Ljubljana, 16 August 2021 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy has approved EU funding for the project React EU – Protection of innovative potential. The EUR 29 million project that will be implemented by SPIRIT Slovenia – Public Agency for Entrepreneurship, Internationalization, Foreign Investment and Technology will receive a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund under React-EU in the amount of EUR 7 million. This is already the eighth investment in a series of investments under React-EU, an initiative designed to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic and prepare a green, digital and resilient post-covid recovery of the member states’ economies.
As part of the project, the public agency SPIRIT will invite enterprises to apply for small-scale incentives; eligible enterprises will be those whose RDI activity falls under at least one of the priority areas identified in the applicable Slovenian Smart Specialisation Strategy (S4). The agency will thus support the enterprises in maintaining innovative potential, notably in the area of digitalisation and green and circular economy. The primary goal of the project is to encourage enterprises to keep their research staff fully employed despite the economic setback driven by the pandemic, while making sure that development projects stay on track and do not get compromised.
This is already the eighth investment under the React-EU initiative which aims to support the post-covid recovery and prepare the country for the transition to a green, digital and resilient economy. In February 2021, a EUR 3.6 million project Covid-19 – Relocation of the Department for Pulmonary Diseases to the University Medical Centre Maribor received a contribution of EUR 3.6 million from the European Regional Development Fund; in March, there was a further EUR 4.5 million injection for the project Covid-19 - Hospital renovation to extend capacities of Ljubljana Intermediate Care Department; in May, EUR 1.5 million were approved for the project Covid-19 – IT supported vaccination appointment scheduling system for primary-level facilities, end-May, a Call for proposals for co-financing investment into infrastructure to strengthen resilience of institutional care facilities by taking into account the deinstitutionalisation efforts worth EUR 93 million was launched as part of the country’s efforts to enhance the resilience of the long-term care system. In mid-June, EUR 30 million were made available under the call for proposals Incentives for digital transformation of SMEs (P4D React EU) with a further EUR 50 million for the project Covid-19 - Comprehensive energy-efficient renovation of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. Government Office issued another funding decision in July, namely Small-scale incentives for SMEs-vouchers involving a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund in the amount of EUR 13 million.