Call for Proposals: “Adaptive Working Environment” Procedure

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Application period: October 16 2023 – January 5 2024 

Total budget: BGN 100 000 000 

The present procedure is in fulfillment of priority 1: Promotion of employment and the development of skills under the program “Human Resources Development” 2021-2027 and is implemented with the financial support of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

The purpose of the procedure is to provide support to enterprises to meet the new challenges associated with the transition to a climate-neutral economy and changing work models, and to improve the healthy and safe working environment in enterprises.

Eligible candidates:

All individuals and legal entities, and their associations with independent legal personality, who have the right to carry out activities on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and are traders within the meaning of Art. 1 of the Commercial Law.

All applicants must:

1) Meet the requirements for providing minimum benefits, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 1407/2013.

2) Have financial capacity

– for existing organizations – the data from the Balance Sheet for 2022 will be used, which must be published in NSI

– for newly created organizations in 2023 – the data from the Balance Sheet for the current year will be used, for the period from their registration to the last day of the month preceding the month in which the present procedure was announced. In this case, the Accounting Balance should be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Accounting Law and contain data for at least 3 months preceding the date of the announcement of the procedure.

3) Have the operational capacity to implement the project proposal:

– have experience in the implementation of at least one of the activities included in the project proposal; or

– have completed at least one project financed by the EU, the national budget or other donors, in which they participated as candidates or partners.

Ineligible candidates:

Candidates who work in:

▪ the fisheries and aquaculture sector; and

▪ the field of primary production of agricultural products.

Eligible activities:

1) Development and implementation of “green” models of work organization according to the specifics of the workplaces in the enterprises. Preparation of “green” maps for the organization of work processes at the specific workplaces. Training of persons from the target group aimed at implementing “green” models of work organization. (Mandatory Activity).

2) Provision of psychological support for the prevention of “burnout” in the workplace and the “effects of the COVID pandemic on mental health”.

3) Purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) and special work clothing.

4) Provision of collective protective equipment, incl. modernization and/or reconstruction, and/or safety of existing sites, technological processes, machines and equipment related to improving working conditions.

5) Provision of social benefits for workers, incl. repair and equipment of places for recreation, rehabilitation, sports, meals and rest in enterprises, etc.

Eligible expenses:

I. Costs for services

▪ Costs for developing and implementing “green” models of labor organization;

▪ Costs to ensuring the prevention of “burnout” in the workplace and the “effects of the Covid pandemic on mental health”.

II. Costs for materials

▪ Costs for purchasing PPE and special work clothing.

III. Costs on tangible assets

▪ Costs for the purchase of means of collective protection, related to the improvement of working conditions;

▪ Costs for furniture and equipment (including repair and equipment of places for recreation, rehabilitation, sports, meals and rest in enterprises, etc.);

▪ Costs for insurance of the acquired furniture and equipment.

IV. Costs for construction and installation works – up to 15% of direct costs

▪ Costs for construction works for modernization and/or reconstruction, and/or safety of existing sites, technological processes, machines and equipment, related to improving working conditions;

▪ Costs for maintenance of the premises (including repair and equipment of places for recreation, rehabilitation, sports, meals and rest in enterprises, etc.);

V. Uniform rate

▪ Indirect costs in the amount of 10% of the eligible direct costs of the project – these are the costs related to the remuneration of the project administration staff – project manager, technical assistant, accountant and other expert or technical staff, as well as the administrative costs related with project management (overhead costs, supplies and materials, team travel costs, visibility, transparency and communication costs, etc.).

Amount of the grant:

  • minimum amount of the grant: BGN 50 000 
  • maximum amount of the grant: BGN 391 166, as:
  • for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the grant is 100% of the total budget of the project;
  • for large enterprises the grant is a maximum of 80% of the total budget of the project.

Applicable minimum/state aid regime:

The rules for minimum aid (the de minimis rule) within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 applies.

Duration of projects: up to 18 months, as the implementation of the activities should be completed by 31.12.2027.

For consultation on eligibility, required documents and assistance in applying under this procedure, please contact our team of professionals through our website contact form: www.tetra-solutions.eu/en/contact or by phone at: +359 898 573 914.

Contact us today so we can succeed together!

