Loans and grants for young rural entrepreneurs

The companies operating in rural areas that were founded and are administered by Moldovan people aged between 18 and 30 inclusive will be able to take out loans of up to 300,000 lei with a 40% grant portion. The financing is provided within the Rural Financial Services and Agribusiness Development Project (IFAD V), which was recently launched in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. IFAD V is a project to the value of €19.3 million financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and co-financed by the Government of Denmark with a grant of €4.5 million, which is intended for supporting the activities developed by young rural entrepreneurs. The loans for supporting the young entrepreneurs will be released through the national banks for an average period (up to 5 years) and a long period (up to 8 years). The financing will be used exclusively for purchasing fixed means that must be obligatorily new. It is not allowed increasing the circulating capital of the beneficiary companies from the granted loans. In order to obtain financing, the beneficiaries must contribute at least 10% of the total investment. According to Victor Rosca, head of the IFAD Projects Implementation Unit, the interest on the loans provided to beneficiaries, including young rural entrepreneurs, will be much lower than on the market. The companies that benefited from financing within the National Program for Youth Economic Empowerment cannot apply for loans within IFAD V.