After having announced parliamentary elections, the Government of Montenegro activated two projects of financial support to entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises, which were related to streamlining operations and increasing employment by improving innovation. The total amount of the state aid earmarked for projects initiated during the election period was €130,000.
The first project for which the public competition was open on 12 August 2016, or a month after the elections, envisaged the provision of state aid to entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises in the process of modernization of the industry, for which the allocated budget was €100,000. In this particular case it was a pilot project, which means that it had never been carried out before.
The Ministry of Economy and the Investment and Development Fund, which were in charge of the project, prepared the state aid program in May 2016, but activated it in August, when the election campaign had already began. The opening of the competition for funds was preceded by the conclusion of the Protocol on Cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and the Investment and Development Fund at the beginning of August, after the elections were called. The amounts of state aid were from five to 20 thousand euro.
The project facilitated the participation of non-repayable state funds in the procurement of equipment for entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises of up to 20 percent of its value, while the state could allocate up to 10 percent of the funds for the purchase of equipment to medium-sized enterprises. The rest of the funds needed for the modernization of industry was funded by the Investment and Development Fund through loans of up to 70 percent of the value of procurement for small and 60 percent for medium-sized enterprises.
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