Call for Proposals: Procedure “Support for Energy from Renewable Sources for Households” – Call 1

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Application period: 09 May 2023 – 10 November 2023

Total budget: BGN 240,000,000

Purpose of the procedure: The current procedure is in implementation of the investment “Support for energy from renewable sources for households” under the component “Low Carbon Economy” of the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The purpose of the investment is to increase the use of renewable energy in the final energy consumption in the household sector by providing financing for:

  • Component 1: Purchase of solar installations for domestic hot water supply (DHW);
  • Component 2: Purchase of photovoltaic systems up to 10 kWp, including electrical energy storage systems

Eligible candidates:

 1) To be natural persons, Bulgarian citizens, citizens of another member state of the European Union or citizens of a third country with the status of permanent residents in the Republic of Bulgaria, living in their own dwelling – a single-family residential building or their own dwelling in a multi-family building;

2) Be the owners of the home they are applying for. In the event that the applicant is a co-owner of the dwelling and owns less than 51% of the common shares thereof, written consent is required from the other co-owner(s) with whom the applicant owns more than half of the ownership of the dwelling. The consent of the co-owner(s) is certified by a declaration from the respective co-owner(s).

When the home is owned by spouses in a marital property regime, the consent of the applicant’s spouse is not necessary. When the home is owned by one or more minors and minors and his/her sole parent and the parent owns less than 51% of the common shares of the home, the children’s consent is not required.

3) Their permanent address is in the dwelling they are applying for;

4) To have paid the local taxes and fees due at the time of application for the real estate in which the photovoltaic system or DHW will be installed.

Applicants’ housing requirements:

1) The dwelling with which the application is made must be located within the regulatory boundaries of the settlement on the territory of the relevant municipality;

2) The apartment applied for should be used only for residential purposes;

3) At the address of the residence there is no trader registered in the Commercial Register or a legal entity registered in the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities;

4) To have been used an inefficient source of heat energy (stove, boiler, fireplace, etc.) of solid fuel (wood, coal, etc.) in the dwelling – at the time of submission of the proposal or before the delivery, installation and commissioning of solar installation for DHW or photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp;

5) Electricity has been consumed in the dwelling at least 6 months before the submission of the proposal under this procedure (in the case of a proposal under Option 2 of readiness) or before the commissioning of a solar installation for DHW or a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp (in the case of a proposal under Option 1 on standby);

6) In the event that the dwelling is located in a multi-family building, the consent of the condominium is required (presentation of a copy of the Decision of the General Assembly of the owners pursuant to Art. 17, Para. 2, Item 5 of the Condominium Management Act with a majority of not less than 67 per cent ideal parts of the common parts) and issued a building permit for the construction of a solar installation for DHW or for a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp.

Eligible activities:

  • Delivery and installation of a solar installation for domestic hot water supply, including technical introduction (commissioning) of the solar installations – purchase of fittings, cables, structure for installation of the facility, etc.

or

  • Delivery and installation of a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp, which may include an electrical energy storage system, including technical introduction (commissioning) of the photovoltaic systems – purchase of fittings, cables, structure for installation of the facility, inverters, etc.

Eligible expenses:

  • costs for the delivery and installation of solar installations or photovoltaic systems up to 10 kWp (including, at the request of the applicant, an electrical energy storage system);
  • costs for technical introduction (commissioning) of solar installations or photovoltaic systems – purchase of fittings, cables, structure for installation of the facility, inverters, etc.;
  • costs of value added tax.

Readiness of investment implementation proposals:

  • Option 1: The proposal is for the financing of an investment where the activities for the commissioning of a solar installation for domestic hot water supply or for the commissioning of a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp, which may include an electrical energy storage system, are completed in the period from June 7, 2022 until the submission of the proposal by the candidate under the present procedure.

or

  • Option 2: The proposal is for the financing of an investment in which the supply, installation and commissioning activities of a solar installation for domestic hot water supply or the supply, installation and commissioning of a photovoltaic system up to 10 kWp, which may include systems for the storage of electrical energy, are in the process of implementation at the time of the conclusion of the financing contract with the final recipient or will be implemented after the conclusion of the contract.

IMPORTANT: Each final recipient initially finances all activities with its own funds. The BFP is paid after the conclusion of a financing contract and after the submission of a financial and technical report on the proposal for the implementation of the investment and a request for payment. 

Amount of the grant:

  • Maximum amount of the grant for a proposal under:
  • Component 1: Purchase of solar installations for DHW – up to 100% of the value of the installation, but not more than BGN 1,960.83;
  • Component 2: Purchase of photovoltaic systems up to 10 kWp, including the electrical energy storage systems – up to 70% of the value of the system, but not more than BGN 15,000.

