Guarantee Fund Just Transition Development

The financing of SMEs to support and expand their operations in the eligible areas, according to their Business Plan and under the conditions of the JDT programm.

The following are not considered as acceptable financing purposes:

• The refinancing/repayment of existing borrowings,
  
• The financing of a dividend payment plan or the purchase of shares
  
• The financing of Mergers and Acquisitions and
  
• The purchase of land for an amount exceeding 10% of the Fund's contribution to the respective loan.
  
• Relocation expenses*
  

* Relocation costs mean the costs of an investment project that includes the same or similar activity that has arisen from or has undergone relocation during the last two years from the territory of another contracting party to the EEA Agreement.

• From €50,000 to €1,400,000 per business, for De Minimis loans
  
• From €50,000 to €16,500,000 per company, for loans under the General Block Exception Regulation aid scheme

• From 2 to 10 years, for De Minimis loans
• From 2 to 12 years,for loans under the General Block Exception Regulation aid scheme

• The interest rates are charged with the interest margin and the contribution of L.128 / 75 for the part of the bank’s funds (50%), which currently amounts to 0.60% 
• The customer's final interest rate is determined on the basis of an assessment of its Creditworthiness

Two-year partial  interest rate subsidy of 3%*.


*Is irrevocably terminated in the event of an overdue payment of more than 90 days
Does not cover the contribution of Law 128/75 and the overdue interest rate which burdens the borrower in any case.

• With State aid (without payment by the customer): the guarantee fee is subsidised by HDB and constitutes State aid
  
  
• Without State aid (paid by the customer): 
  For De Minimis loans: the guarantee fee is calculated on an annual basis on the guaranteed amount of the loan and amounts to 0.20% per annum of the guaranteed principal.
  For loans under the General Block Exception Regulation aid scheme: the guarantee fee is calculated on the basis of the safe harbour fees of the European Commission Notice on Guarantees (2008/C 155/02), and is paid by the customer to the HDB account.

• Small Business & Proffessionals  (Turnover ≤ €2,5 mio): Monthly or Quarterly Amortization or installment payments
• For Medium Εnterprises, Semi – annual Installments option is also provided  
  

Disbursements can be either one-off or partial.

The first disbursement can not be < €50.000  and should be made within four (5) months from the signing of the Contract.
Αll disbursements are made on presentation of invoices which will be checked for their eligibility and their relevance to the submitted business plan.

The program is addressed to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (definition of SMEs (Annex I of EP 651/2014) , which operate legally in Greece, except for off-shore, holding groups participating in other companies, companies in the financial sector, public bodies and their subsidiaries, local government organizations and their subsidiaries, with: 

• Eligible NACE CODE (a relevant list has been posted on the Hellenic Development Bank's website)
  
• They have been established up to the time of submission of the funding application to the EBA's KYC platform.
  
• They have not been subject to collective bankruptcy proceedings and do not meet the conditions of Law 4738/2020, as applicable from time to time.
  
• They meet all the requirements of Chapter I and the applicable articles of Reg. EU 651/2014.
  
• Maintain an establishment and operate in Greece legally and have been established up to the time of submitting the financing application to the Bank.
  
• They are not considered as an undertaking in difficulty (as defined in point 18 of article 2 of Regulation 651/2014), at the time of submitting the application for funding to the State Aid Information System.
  
• Comply with the eligibility criteria and the state aid cumulation limits as set out in the respective State Aid Regulations.
  
• They are considered creditworthy in accordance with the Bank’s current credit policy and internal procedures.
  
• They have not been subject to collective insolvency proceedings and do not meet the conditions under the domestic legislation under which they may be subject to collective insolvency proceedings at the request of their creditors.
  
• They are bank aware (they owe <90 days) at the time of submitting the financing application to the Credit Institution.
  
• They are companies for which there are no grounds for exclusion of article 40 of law 4488/17 (A 137/139/17),
  
• There is no pending recovery order of previous illegal and incompatible state aid based on an EU or WEU decision
  
• They hold valid tax and social security certificates, at the time of submitting the application at the HDB’s KYC platform, as well as the time of the loan’s disbursement. Moreover, they do not have any insolvency issues, based on Teiresias information, at the time of submitting the application at the HDB’s KYC platform, as well as the time of the loan’s disbursement
  
• In case the enterprise has previously joined HDB (formerly ETEAN) programs that have expired or are in force, it should not demonstrate adverse transactional behavior in debt repayment, such as a loan contract termination or relevant overdue debts over ninety (90) days or in the case of adverse transaction behavior the recipient has fully repaid his debt before submitting the application for funding or in the event of adverse transaction behavior: (a) in the case of a guarantee scheme, the amount of a guarantee owed has not been paid; Once the said debt has been confirmed to the competent Tax Office, it has been included in a regulatory regime, which continues to be in force on the date of submission of the application
  
• They have not been excluded by an exclusion decision from the EIB both at the time of submitting a financing request to the EXO and at the time of concluding the Final Recipient Agreement in accordance with the EIB's Exclusion Policy (https://www.eib.org/en/about/accountability/anti-fraud/exclusion/index).
  
• They have been registered in the Register of Beneficial Beneficiaries of article 20 of Law 4557/2018 (Α΄ 139), as applicable, before the date of submission of the financing application, except in the cases of beneficiaries who are expressly exempted from the relevant obligation and provide relevant documentation.
  
• They have completed the self-assessment process for the ESG Criteria in the ETA's ESG Tracker, and have submitted the ESG Tracker Performance Report in PDF format to Piraeus Bank when submitting the financing application, where the company's performance against these criteria is reflected. Alternatively, when submitting the financing application to EXO, a confirmation may be submitted for the complete submission of the self-assessment questionnaire to ESG Tracker (Submission Confirmation in pdf or mail format) with the express obligation to submit the ESG Tracker Performance Report by the time the contract is signed.

1. Once a series of eligibility criteria are checked, your application is sent to the bank of your choice
2. Selection of bank by the applicant
3. Τhe bank expresses its high-level interest in receiving application, "Interested" Status
4. You receive a unique code per bank which you will enter during your application at in app.opske.gr

1. Enter app.opske.gr with your personal codes (in case of lack of codes you must register)
2. Fill in the details of the business to be financed in the application adding the unique code generated by the "Know Your Customer (KYC)" HDB platform
3. Select Piraeus Bank to submit your request
4. Finalize and submit your application to the system

Once the application process has been completed at app.opske.gr, and you hold the ESG Tracker Performance Report, you may visit a Piraeus Bank branch, carrying the printed application form from opske and the ESG Tracker Performance Report (in pdf).