The POCIDIF financial instrument through FNGCIMM: an 80% portfolio guarantee and a de minimis grant on the same loan

FNGCIMM SA–IFN runs the instrument as Manager of the Specific Guarantee Fund financed from POCIDIF 2021-2027, and the loan is taken from a financial intermediary, meaning a selected credit institution. Within the programme it sits under Policy Objective 1, Specific Objective 1.3, Priority 1, Action 1.5, Measure 1.5.2.

The guarantee characteristics, from the product description: a rate of up to 80% per transaction, a portfolio-level guarantee cap of at most 25%, a 0% fee, a maximum guaranteed loan of the RON equivalent of EUR 500,000 at the reference rate on the date the financing contract is signed, and a guarantee duration aligned with the loan.

Investment loans run up to 72 months with a grace period of at most 12 months; working-capital loans up to 36 months, and only where linked to an investment financed from POCIDIF that is no more than one year old.

The grant is awarded under de minimis rules, either as a capital rebate or as an interest subsidy. The capital-rebate intensity is 20% on investment loans that contribute to innovating or digitalising the activity, and 10% on working-capital loans linked to an earlier investment with the same role. The interest subsidy covers the first 24 months on investment loans of up to 72 months and the first 12 months on working-capital loans of up to 36 months.

Three ceilings frame all of it: the grant cannot exceed 45% of the whole loan portfolio, nor 49% of the loan received by a final beneficiary, and de minimis cumulation stays the one in Regulation (EU) No 2831/2023 — EUR 300,000 over three years at single-undertaking level, at the InforEuro rate on the award date.

The calls for expressions of interest published by FNGCIMM address credit institutions supervised by the National Bank of Romania, headquartered and operating in Romania. Not companies. A company files nothing with the guarantee fund: it goes, at the end, to the enrolled bank.

The published file contains the call, the invitation to the intermediary selection, the forms and six clarifications, between 10 June 2026 and 24 June 2026. On 30 July 2026 the partner-banks page showed only the list heading.

The rules are known and an investment plan can be prepared now, but the loan is signed only once the first bank appears on the list.

The specific criteria require the investment to produce, develop or implement new or substantially improved products, processes or services, new production or delivery methods, or organisational and process innovations, including innovative business models carrying a risk of technological, industrial or commercial failure. The benchmark named is the Oslo Manual.

An ERP bought because the company does not have one does not describe a process innovation. The same ERP described as the move from manual replenishment to an order rule computed automatically from consumption, with the effect measured in days of stock, does. The difference is written into the specification, not the price offer.

The general conditions check quickly: at least one year since incorporation plus a full fiscal year of activity, registered office and funded activity in Romania, classification as a micro, small or medium enterprise or a small mid-cap, and no insolvency.

Refinancing is not accepted, and the support cannot accompany loans taken for expenses that have already received other public financing, European or national. The same licence cannot be both reimbursed from a grant and bought from the guaranteed loan; the split across sources is decided before signature, not at audit.

The part that costs us: if your software investment qualifies for a classic grant route, for instance POCIDIF Action 2.1 for ICT SMEs developing their own solution, a grant stays cheaper than a loan, even one guaranteed at 80% with 24 months of subsidised interest. Exhaust the grant route first and order nothing from us on the credit route until you have.

Our role has written limits: we do not assess company eligibility, we do not negotiate with the bank on your behalf and we do not promise approval. That decision belongs to the financial intermediary and to FNGCIMM.

We deliver the functional specification, the technical offer, the budget broken down by deliverable, the draft implementation contract and written answers to the technical clarifications raised in credit analysis. The set is identical for a grant and for a guaranteed loan.

Indicative orders of magnitude, excluding VAT, from our price guides: a custom management core at EUR 10,000-15,000, a modular custom ERP at EUR 15,000-60,000, a simple web application at EUR 5,000-15,000, an application with integrations at EUR 15,000-50,000, a platform-based online store from EUR 1,500. The firm figure is issued in writing after an analysis discussion, dated and signed.