all related details, with the aim of improving the international competitiveness of the Greek economy.
4 a. Applications by undertakings seeking eligibility for the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present article shall be submitted in duplicate to the General Secretariat for Industry in the first two months of each year. The application must be accompanied by a preliminary study containing a detailed presentation of the investments to be carried out and their cost. The procedures for examining and making the investments eligible will be completed up to the end of July of the same year.
b. The General Secretariat for Industry may assign the evaluation of the preliminary report to 2 mutually independent special outside study firms of known repute. The assignment procedures, the maximum number of preliminary studies which can be assigned to to each study firm annually, the time limits for delivery of the evaluation, as well as all other necessary details shall be determined by decision of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
c. Actions pertaining to the training of personnel related to the realization of investments made subject to the present article, shall be submitted for evaluation to the Ministry of Labour, while the procedures laid down in the present article shall be observed in all other matters.
5 a. Investments made eligible for the provisions of the present article are entitled only to a grant of 40 percentage points of the total cost of the investment.
b. Investments under subparagraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of paragraph 1 of the present article are also entitled to assistance in Area A, subject to the provisions of Presidential Decree 84/84 (Government Gazette 33/A/84) or other restrictive provisions governing the establishment and expansion of industrial units in Area A.
The investments of instance (f) of paragraph 1 of the present article shall be entitled to assistance only if they are realized outside Area A.
The other geographical divisions of paragraph 1, article 3 of Law 1892/90 (which replaced article 3 of Law 1262/82) shall not be applicable with respect to the size of subsidy for investments of paragraph 1.
c. The minimum percentage of own participation in the grant-aided investments (of paragraph 1 of the present article) is 40%.
6 a. By decision of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology, an Advisory Committee shall be set up at the General Secretariat for Industry which shall present its opinion to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology as to whether the investment plans submitted are eligible (or not) for the provisions of the present article, as well as all other necessary matters.
The Advisory Committee shall be made up of the General Secretary for Industry as chairman, two heads of the General Directorate or of the Directorates of the General Secretariat for Industry having subject-matter competence, two experts of known repute in matters pertaining to investments in industry, one representative of the Federation of Greek Industries (SEB) and one representative of the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE). In the case of investments under instance (d) of paragraph 1 of the present article, the General Secretary for Research and Technology and one head of the General Directorate or directorate having subject-matter competence of the General Secretariat for Energy and Technology will also participate in the committee. By virtue of the same decision, the alternates of the committee members shall also be appointed. The provision of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 6 of article 23a shall be applied accordingly.
b. By decision of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology, monitoring bodies shall be set up to check the progress of realization of investments under paragraph 1 as well as fulfilment of the investorÕs obligations as same are determined in the decision of approval and provisions in force. Such bodies will be made up of two senior officials of the General Secretariat for Industry and one outside surveyor. In the case of investments under instance (d) of paragraph 1 of the present article, two senior officials of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology will also participate in the monitoring bodies.
c. The Advisory Committee will be set up by virtue of decisions of the National Economy Minister which will also appoint the secretaries and their alternates, fix the reimbursement of the chairpersons and members of the committees, as well as of the rapporteurs, secretaries and their alternates, even by way of derogation from any general or specific provision, and which (decisions) shall settle all other related matters. The relevant provisions of the operating regulations of the General Secretariat for Industry shall apply with regard to the meetings, quorum and modus operandi in general of the advisory committee and monitoring committee. All the above expenditures shall be charged to the budget regular of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology.
7 In the case of investments under paragraph 1 of the present article, the amount of grant will be paid in two equal instalments in accordance with corresponding decisions of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology issued at the request of the investor.
The first instalment will be disbursed provided the monitoring body certifies that the investor has complied with the requirements of the act of approval and has spent 60% of own participation and 60% of the participation (if any) of the financing bank on the realization of the investment.
The second instalment will be disbursed provided the monitoring body certifies that the investor has complied with the requirements of the act of approval.
The certifications of the monitoring bodies shall be completed within 45 days from submission of the relevant application and the amount of subsidy shall be paid within 30 days after completion of certification.
The procedure for the payment of the grant and the necessary supporting documents shall be determined by joint decisions of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology published in the Government Gazette.
8 The other provisions of the present law shall be applied accordingly with respect to issues regulated in the present article, provided such issues are not regulated differently in this article. Wherever in the said provisions reference is made to decisions of the Minister of National Economy, read decisions of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology.
9 The following directorates will be set up at the General Secretariat for Industry:
a. The Directorate of Industrial Area Planning and Environment, responsible for environmental industrial policy, determining the use of land, the implementation of town planning specifications for modern industrial infrastructures and policy on preventing accidents in industry.
b. The Directorate for Investments in Industry, responsible for determining and assessing the implementation of prerequisites and criteria of investment and business plans and industrial programmes, in place of the Directorate for Industrial Development which has been abolished. c. The Directorate for Quality Policy, responsible for policy on the quality of industrial production, standardization, accreditation and metrology.
10 A total of 35 posts shall be created, 20 of which will be for specialised scientific personnel, 12 for university graduates and 3 managerial training posts. The structure of the services referred to in paragraph 9 and the distribution of posts among branches or specializations shall be determined by the Presidential Decree on the organization of the General Secretariat for Industry.
See also the two special publications of the General Secretariat for Industry, of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology: ÒBUSINESS PLANS UNDER LAW 2234/94Ó and ÒSPECIAL INVESTMENTS UNDER LAW 2234/94Ó which contain the questions which must be answered in order for an investment to be made eligible for the provisions of the law.
INTERIM PROVISIONS
1 The provisions of the present law 2234/94 are applicable for applications to have investments made subject to the provisions of Law 1892/90 which are submitted after its entry into force.
2 Investment applications seeking eligibility for the provisions of Law 1892/90 which were submitted up to 31 May 1994 are governed by the provisions of that law as same was in force up until the publication of Law 2234/94. By way of exception, the time limit for the completion of procedures pertaining to the examination and approval of investments in accordance with paragraph 6a of article 6 shall be extended for 2 months, i.e. until 30 November 1994.
ENTRY INTO FORCE
The force of the provisions of Law 2234/94, unless otherwise determined by such provisions, shall begin as of its publication in the Government Gazette, i.e. 31 August 1994.
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