A total endowment of one million euros, from the Sicily Fund, to finance start-ups that produce durum wheat products and ancient Sicilian grains or that produce grapes from “relic” vines. Access to credit facilities intended for companies active in these two areas is managed by Irfis FinSicilia, the Region’s finance company, which has published two specific notices.
In both cases, the objective of the facilitation measure is to support the start-up, the implementation of the commercial network and the supply of materials, encouraging the development and growth of production.
The loans can have a maximum amount of 250 thousand euros, including a possible non-repayable contribution of 20%. These are one-stop procedures, so requests will be evaluated in chronological order of presentation. The operation can have a maximum duration of up to 5 years, the interest rate does not exceed the ECB rate plus 0.25%. The periodicity of the installments can be quarterly or half-yearly. Furthermore, the loan includes a one-off cost to be paid by the beneficiary equal to 1.25% of the amount disbursed.
Wheat supply chain. The measure is intended for manufacturing companies operating in Sicily in the start-up phase in the production of high-quality Sicilian durum wheat products or ancient grains of the island, which have started the activity no earlier than 36 months after the issue of the decree of the Councilor for the Economy n. 89 of 21 December 2023. The application must be filled out on the appropriate form and sent to pec [email protected] with the words “product code (5015) Startup grain farming” in the subject, as well as the name and tax code or VAT number of the applicant.
Viticulture. The notice is aimed at agricultural companies operating on the island in the start-up production phase of grapes from ancient vines, known as “relics”, no earlier than 12 months after the issuing of the decree of the Councilor for the Economy n. 41 of 23 April 2024. The application must be filled in on the appropriate form and sent to pec [email protected] with the words “product code (5016) Startup ancient vines” in the subject, as well as the name and tax code or batch number VAT of the applicant.
The sheets of each notice and the related application forms are available on the Sicilia Fund page on the Irfis website.
