The National Credit Guarantee Fund for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (FNGCIMM) has launched a call for the selection of financial intermediaries to provide portfolio guarantees combined with grants under a project aimed at developing social enterprises, with a total value of nearly 495 million lei, according to a statement by the institution.
The project "Support for the social economy sector for the development, innovation, scaling, and expansion of social enterprises and social integration enterprises" is funded through the Education and Employment Programme 2021-2027, from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).
The total value of the project is 494.86 million lei, of which 398.23 million lei represents European Union co-financing, and 96.63 million lei comes from the state budget.
According to the press release, the public call for expressions of interest aims to select financial intermediaries to provide the financial instrument "Capped portfolio guarantee combined with a grant in a single operation."
The call is addressed to public or private financial institutions supervised by the National Bank of Romania (NBR), with their headquarters and operations in Romania, that are authorized to grant loans to the categories of beneficiaries targeted by the financial instrument.
Applications are managed by FNGCIMM, in its capacity as manager of the Specific Guarantee Fund, under the financing agreement concluded with the Ministry of Investments and European Projects (MIPE), acting as the managing authority for the Education and Employment Programme 2021-2027.
Interested financial institutions may submit their applications by November 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM, to the e-mail address peo@fngcimm.ro.
The project's objectives include improving access to finance for social enterprises and work-integration social enterprises, with a view to developing, innovating, and expanding their activitiesincluding in the fields of social services, cultural heritage, and the cultural and creative sectors.
The project also aims to promote investments in climate action and digitalization, as well as to enhance the capacity of financial intermediaries to support investments in the social economy.
Another objective is to mobilize private sector investment and create a renewable source of funding that allows resources to be reinvested in similar activities.
At the same time, the implementation of the financial instrument aims to develop a broader market of financial intermediaries serving social enterprises and social integration enterprises.
The project has an implementation period of 48 months, from January 2026 to December 2029.
The documents related to the call for expressions of interest are available on the FNGCIMM website.
