Summary of the conference: “EU Funds for Energy, Chemical and Fuel Industries”


Place: Warsaw, InterContinental Hotel
Date: 20^th March, 2008

The EU Funds for Energy, Chemical and Fuel Industries conference took place on 20th March, 2008 at the InterContinental Hotel in Warsaw. The conference was organized by PNO Consultants Sp. z o.o. and Manager Magazin.

The representatives of the following institutions participated in the event:

• Institute for Fuel and Renewable Energy,
• National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management,
• Polish Agency for Enterprise Development,
• National Contact Point for EU Research Programmes,
• National Economy Bank,
• PNO Consultants - Jacek Kachel, Managing Director; Sebastian Piwowarski, Director of Warsaw Branch; Krzysztof Herod, Director of Cracow Branch; Michał Becla, Project Manager; Marek Dalka, Project Manager.

During the conference representatives from the Institute for Fuel and Renewable Energy, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management described the conditions for acquiring support funds within the framework of the Innovative Economy, Infrastructure, Environment and Human Resources Operational Programmes. The following issues were emphasised: project selection criteria, rules of application for support funds and detailed conditions for submitting and evaluating applications for support funds. PNO Consultants experts presented some examples of investments in chemical, fuel, energy and renewable energy resources industries that acquired EU funds in previous years and examples of projects that can be submitted to acquire support funds between 2008-2013.

Other issues discussed at the conference were opportunities for acquiring financial support within the framework of EU funds (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme under 7th Framework Programme), domestic funds and incentives (a loan from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, tax relief at Special Economic Zones). The event was concluded with PNO Consultants presentation concerning most frequent mistakes committed during the application process, application sensitive areas and effective application guidelines for EU funds.

One of the conference highlights was undoubtedly the panel component where participants, divided into industry specific discussion panels, could acquire information about the following issues among others:

• what are the formal and thematic criteria for project selection within the framework of Operational Programmes,
• guidelines for acquisition of financial support for investment, training and research and development works from EU funds,
• guidelines for developing an efficient application for financial support (indispensable elements of the application).

During the conference, entrepreneurs who attended it had an opportunity to get a confirmation concerning their projects’ prospects from representatives of the institutions that are going to distribute EU funds between 2008-2013 and PNO Consultants experts for EU programmes.

The panel element of the conference was first of all an opportunity to ask questions to the representatives of various institutions and speakers. This contributed to a lively discussion concerning the latest information about the application rounds. The speakers covered the following issues among others: deadlines and rules for filing applications, the opportunity to acquire financial support and its level in the case of particular companies in the chemical, energy and renewable energy resources industries.

Over 160 people attended the conference, mainly from the management staff of companies belonging to the chemical, energy and renewable energy resources industries.

In case you have further queries, please contact: Maciej Lipka: mlipka@pno.com.pl or councillors at our branches:

• Kraków, tel. +48 (12) 424 96 90
• Warszawa, tel. +48 (22) 695 04 10

Place: Warsaw, Westin Hotel
Date: 9^th October, 2007

In the years 2007-2013 entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to obtain large amounts of EU funding for investment and R&D activities. The funds will be assigned not only within the framework of Operational Programmes, but also European programmes, which are dedicated mostly for entities conducting R&D activities. Entrepreneurs investing in Poland on the area of Special Economic Zones-will also have the possibility of income tax exemptions.

On October 9, 2007 in Westin Hotel in Warsaw PNO Consultants organized a conference in English language „EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENTERPRISES IN POLAND – New Financial Perspective 2007 – 2013”

The list of speakers included the representatives of the following institutions:

• Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAIiIZ),
• National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW),
• Katowice Special Economic Zone,
• Banku Zachodniego WBK S.A.,
• Elektrownia Rybnik, and
• Experts of PNO Consultants - Jacek Kachel, Managing Director of PNO Consultants, Aya van den Kroonenberg – Director of the EU team in PNO Consultants office in the Netherlands and Tomasz Mazuryk managing EUGA programme in Microsoft.

