FAQ Utlysning bedriftsstøtte til Ukraina

FAQ til Bedriftsstøtte Ukraina 

1. Is there a deadline for submitting the applications?

A: No, all applications will be accessed on an ongoing basis, as long as there are funds available. 

2. Who can apply?

A: Any commercial organisations may apply. The applicant must be a legal commercial company. Please note that neither holding, investment, consulting companies, nor equipment suppliers, are eligible for support. 

3. What does the application process look like?

A: Applicants will first be asked to submit a short concept (four pages, PDF format, uploaded to Norad’s grants portal) note and confirm that they meet the grants scheme’s minimum criteria to qualify for support. Successful applicants will then subsequently be invited to submit full applications, and fully document the business case. No applicant is entitled to support until the applicant successfully makes it through both stage 1 (concept note) and stage 2 (full application). Unsuccessful applicants will be notified as soon as possible. 

4. What are the minimum requirements?

Applicants will in the concept note need to confirm that the following minimum criteria are met to qualify for support under the scheme in the first stage:

• The applicant must be a legal entity registered as a commercial company. As previously indicated, please note that neither holding, investment, consulting companies, nor equipment suppliers, are eligible for support. 
• The applicant must have financial capacity to implement the supported project as well as the main project (main investment). 
• The applicant must document a turnover of at least NOK 5 million from commercial activities in at least one of the last three financial calendar years. The applicant must present audited accounts for the last two available financial calendar years. The criterion does not apply where applicants can document a market capitalisation of minimum NOK 10 million. 
• The applicant must have considerable ownership and involvement in the implementation of the main project. The applicant must own minimum 25 % of the equity in the planned main investment.  
• The applicant must have the necessary professional and administrative expertise to implement the project. 
• The applicant must demonstrate good insight into the issues concerned and must have set clear, achievable objectives for the project(s). 
• The applicant has good systems and routines for risk management and internal control. This includes systems and procedures for the prevention, detection and managing suspicions of corruption and mismanagement. 
• The applicant has a Code of Conduct or similar ethical guidelines. As a minimum such guidelines must include principles and routines to prevent, detect and address sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH). The applicant must confirm and document the existence of such guidelines. See guidance for the preparation of ethical guidelines for Norad's grant recipients.   
• The applicant must confirm that it is aware of and conforms to the UN’s guiding princples on business and human rights and the OECD’s guidelines for multinational enterprises. This confirmation should be based on the exercise of heightened due diligence for conflict affected areas in line with existing international standards (https://www.undp.org/publications/heightened-human-rights-due-diligence-business-conflict-affected-contexts-guide). 
• The applicant must confirm that sufficient security assessments will be carried out for its own employees, and the necessary measures are taken for, for example, training, own guidelines, insurances and equipment.  
• The applicant must have established close ties with potential partners. Information about partners must be provided. 
• The project must be in line with the objectives of the grant scheme mentioned above and must seek to address a specific and defined need. 
• The project must comply with the OECD/DAC criteria for ODA support. 

Please note that failing to meet the minimum criteria will result in the application being rejected automatically. There is no recourse to not meeting the minimum criteria. 

5. What should be included in the application?

A: Your application must include the documentation and answer to the specific points mentioned in the call, such as but not limited to budget and financial capacity, expected results and how the activities will support the main activity. Norad suggests the applicant to include the following information in this order when submitting the concept note: 

• A short description of the main activities that will be supported by the grant. The project’s relevance for the target group should be clearly justified (1 page). 
• A brief proposal of how the activities support and relate to the business case of the main project, including financial capacity and competence to implement the main project (1- 1½ page), based on a positive feasibility study where applicable.  
• Yearly budget and the applicant’s ability to co-finance minimum 30% of the supported activity. The budget may be presented in local currency, but need to reflect the requested amount in NOK (½ page) 
• Expected results on the supported activity and scalability (½ page) 
• Possible partners to the project, both public and private and their contribution when relevant (½ page) 

6. What types of activities can be supported?

A: The following types of project activities may be supported: 

• Feasibility studies for establishment of new projects as well as expansion of existing projects 
• Pilot production as part of a feasibility phase for establishment of business  
• Guarantee and risk premiums for financing. See section 5A for more information. 
• Ancillary costs for basic local, public infrastructure and investments required for the realisation of the main project. For these types of costs, grants may constitute up to 80% of incurred costs. 
• If required for a successful establishment, vocational training of local staff related to the establishment of business, including gender-based actions to enable women to acquire skills in high-demand sectors as per the National Strategy for Bridging the Gender Pay Gap until 2030. 

7. What types of activities can NOT be supported?

A: No funding may be provided for: 

• Sales and marketing activities. 
• Administrative costs beyond the administrative costs directly associated with the project. 
• CAPEX investment beyond 20 % of the total cost of a pilot project 
• Projects that involve weapons or other military material. 
• Projects that involve drugs, alcoholic drinks, and tobacco.  
• The main investment subject of a feasibility study. 

