Article 7
SIZE OF GRANT - APPROVAL PROCEDURE
1 The size of the investment grant for undertakings carrying out investments which are approved in accordance with the provisions of the present law, is set as follows:
a. For all categories of productive investments up to 5 billion drachmas, except those referred to in the following subparagraph (b).
INDUSTRIAL, CRAFT INDUSTRY AGRICULTURAL UNDERTAKINGS ETC.
Area Size of grant as percentage of total investment cost B 15 C 25 D 35 THRACE 50Investments realized in Area A(1) , subject to paragraph 5 of article 3 (i.e. certain undertakings which are already established and are carrying out productive investments involving the expansion and modernization of their installations), as well as to paragraph 2 of article 9 (i.e. special investments pertaining to environmental protection, energy, the provision of products and services characterized by highly advanced technology, laboratories engaged in applied research, special institutions for the employment of persons with special needs) are not entitled to a grant.
(1) There are also other instances of investments which are entitled to an investment grant in Area A.
Undertakings which carry out investments of any category within the administrative boundaries of the Prefectures of the Dodecanese, Samos, Chios and Lesbos, which belong to Area D, on the island of Samothrace(1), in the border areas of the various prefectures of mainland Greece within a distance of 20 kilometres from the border and in the municipalities and communities whose administrative boundaries are intersected by the 20 kilometre zone, are entitled to an investment grant of 40 percentage points.
(1) Samothrace belongs administratively to the Prefecture of Evros.
Investments realized in the 20 kilometre zone, in the Prefectures of Thrace, are entitled to the percentage of investment grant applicable for that area.
b. For the investments of hotel undertakings pertaining to the construction or expansion of hotel installations:
HOTELS ETC. Area Size of grant as percentage of total investment cost B 10 C 15 D 25 THRACE 35
Subject to paragraph 2 of article 9, investments realized in Area A are not entitled to a grant. Hotel undertakings which carry out investments involving the construction or expansion of hotel installations within the administrative boundaries of the Prefectures of the Dodecanese, Samos, Chios and Lesbos, which belong to Area D, on the island of Samothrace(1) , in the border areas of the various prefectures of mainland Greece within a distance of 20 kilometres from the border and in the municipalities and communities whose administrative boundaries are intersected by the 20 kilometre zone, are entitled to an investment grant of 30 percentage points. Investments realized in the 20 kilometre zone, in the Prefectures of Thrace, are entitled to the percentage of investment grant applicable for that area.
(1) Samothrace belongs administratively to the Prefecture of Evros.
c. Undertakings of all categories which carry out investments in the special zones or in the ETBA Industrial Estates or Area D are entitled to an additional 5 percentage points of grant.
Undertakings of all categories which carry out investments in the special zones of ETBA Industrial Estates of Thrace are entitled to an additional 7 percentage points of grant.
d. With respect to all investments of the present law which involve processing and the trade of agricultural products and are not entitled to funding from the European Union, the total investment grant available (under the present law) cannot exceed 50% of the productive investment.
e. In the case of productive investments by processing undertakings of over 5 billion drachmas and up to 25 billion drachmas, the percentage of grant is set exclusively at 30% for Areas B, C and D and 40% for Thrace. With respect to that part of such investments up to 5 billion drachmas (if on the basis of the other provisions of the present law a percentage of grant is provided which is higher than the 30% or 40% respectively) the more favourable percentage shall be applicable.
INCREASED INCENTIVES THROUGH LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Legislation on Local Government was supplemented by Law 2240/16.9.94 (Government Gazette 153/A/94) which provides for grants increased by 5 percentage points for private investments carried out in the regions of certain Prefectural Local Authorities, in the Eparchies and certain Local Government Organizations (OTA).
More specifically, the increased grants are applicable for investments in the following areas:
a) The Prefectural Local Authority of Rodopi/Evros, with competence for the regions of the Prefectures of Evros and Rodopi.
b) The Prefectural Local Authority of Drama/Kavala/Xanthi, with competence for the regions of the Prefectures of Drama/Kavala/Xanthi.
c) All eparchies.