Duration of the projects: up to 18 months

For consultation on eligibility, required documents and assistance in applying under this procedure, please contact our team of professionals through the contact form: https://tetra-solutions.eu/en/contact/ or by phone +359 898 573 914.

Contact us today so we can succeed together!

Call for Proposals: Renewable Energy Sources for Own Consumption

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Application period: February 14 – May 15, 2023.

Total budget: BGN 200,000,000

The current procedure is in implementation of the investment “Economic Transformation Program” to the “Intelligent Industry” component of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The purpose of the procedure is to provide grants for the construction of renewable energy sources (RES) for own consumption, combined with local energy storage facilities, to encourage the transition of the private sector to environmentally friendly activity.

Eligible candidates:

1) To be merchants within the meaning of the Commercial Law or the Law on Cooperatives or to be an equivalent person within the meaning of the legislation of a member state of the European Economic Area.

2) To be registered no later than 31.12.2019.

3) To be micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises within the meaning of Art. 3 and Art. 4 of the Law on Small and Medium Enterprises; to be small companies with an average market capitalization according to Art. 2, par. 103e of Regulation (EC) No. 651/2014; to be companies with an average market capitalization as defined in Article 2, point 7 of Regulation (EU) 2015/1017 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

4) To have realized net sales revenue in total for 2021 financial year depending on the category of the candidate enterprise, as follows:

  • for micro enterprises ≥ BGN 80,000.
  • for small enterprises ≥ BGN 200,000.
  • for medium-sized enterprises ≥ BGN 800,000.
  • for a small company with an average market capitalization or a company with an average market capitalization ≥ BGN 3,000,000.   

5) To apply for support for their main economic activity according to the Classification of Economic Activities – KID-2008.

Ineligible candidates:

Applicants whose main economic activity does NOT fall into the following sectors, sections, groups and classes according to the National Institute of Social Sciences’ KID-2008:

  • sector A “Agriculture, forestry and fisheries”;
  • • sector D “Production and distribution of electric and thermal energy and gaseous fuels”;
  • sector K “Financial and insurance activities”;
  • sector O “State Administration”;
  • sector T “Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated activities of households in the production of goods and services for own consumption’;
  • sector U “Activities of extraterritorial organizations and services”;
  • sector C “Processing industry”, section 10 “Production of food products” and section 11 “Production of beverages”, as follows:

– 10.1 “Meat production and processing; production of meat products, excluding ready meals”;

– 10.2. “Processing and preservation of fish and other aquatic animals, excluding prepared meals”;

– 10.3 “Processing and canning of fruits and vegetables, excluding ready meals”;

– 10.4. “Production of vegetable and animal oils and fats”;

– 10.5. “Production of milk and milk products”;

– 10.6. “Manufacturing of mill products, starch and starch products”;

– 10.83. “Processing of coffee and tea”, in cases where the applicant’s activity is related to the production of herbal tea (mint, verbena, chamomile and others);

– 10.84. “Production of food spices and flavorings”;

– 10.91. “Production of ready-made animal feed”;

– 11.02. “Production of wine from grapes”;

– 11.03. “Manufacture of other fermented beverages”.

  • the processing and sale of agricultural products, in the following cases:

– when the amount of the aid is determined on the basis of the price or quantity of those products which are bought from the primary producers or put on the market by the undertakings concerned, or

– when the aid is tied to the obligation to be transferred in part or in full to the primary producers.

  • the processing and/or marketing of forest products.

 Eligible activities:

Construction of new photovoltaic installations up to 1 MW for the production of energy from renewable sources for self-consumption in combination with local energy storage facilities (batteries), as follows:

  • The installed power of the built photovoltaic system must not exceed more than 2 (two) times the amount of the provided power, according to the applicant’s current contract with the electricity distribution company, but not more than 1 MW.
  • The local energy storage facilities (batteries) should have a total minimum capacity equivalent to storage with a duration of at least 1 (one) hour for at least 100% of the installed power of the photovoltaic system (it will be accepted also batteries with a total minimum capacity (in kWh) of storage with a duration of at least 2 (two) hours for at least 50% of the installed power of the photovoltaic system, or batteries with a total minimum capacity (in kWh) of storage with a duration of at least 4 (four ) hours for at least 25% of the installed capacity of the photovoltaic system, etc.).
  • The investment must be carried out on a building/property that is wholly owned by the applicant or for which only the applicant has the right to build.

