Conditions for participation
- Altum
- Start programme (ESF) - support to business start-ups
- Conditions for participation
Start Programme
ESF Programme „Support to Self-employment and Business Start-ups"
The purpose of the programme is to boost the economic activities in the country by developing knowledge and skills of the business start-ups and providing the required financial support to commencing of the business.
Who may apply?
Population of giving age, including the unemployed, wishing to start-up a business or self-employment, including newly established businesses, are eligible to support from this programme. In the context of the programme a newly established business is:
1) an entrepreneur having registered according to the law not earlier than 3 years before requesting support from the programme;
2) companies with experience (including those companies registered more than 3 years ago), which wish to receive support for business start-up in another area, including the manufacture of new products, providing that for the implementation of the business plan will be established a new enterprise.
Restrictions:
Persons under 18 years of age are not eligible to participate in the programme. Support will not be granted if the applicant has an outstanding debt recorded with the State Revenue Service and other registers of debtors or debt has been removed from the Credit Register of the Bank of Latvia less than 2 months ago.
The programme does not support: rearing of fish, fishing, processing of fish and crustaceans; production and primary processing of agricultural produce; wholesales; insurance, financial intermediation and banking services; rent of vehicles, cars, equipment, etc.; real estate transactions; gambling and betting; production, delivery and trade in arms; production of and trading in tobacco, beer and alcoholic beverages; cargo transportation services.
The financial support is denied to projects aimed at establishment or expansion of the export network of goods as well as companies already experiencing difficulties. The Bank is entitled to refuse financial support if there are justified concerns that the programme’s participant intends to establish a company to obtain financial assistance without adding a new value.
How is the support delivered?
The programme provides the business start-ups and newly established companies with an all-embracing support i.e. consultations, training and financing in the shape of loans and grants for starting the business.
Entities wishing to start or having already started economic activities within the last year may receive an all-embracing support within the framework of the programme: 1) consultations on drafting and implementation of the business plan; 2) training; 3) financial support - loan up to LVL 54 thsd; grant for starting the economic activities (up to LVL 3,6 thsd, but not more than 35% of the amount of the loan); grant for repayment of loan – up to LVL 2 thsd (but not more than 20% of the loan amount).
Entities having started the economic activities more than a year ago before the application for support is submitted will be entitled to consultations, training, loan as well as grant for repayment of loan – up to LVL 2 thsd (but not more than 10% of the loan amount).
Types of support:
How do the consultations and training take place?
Consultations:
The consultations on drafting the business plan and implementation of the project are provided in the branch of the bank that accepted the application for support. By means of test the consultants of the bank will assess the applicant’s knowledge of business and agree with the applicant on the training in particular modules; they will also advise on the improvement of the business plan.
Training:
The business start-ups lacking theoretical and practical knowledge on the operation of business and drafting of the business plan will be offered the following training modules:
- Business basics (organisation of small business) – 80 hours
- Management basics - 20 hours
- Regulatory framework of business - 20 hours
- Financial management of company- 20 hours
- Accounting of the economic activities and taxes- 20 hours
- Fundamentals of marketing- 20 hours.
Not more than 2 modules of training are allowed.
Attention! The bank will not be able to provide training support at the outset of the programme in August 2009 since the Public Procurement Law requires that training procurement procedure is completed and best offers compared. Persons requiring training should take into account that training will be available at the end of autumn 2009.
How can I receive financing (loans / grants)?
The loan officers of the Bank will examine the submitted business plans and using pre-determined evaluation criteria (for example, assessment of knowledge of the business start-ups, business idea and market assessment, economic implementation feasibility of the idea, assessment of the planned cash flow indicators, a.o.) select the best, most viable projects and give loans (up to LVL 54 thsd) and grants for implementation of the projects.
Loans:
The programme will support projects up to LVL 60 thsd. For those projects where the loan amount exceeds LVL 5 thsd, the applicant has to provide 10% co-financing which may be own resources or external financing not related to any business support funds.
Start loans up to LVL 54 thsd will be granted for investments and working capital for a tenure up to 8 years, with a fixed interest rate of 7-11%, or 6 months RIGIBOR+0% up to 4%. The loan collateral is the property of the company as an aggregate of things, including the fixed assets procured using the loan and owner’s guaranty. For the loans exceeding LVL 17.5 thsd the loan amount can not exceed 135% of the value of collateral offered (note that the collateral value is less than the price of purchased property). Collateral value is the approximate price (excluding VAT) for a given property in a reasonably short period can be sold on the secondary market).
Grants:
The grants for sustaining of the economic activities are available to entities wishing to start or having already started economic activities within last year. These grants will be disbursed within one year after signing of the loan agreement. The amount of the grant - 35% of the granted loan amount, but not more than LVL 3,6 lats. For the next 12 months the client will have access to 1/12 of the grant each month.
Grant for repayment of the loan will be given only upon successful implementation of the project provided all measures named in the business plan have been fully introduced and loan used in compliance with the stated purpose. The maximum amount of the grant is LVL 2 thsd but not exceeding 20% of the loan for entities wishing to start or having already started economic activities within last year and not more than 10% of the loan for entities having started the economic activities more than a year ago.
How to apply for the programme?
Contact details of the consultants!
Steps for applying:
1. The applicant for programme’s support contacts the bank’s consultant by telephone / or e-mail* and co-ordinates the day/ time of the interview (it is preferable to choose the branch closest to the implementation site of the business project);
*Please indicate your telephone number so that the programme’s consultant can contact you and co-ordinate the time of meeting.
2. Prior to the interview the applicant prepares / fills in: 1) the programme’s application; 2) description of business idea; 3) CV (the forms of the documents to be filled in found here);
3. The applicant comes to the interview / fills-in the test.
By help of the interview and test the bank’s consultant will identify the motivation and ability of the programme’s applicant to implement the proposed business idea, necessity for additional training and agree with the applicant on types and deadlines of further co-operation.
If the test reveals that the applicant has adequate knowledge, education and competence, the applicant will be able to participate in the programme without training.
How to contact us?
ALTUM e-mail address: info@altum.lv; telephones: +371 67774100 – on general conditions of the programme, +371 67774133 – on procedure and requirements for submission of the documents.
Contact details of the Bank’s consultants.
Financiers of the programme
The programme is financed by the European Social Fund (ESF), state and credit resources of Hipotēku banka.
