Communità Parco Alto Garda Offers €200M for Low-Interest Loans to Local Entrepreneurs
The Comunità montana Parco Alto Garda has decided to support small entrepreneurs of all kinds by intervening to reduce interest rates on loans requested by certain productive categories: agricultural, craft, commercial enterprises, and tourism operators. Private citizens might also access this facilitation, but only if they intend to build or renovate their primary residence.
Allocations and banking agreements
The Comunità Parco itself has allocated two hundred million euros in this year’s budget and has, in this regard, signed agreements with several local banks: Credito Cooperativo di Bedizzole e Turano Valvestino, Cassa rurale di Arco, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Banco di Brescia, and Credito Cooperativo dei Colli Morenici.
The loan amount can range from 20 to 100 million euros per beneficiary, with the Community covering 50 percent of the interest. Considering an investment of a few euros, the total interest varies primarily based on the purpose of the loan, which can be for residential use (construction or renovation of the primary residence, with a maximum repayment period of 120 months), or for productive activities (a 60-month period to repay principal and interest).
Details on interest calculation
An additional variable is determined by whether the loan is repaid quarterly or monthly. The interest rate (to be added to the principal amount) is set considering the Euribor (the former interbank rate), with an additional 1.50 percent interest for residential loans, or 1.75 percent for productive activities.
Currently, the Euribor is at 4 percent for a potential quarterly repayment schedule (slightly lower for the monthly formula). Therefore, the total interest payable by the private individual would be between 5.50 and 5.75 percent. The Community could intervene up to 50 percent on this amount.
It should be noted that the Euribor is variable and subject to updates accordingly. Priority in interest support will be given to young entrepreneurs, or those planning to undertake work on their first home and under 40 years of age; then to agricultural entrepreneurs, direct cultivators, artisans, merchants, and tourism operators in highly disadvantaged areas (Magasa, Valvestino, Costa di Gargnano).
Priorities and types of intervention
Thus, for newly established agricultural, craft, and commercial enterprises that started their activity in 1999 in inhabited nuclei with fewer than 500 residents (practically all the small villages in the upper Garda area, not on the lake).
Priorities also include the geographical area of residence and the specific disadvantages associated with it (help is prioritized for residents in mountain areas, followed by those in intermediate zones, and lastly those living on or near the lake shore).
Interventions are permitted for updating or expanding company structures and infrastructures, investments in machinery, equipment, and instrumental real estate, with priority given to technological innovation. Finally, measures for compliance with health, safety, and hygiene standards are also included.
Application submission
Applications can be submitted until June 9th: they must be received at the Comunità Montana Parco office, located at via Oliva 32 in Villa di Gargnano. For more information, contact the Agricoltura department at 0365-71449.
How to obtain the funding
Applications to access the grants offered by the Comunità Montana Parco Alto Garda, which will help halve the cost of interest on bank loans, must be submitted on a form already prepared by the regional authority. This form can be picked up at the Agricoltura office of the community, at the Villa di Gargnano headquarters.
All requests will be processed by the office itself, and those approved will be placed in a ranking list.
The funding will depend on the availability of funds, which for this first edition of the initiative amounts to two hundred million euros. It remains essential to secure a loan agreement with one of the five banking institutions that have signed the financial agreement with the Communità Montagna.