EU FUNDS Profit.ro & FirstBank conference – Financing the relaunch of the economy

CONTEXT
In a period of uncertainty, with multiple risks and challenges in economic, social and political terms, the chance for development belongs to economies that manage to see and act beyond short-term crisis survival solutions that set in motion mechanisms and investment and business growth strategies with long-term impact. For Romania, the key to such development mechanisms lies, at the moment, in the ability to use the important financial resources made available by the European Union through several funding programs. We have a few years to reform a country, invest massively, recapitalize and reinvent businesses, digitize processes, grow sustainable businesses, better capitalize on agricultural potential and recover large development gaps with the help of European funds, including through the recently launched National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). However, the calendar no longer allows any postponement if we do not want to repeat the experience of earlier failures in the absorption of EU funds, in the conditions in which delays are already accumulated. The public-private partnership becomes essential in this context, as does the involvement of financial institutions with the help of which the funds can be accessed. Blockages, bureaucratic barriers, still dysfunctional mechanisms must be resolved, and useful information for potential beneficiaries of funding must become as accessible as possible. In such a context, Profit.ro, in partnership with First Bank, aims to bring to the attention of the public the major themes related to the relaunch of the economy with the help of European financing, bringing together, in a consistent debate, leaders of the public authorities involved in the management programs and banking institutions that can support access to funding, experts in the management of EU funds.

THEMES FOR DEBATE:

  • Stage of ongoing financing projects, managed by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE) and the Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR)
  • Challenges for grant programs to be implemented
  • How management authorities work with banks, consultants and clients. Measures that can improve the relationship between partners involved in projects
  • The most important ways of financing projects. Utility approach, steps to be followed by customers
  • Types of loans, particularities of financing. What do banks expect from customers? What difficulties do customers encounter? Mistakes to avoid, derived from the experience of financing so far
  • Solutions to the warranty problem
  • How to prepare business plans eligible for grants and bank loans What funding/grants should be chosen to match the business strategy of a business
  • How do we ensure the sustainability of a project and that we have all the resources necessary for implementation? What is the bank’s role in this?
  • Guidelines for the applicant. The stage of their publication. Reported problems and solutions
  • How do we overcome the problems related to the uncertainty of the economic context and the complexity of the financing process in project implementation
  • Challenges for the implementation of operational programs 2021-2027. Access of small and medium cities. Particularities for the different PNRR regions.
  • Which fundamental pillars still need to be improved in order to successfully absorb all the available funds? (in the management, audit, control systems and related procedures, the IT system implemented, functional monitoring and coordination structures, in the operation of the dedicated structures in each ministry responsible for reforms and investments, NGOs that can participate in the operationalization of the PNRR, etc.)
  • The stage of the PNRR reforms (500 objectives must be achieved in 5 years, of which 64 relate to the reform of public systems).
  • The problem of delayed targets in the PNRR, which had to be reached by the end of 2022 (55 milestones in 2022, half late). Romania can ask Brussels for more time to complete projects and reforms. What postponements do we need in order to extend beyond 2026 the term until which the 29 billion euros of financing can be accessed? What can be recovered in 2023?
  • Solutions to increase the amounts actually spent on projects from the amounts already allocated from the PNRR, which are in the accounts. The Romanian state used only 7% of the money already sent by Brussels as pre-financing and the first payment installment (effective payments of only 42 million euros out of 6.3 billion euros sent to the account at the NBR, given at the end of November 2022)
  • Necessary reforms in public procurement legislation and the removal of bureaucratic obstacles that prevent the rapid start of projects
  • Challenges and priorities for rural development projects from European funds. In the 2021-2027 programming period, Romania has 6.7 billion euros available through the financing pillar for villages. Other financing programs for farmers
  • What information do farmers need to access EU funds? What particular difficulties do they face? How can they solve their co-financing needs?
  • How are the investments of private beneficiaries and the projects of public authorities complemented in rural development programs? What priority needs are reflected by the funding requests received by AFIR?
  • Digitalization challenges in rural development and stakeholders for the environment. Useful IT applications for financing. Updating the AFIR databases with equipment, machinery and equipment compliant with environmental requirements, etc.

    • Event broadcast LIVE on Profit News TV, www.profit.ro and facebook.com/profit.ro

    Date: February 14, 2023

    Where: Event LIVE on the platforms www.profit.ro and facebook.com/profit.ro

    Moderator: Oana Osman – Editor-in-Chief Profit.ro

    AGENDA

    08.30-09.00 – Participant registration & Welcome coffee

    09.00-09.05 – Opening speech – Oana Osman – Editor-in-Chief Profit.ro

    09.05-11.00 – PANEL I – Debate: Financing the relaunch of the economy

    – Ioan Marcel Boloș – Minister of Investments and European Projects

    – Henk Paardekooper – CEO, First Bank

    – Valeriu Iftime – President of the Energy and Environment Committee of CCIR

    – George Chiriță – Director General, Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR)

    – Teodora Elena Preoteasa – State Counselor at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Romania

    – Ionuț Encescu – Head of Products and Digital Innovation HUB, First Bank

    11.00-12.00 – BUSINESS LUNCH