8. The call for grant states that a call for proposals under the grant scheme for Ukraine and neighbouring countries - can we apply for support of the business development in other countries? 

No. The purpose of the call is to foster investment-ready projects that could underpin economic activity in Ukraine only. While some supported activities, such as consultancy, may occur outside of Ukraine, the main business project and future business activity must take place within Ukraine's territory (except the occupied territories). 

9. Is there minimum grant amount for each project? 

A: Yes, the minimum grant amount will be NOK 1,000,000. Applications for amounts under NOK 1,000,000 will be rejected. 

10. Has Norad allocated a specific amount for this call for proposals or decided in advance on how many projects to support?

A: No, this will depend on the quality of the applications. 

11. Can we meet to discuss my project?

A: No. Norad has limited capacity to meet potential applicants to provide guidance in the application process. Furthermore, we cannot comment on draft applications or discuss the substance of a project in a manner that would distort the competition between applicants. We do our best to answer concrete questions by email and we aim to publish our answers to frequently asked questions on this website.  

Norad will hold an information meeting on 8. August 2024 for all interested parties where we will try to provide as much information as possible and answer the questions. Please visit our webpage for more information. 

12. It is stated in the call that neither holding, investment, consulting companies, nor equipment suppliers, are eligible for support. Can companies that are eligible for support apply in consortium with partners that are not eligible (like consulting companies)?

A: Yes, you can identify several partners as part of the application, though, it should be one main applicant who will be responsible for managing the grant and reporting. The main applicant must meet the minimum requirements to be eligible.

13. We are the daughter company of a bigger group – can we document accounting records from our main company when applying for the call?

A: As stated in the call, we require the applicant to present audited accounts for the last two available financial calendar years. Hence, the daughter company would have to submit its accounting records. However, for the purposes of documenting the financial capacity of the projects it may be of relevance to submit the accounting records from the main company. 

14. Please comment in more detail what does it mean “No funding may be provided for CAPEX investment beyond 20 % of the total cost of a pilot project” (page 2 of the call). For example, can companies particularly interested in expansion of production or modernization of production lines seek grant funding to procure machinery and equipment with total value of, for example, 70% of the total project cost? 

A: The purpose of this call is to advance investment-ready projects and thereby preparing as much as possible to make an informed investment decision whether to make further investments. As such, this call is not intended to finance the procurement of equipment beyond pilot production needed to inform the investment decision. See 4A for project activities that may be supported.

15. “The applicant must substantiate that the project is “catalytic” e. that the funding will trigger investment decisions” (page 4 of the call). If grant realization does not trigger further investment because the whole project will be realized within a grant financing. I mean that a project is project itself and is not a part of a bigger project or is not design to make an investment decision (it is already made). Certainly, this project will lead to new job creation, extension of an existing activity, improvement in productivity or efficiency, etc. Does it mean that such a project will be rejected?

A: The purpose of this call is to advance investment-ready projects, preparing them as much as possible to enable an informed investment decision on whether to proceed with further investments. Therefore, if the primary objective of a project is, for instance, to upgrade equipment at a factory, this project would not meet the main criteria for support, as it does not trigger any new investments.  

Please refer to section 4A for examples of project activities that may be supported.

16. Is it correct that the project realization should happen within 12 months?

A: As stated in the call (section 6C), we will prioritize projects that do not exceed two years.  

17. Please comment in more details and with an example what does it meant “Framework conditions for private sector are improved” (page 2 of the call)?

A: This is referred to as one of the performance criteria for the call and meant to serve as a higher-level goal of the grant contribution. Improved framework conditions may refer to improved access to financial and human capital, technology and/or markets. 

18. Could you elaborate on the possibility of grant funds being disbursed in advance?

A: As stated in the call, the grant may only finance up to 70% of actual project costs (up to 80% for ancillary activities). Norad may make disbursements in installments (semi-annual or more frequent). We may disburse up to 50% of the grant needs for the next six months. ‘ 

Example: An applicant submits a project with a total cost of NOK 2 million and seeks grant financing of NOK 1,4 million. The financing needs for the next 6 months is NOK 1 million. Norad may disburse NOK 350 000 as an advance payment (NOK 1 million * 70% grant share * 50% advance payment = NOK 700 000). The remaining grant can be made in subsequent installments, depending on progress and financial need.

19. Can an enterprise apply for a grant to install new generation capacity, like solar panels or battery storage, to enhance energy self-sufficiency?

A: Enterprises aiming to install new generation capacity, such as solar panels or battery storage, to enhance energy self-sufficiency may not find this grant suitable if the primary objective is to fund these installations directly. The grant is intended to support projects that advance investment readiness and stimulate further investments, rather than funding the installation of energy infrastructure to maintain ongoing operations. Projects that align with the grant’s broader objectives, such as those that prepare the enterprise for future investments or create a broader economic impact, are more likely to be considered for funding.