Indirect development loan Société Nationale de Crédit et d'Investissement (SNCI) The Indirect development loan granted by Société Nationale de Crédit et d'Investissement (SNCI) aims to help companies realising projects concerning business creation, innovation, expansion, replacement or transfer. Beneficiaries Indirect development loans can be granted to companies realising projects concerning business creation, innovation, expansion, replacement or transfer, and having substantial impact on national economic development. Beneficiaries shall possess a valid business permit issued by the Ministry of the Economy. Eligible costs Indirect development loans are granted for financing of tangible and intangible depreciable assets, as well as land which is used exclusively for professional purposes. The following types projects are eligible for an indirect development loan, provided they are based on a business plan: projects related to the expansion of current business activities acquisition projects with a purpose to replace depreciable tangible and intangible assets projects related to the development and communication of products/services, processes or organisational methods that are new or substantially improved/changed as compared to the state of the art in the concerned industry sector, and which carry a risk of technical or industrial failure start-up or business transfer projects Investments in depreciable assets and negative operational cash-flows carried out within the project of business development are eligible for the indirect development loan. Depreciable investments and negative operational cash-flows include particularly land, buildings, equipment, machinery and professional facilities, personnel expenditures, patent filing fees, expenses related to contract research, use of databanks, technical libraries and laboratories, acquisition of patents/licenses, project feasibility studies, innovation support services like market research, implementation of new regulatory standards, testing and certification, as well as a one-year budget related to marketing/promotion of new products/services. Production and distribution costs are excluded. Types of loan The indirect development loan can go from €12,500 to €10,000,000 without exceeding 40% of eligible costs, and taking into account the overall debt to the SNCI. At least 20% of investments and expenses shall be co-financed by the company's own resources. The amount of the SNCI loan(s) cannot exceed the total amount of equity of the loan beneficiary, nor the part of the project financing provided by commercial banks. The maximum loan duration is 10 years. Based on the project requirements, it can be extended by a length of the disbursement and the grace periods, which in total cannot exceed 3 years. Loans are disbursed according to the disbursement plan determined during the loan application process. This disbursement plan defines the disbursement periods, the proportionate share of each project co-financier and, where required, the milestones required for each loan draw-down. Repayment is done by constant quarterly instalments. A grace period of maximum 3 years on the repayment of the capital may be granted. Interests are payable at the end of each period. Early repayments are possible without penalty. Submitting an application Applications for indirect development loans must be submitted to the SNCI via one of the local authorized banks.
