The programme will make capital financing available to SMEs for expanding their range of business partners and joining new supply chains, Richard Szabados said.

The 8+1 point Demjan Sandor Programme is a part of the government's New Economic Policy Action Plan.

Szabados said the Demjan Sandor Capital Programme was drafted with the participation of National Capital Holding and would be implemented with the support of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK).

The details of three more elements of the Demjan Sandor Programme will be announced in the coming two weeks, he added.

National Capital Holding CEO Bence Katona said companies could apply for HUF 100m-200m in the framework of the Demjan Sandor Capital Programme. The Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) will subscribe the investment fund units in the scheme and MKIK will be in charge of managing the investment fund, he added.

The scheme will not focus on any particular branch of industry, but areas designated in the government's policy action plan, such as green economy, digitalisation, healthcare, education and sustainable industry, will enjoy an advantage, he said.

Purchases of real estate will be excluded from the scheme, but the capital may be used to upgrade or expand property already in use, he added.

The deadline for completing investment projects included in the scheme will be one year, with an option for a six-month extension if justified by the circumstances, he said. He added that the capital could be used for the self-financing requirement for other credit, paving the way for companies to access up to several hundred million forints.

The rate on the state-subsidised capital financing is 5pc. To comply with legal requirements, companies will exchange a token, 1pc equity stake for the financing that carries no right of control and may be repurchased at any time.

Companies with average annual revenue of at least HUF 300m and with at least two people on payroll may apply for the financing.

Govt to launch HUF 9bn business digitalisation programme

The government will launch a HUF 9bn programme to help Hungarian companies grow their businesses using digital channels in February, the state secretary for SMEs said.

The scheme, an element of the Demjan Sandor Programme for scaling up SMEs, targets businesses that don't have a homepage or aren't active on social media, Richard Szabados said. Participants will sign a two-year contract for ICT services, he added.

He put the number of companies that could benefit from the scheme at 10,000-13,000. In Hungary, just 66pc of companies with ten or more people on payroll have their own homepage and only 43pc have a presence on social media, while those figures are 78pc and 60pc, respectively, for the European Union as a whole, he added.

Neumann Janos Nonprofit is coordinating the scheme. Companies active in ICT, website development and social media with at least 25 clients and annual turnover of HUF 20m or more may apply to provide services in the scheme.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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