North Macedonia’s Innovation Agency is launching a new support scheme worth EUR 25 million under the European Greening Business Facility project, aimed at green transition, growth, and increasing the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski explained that following a several-month standstill in financing innovation projects, the grant scheme will cover the period from 2026 to 2030. The program will focus on manufacturing sector companies, MIA reported.
The program aims to support 300 companies, encourage private co-financing in the amount of EUR 8 million, and create 700 new jobs.
Support will not be awarded through a single public call, but through several phases
Andonovski pointed out that the delay in awarding support occurred due to the need to analyze previous procedures related to suspicions of corruption and criminal charges.
The grants will not be awarded through a single public call, but in several phases.
The first public call will be published soon. It will be aimed at implementing international and ISO standards, and obtaining certificates. Companies will be able to receive grants of up to EUR 5,000 each, with a minimum own contribution of 20%.
The application process will be fully digitalized
In the following phases, the scheme will cover support for smaller green investments with grants of up to EUR 30,000, while for larger investments, support will reach up to EUR 300,000. For these categories, a minimum own contribution of 50% will be required.
The application process will be fully digitalized and conducted exclusively electronically via the portal uslugi.gov.mk, with no possibility of submitting documents at the counter.
Andonovski stressed that the evaluation procedure will be extremely strict and rigorous to ensure impartiality and eliminate any possibility of subjective influence.
He appealed to interested companies to begin preparing project ideas and documentation now, with the option of using assistance from innovation and digital hubs such as Inova and DigitMak.