The Conference was addressed to foreign management personnel and its main objective was to present the opportunities of obtaining EU funding for entrepreneurs, who plan to locate or expand their business activity in Poland.

Robert Kwiatkowski, Vice President of PAIIiZ, during the opening the conference emphasized that Innovative Economy Operational Programme (IE OP) is the main EU funds financial instrument addressed to entrepreneurs in Poland. The foundations of the programme were drawn up to enable financial support during all stages of innovative process. Jacek Kachel noted that the next seven years offer a great chance for Polish as well as foreign investors for obtaining EU funding. Statistically, every one in five euro of EU funding for the years 2007-2013 has been assigned to Poland!

Representatives of PAIiIZ presented a large variety of instruments for entrepreneurs planning to invest in Poland (e.g. Multiannual Support Programme for direct foreign investments or Measure 4.5 IE OP). Funding obtained from the abovementioned measure is reserved for entrepreneurs in production sector who plan to invest at least EUR 40 million and employ minimum 200 employees. According to the latest information, passed on to the participants of the conference, one of main deciding factors of assigning support will be the introducing of innovative solution, which is applied on a worldwide scale no longer than 3 years. For entrepreneurs investing in the sector of modern services (IT centre, accounting services) applying for support from the measure 4.5 is also possible, however on condition that they intend to employ at least 200 new employees. The only exception are investments concerning establishment of new R&D centers – in such case it is possible to apply for support if employment increase amounts only to 10 persons.

According to initial assumptions for implementation of measure 4.5, support will be granted only to the best projects placed on a ranking list. A guarantee of placement on a ranking list will be given only to those investors, whose project will obtain a score of at least 60 out of 100 points.

The important change is the possibility of submitting an application for funding, which includes only attachments necessary for assessment of the project, while all formal attachments shall be submitted before signing of the agreement on funding of the investment. Representatives of PAIiIZ emphasized that drawing up guidelines for measure 4.5 is in progress and the deadlines for submitting applications shall be announced probably at the end of the current year. According to PAIiIZ approach, investors shall be able to obtain funding up to 15% of eligible costs (investments in the production sector) or up to 30% of eligible costs (in case of investments in the service sector).

Representative of NFOŚiGW presented the latest assumptions of Infrastructure and Environment Operational Programme relating to the possibilities of co-financing investments adjusting enterprises to environmental protection requirements and supporting entrepreneurs who invest in production of energy from renewable sources.

Also preliminary schedule of further works was discussed, including the expected dates of announcement of application rounds and entrepreneurs’ experience in utilizing EU funding for environmental protection, which was illustrated using the example of Elektrownia Rybnik S.A.

Second part of the conference was dedicated to the possibilities of co-financing R&D projects within European programs (e.g. 7 Framework Programme). The total budget allocated by the European Commission exceeds EUR 60 billion. Aya van den Kroonenberg stated during her presentation that the European Commission shall support in particular R&D projects prepared with participation of entrepreneurs from the EU new member states, including Poland.

In addition to the abovementioned investment incentives there is also a possibility of locating investment projects in the area of Special Economic Zones. As emphasized by Mr. Piotr Wojaczek – the President of Katowice Special Economic Zone, Poland is one of the main producers of e.g. automotive parts and household appliances in Europe, due to the possibility of exempting investors located in SEZs from income tax.

Moreover, in the course of the conference PNO Consultants presented key success factors in application procedure for EU funding for enterprises and the most frequent mistakes in application documentation in the years 2004-2006.

Over 120 participants of the conference had an opportunity take part in a discussion and ask questions to experts of PNO Consultants and to the representatives of the authorities responsible for distributing EU funds for the years 2007-2013.

If you have any questions concerning financing investments from EU funds or other public sources, please contact our advisors in Cracow (Tel. No: 12 424 96 90) or Warsaw (Tel No: 22 528 66 47). We also encourage you to a free-of-charge analysis of your investment project concerning possibilities of EU funding by PNO Consultants specialists. In order for us to prepare the analysis, please submit the completed questionnaire.