Also:
d) The OTA of the Municipalities of Psarra, Inousses, Megisti, Symi, Chalki, Megalo Chorio Tilos, Meganissi and the Communities of Livadia (Tilos), Othona, Ereikousa, Mathraki, Kalamos, Episkopi, Kastos, Gavdos and the eparchy of Paxi.
e) The OTA created by the unification of all the OTA of an island or of a number of neighbouring islands or the only OTA of an island. The grants increased by 5 percentage points are awarded on the condition that the total amount of grant does not exceed 65% of the total investment cost.
2 Undertakings carrying out productive investments shall be made subject to the provisions of the present law by decision of the Minister of National Economy which shall be issued subject to the opinion of the competent advisory committee of article 8 and on the basis of the following criteria, the first three of which constitute the criteria for assessing the viability of the investment, and in the event these criteria are satisfied, assessment follows on the basis of the remaining criteria:
1. The profile of the investor and particularly, experience, the scale and results of activities in the past, solvency and financial standing with respect to the adequacy of equity capital to meet the general financing requirements of the undertaking (own participation in the investment and necessary working capital). In the case of undertakings already operating, their recent financial results and present financial situation are also taken into consideration.
2. The prospects of profitable activity for the undertaking to be set up or already operating, to the extent such activity is influenced by the proposed investment, while also taking into consideration the degree of saturation of the branch to which such activity belongs.
3. The organization of the undertaking realizing the investment.
4. The evaluation of the condition of the branch in which the investment is to be effected and the prospects for that branchÕs further development.
5. The evaluation of the contribution to the economic development of the country of the branches to which the investments submitted for approval belong.
6. The evaluation of the technology and productivity of the investment, particularly with respect to investments in the same branch as well as the level of organization of the undertaking.
7. The size of the investorÕs own participation in the financing of the investment.
8. The prospects for competitive selling beyond the local and even the national market in order to assess the competitiveness of the investment at a local or international level as well as the possibility of using local raw materials.
9. The contribution of the investment to employment, energy conservation, reduction of environmental pollution, and the quality of life.
10. The possibility of securing international commercial or technical collaboration.
11. The evaluation of the investorÕs financial capability for the future development of his investment initiatives, taking into consideration the potential of the branch in question, developments taking place with regard to the economic magnitudes of the units in the branch and their structure.
More particularly, in the case of modernization investments, the following are taken into consideration: the extent of the proposed modernization, its contribution to the upgrading of the unitÕs productive structure, the technology to be incorporated in the modernization and, in general, its positive contribution to the upgrading of the branch to which the unit belongs. The evaluation of each investment over 5 billion drachmas by a processing undertaking is assigned to two mutually independent outside study firms of repute. Each study firm will submit a comprehensive evaluation study to the competent service of the National Economy Ministry which then presents its recommendations to the Advisory Committee of article 8. The procedures for commissioning the study, the maximum number of investment plans which may be assigned annually to a study firm, the time limits for the delivery of the evaluation study and all other details necessary for the implementation of the present subparagraph are determined by virtue of the decisions referred to in the following paragraph.
3 Decisions of the Minister of National Economy, to be published in the Government Gazette, shall stipulate, for the purposes of making the undertakings subject to the provisions of the present law, the evaluation factors for the various investments, the modus operandi, rating and way in which the criteria of the preceding paragraph shall be applied as well as all details concerning its implementation(1).
(1) The relevant decisions may be obtained from the National Economy Ministry.
4 Applications from undertakings to have investments made subject to the provisions of the present law as well as requests for the amendment of the terms of the decisions of approval, which have been rejected, will not be re-examined.
5 With regard to matters concerning the submission of applications and procedures pertaining to examination, evaluation and being made eligible for the provisions of the law, in the case of investments over 5 billion drachmas and up to 25 billion drachmas by processing undertakings, wherever in the present law provision is made for a decision of the National Economy Minister, read joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and of Industry, Energy and Technology.
Contents Next Article Previous Article