A medium-sized Italian company that intends to invest in innovation and improve its activities can obtain up to 5 million in credit from the guarantee fund for SMEs. The Medium credit Centrale, in agreement with the Ministry of Business, doubled the value of the loan as required by the law of last December on the system of support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The objective remains to address the economic situation and the digital and environmental transformation of thousands of small entrepreneurs. The fear of state aid not accepted by the EU always hovers over the system. In this case these are exempt premiums for the calculation of the GSE – Gross Grant Equivalent. The European Commission itself is defining a new calculation system useful for verifying the requirements of what is put into circulation.
The current ESL quantification system – Mediocredito clarifies in a note – can only be used for SMEs and for guaranteed amounts of up to 2,5 million. The new method is being defined and will have to be approved by the European Commission to allow companies and professionals to benefit from the new limit of 5 million.
The expectations of entrepreneurs and professionals
Pending approval, the new method will be possible, which provides for an annual premium defined on the basis of the rating class of the beneficiary. The rating class is established by the Fund's rating model. It may happen that the rating class is not determined: then in this case the annual premium will be a pre-established fixed rate. The ESL will be determined by the difference between the value of the annual premiums and the amount of a one-off commission paid to the Fund for admission to the guarantee.
It is estimated that applications for access to the fund will once again be high. In 2023, more than 235 thousand applications were accepted with a financed amount of 46,2 billion euro. Francesco Minotti CEO of Mediocredito Centrale, explains the new support to SMEs. “After intense work together with the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, it is found the solution to immediately allow coverage of up to 5 million in guarantee, solving the problem of calculating the ESL, while awaiting the new method that will be identified by the European Commission".
SME competition in renewable energy
Small industry can face the challenges of competitiveness a little better. The companies active in Italy in renewable energy are 37.655 and have grown by 13,2% compared to 2023. The data is contained in the report "Supply Chains of the Future”, presented at Key – The Energy transition expo underway in Rimini curated by the association symbols. Small industries have an average size of 9,5 employees and are all projected into the most attractive sectors.
The scenario, as for the non-energy sectors, is set for 2030 with a load of responsibility for entrepreneurs in photovoltaic, wind and solar thermal. All credit lines are, therefore, evaluated with great attention to close the gap with the network of medium-sized European companies.