Eligible expenses:

  • costs for the acquisition of tangible fixed assets (DAM);
  • costs for the acquisition of long-term intangible assets (DNA);
  • costs for construction and installation works on the roof/facade of a building or on real estate attached to it;
  • costs for consulting services of an engineering-technical nature. 

IMPORTANT: Maximum price for building a photovoltaic system up to 1 MW for own consumption in combination with facilities for local storage of the produced energy (batteries) – up to BGN 3,000 without VAT for every 1 kW of installed power of the energy facility (photovoltaic system in combination with batteries).

Amount of the grant:

  • minimum amount of the grant: BGN 75,000.
  • maximum amount of the grant: BGN 1,000,000, but not more than:

– for micro enterprises – 90% of the realized average annual net sales revenue for the period 2019, 2020 and 2021.

– for small businesses – 60% of the realized average annual net sales revenue for the period 2019, 2020 and 2021.

– for medium-sized enterprises – 25% of the realized average annual net sales revenue for the period 2019, 2020 and 2021.

– for small companies with an average market capitalization and companies with an average market capitalization – 10% of the realized average annual net sales revenue for the period 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Percentage of funding:

  • Maximum aid intensity for non-SHR activities (NUTS-2)

– micro, small and medium enterprises – 50%

– small companies with an average market capitalization and companies with an average market capitalization – 45%

  • Maximum aid intensity for HRD activities (NUTS-2)

– micro and small enterprises – 50%

– medium enterprises – 45%

– small companies with an average market capitalization and companies with an average market capitalization – 35%

Duration of the projects: up to 18 months

For consultation on eligibility, required documents and assistance in applying under this procedure, please contact our team of professionals: www.tetra-solutions.eu/en/contact

European Social Fund+ Programme 2021-2027: Call for proposals

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The European Commission has published a Call for proposals under the Employment and Social Innovation (“EaSI”) strand of the European Social Fund (ESF+) programme. 

With a budget of €10 million, the EC aims to support the realization of the European Pillar of Social Rights by funding 15 to 20 projects that develop and test integrated and inclusive social innovation approaches – in schools or training centres, at work or in local communities, or other relevant environments – to foster just green and digital transitions. A wide range of activities are eligible, including:

– identifying and addressing (re-/up-)skilling and (re-)training needs stemming from new, green or digital products, services or technologies;

– fostering social acceptance and/or behavioural changes for more sustainable business models, consumption patterns and/or modes of transport;

– developing sustainability pathways and transformation tools for social economy actors;

– developing tailor solutions to the particular contexts starting from general models, such as the City Doughnut or macro level climate adaptation solutions, to other, business or local environments;

– promoting the implementation of the EPSR principle 20. Essential services, including energy, mobility and digital communications, in the context of the green and digital transitions.

The foreseen results include: Greater uptake of new green and digital technologies; New trainings to endow European citizens to make the most out the green and digital transitions; Increase in social acceptance and ownership for fairer and more sustainable business models; Developed transformation tools for social economy actors; Engagement with local, regional, national authorities, as well as social partners and civil society at large to maximise the impact.

You can find more information on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal, or contact our team to guide you through the Call’s documentation and the application process.

European Vocational Skills Week 2022: 16-20 May 2022

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The European Vocational Skills Week – the annual Week celebrating best practices in Vocational Education and Training (VET) – was held on 16-20 of May 2022. Launched in 2016, the initiative brings all stakeholders – VET organizations, teachers, trainers and students – together to showcase the benefits VET offers young people and adults alike. 

This year, the Week was focused on the theme of VET and the Green Transition. This theme is in line with the European Commission’s commitment to taking all the necessary steps to become carbon neutral by 2050 (known as the European Green Deal), including equipping people with the appropriate green skills. Within this Week, more than 800 events by local, regional, national organisations and other VET partners were held across Europe and online. The events organised by the European Commission included the flagship VET Excellence Awards. The awards were granted in several categories: Companies and learners awards; VET innovators awards; European funding for excellence in VET; and European Agencies awards. Among the winners were large companies and SMEs involved in apprenticeship; VET providers, researchers, and students; and consortia of organizations implementing EU-funded projects in the nexus of vocational education and the Green Transition.

You can find more details about the events held within the Week and the VET Excellence Awards winners on the European Commission’s website.

If you are active in the field of VET, stay tuned for updates about the European Vocational Skills Week 2023. You will have an opportunity to register your VET events on the Week’s website and benefit from EU-wide visibility and dissemination.