Main areas of support in Regional Investment Aid

In a previous article on Regional Investment Aid 2022, we provided a basic overview of support in regional investment aid. We know that regional aid is provided in 4 areas – manufacturing, technology centres, a combination of these and business service centres. We describe the details of regional investment aid for each of these areas in the following lines.

Industrial production

For projects in the field of industrial production, this regional aid has specific conditions. Depending on the unemployment rate in the district considered to be the main location of the investment project, the regional aid is divided into four zones (note that no investment aid can be granted in the Bratislava region). Each of these zones has specific support conditions, which are described in the table below.

		Minimal investment amount	Minimal investment amount	Minimal investment amount / number of new jobs	Minimum investment amount
zone of region	Minimum share of new technologies and investments	Grant	Income tax credit	Allowance for newly created jobs	Rental/sale of real estate at a reduced price
A	60 %	prioritised areas only	3 mil. €	not granted	3 mil. €
B	50 %	15 mil. €	1,5 mil. €	1,5 mil. €/100	1,5 mil. €
C	40 %	10 mil. €	0,75 mil. €	0,75 mil. €/50	0,75 mil. €
D	30 %	0,5 mil. €	0,1 mil. €	0,1 mil. €/10	0,1 mil. €

( https://www.sario.sk/en/invest-slovakia/support-investors/regional-investment-aid )

Zone A includes the districts of the Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín and Žilina regions (except the districts of Prievidza and Turčianske Teplice), and the districts of Banská Bystrica, Zvolen and Žiar nad Hronom.

Košice, Spišská Nová Ves, Brezno, Detva, Krupina, Banská Štiavnica, Žarnovica and Turčianske Teplice also fall into Zone B.

Zone C includes the districts of Veľký Krtíš, Poprad, Stará Ľubovňa, Prešov and Humenné.

Zone D includes the district of Prievidza, the entire region of Gemer and the remaining districts of the Košice and Prešov regions.

 

We would like to remind you that the maximum intensity and the maximum amount of investment support is 25 % for projects in Western Slovakia and 35 % for projects in Central and Eastern Slovakia. The maximum intensity can still be increased by 10 % in the case of medium-sized enterprises and by 20 % in the case of micro and small enterprises. In the case of preferential transfer of immovable property, the intensity is 100 %; in the case of preferential renting, the intensity is 90 %.

Please note that before applying for regional investment aid, it is necessary to check the current list of the least developed districts (zone D + Prievidza district) on the website of the Social Affairs and Family Labour Office (ÚPSVaR), which is reviewed every quarter.

 

Specifics of regional investment aid priorities in the field of industrial production

If the investment project is carried out in the so-called priority areas, the beneficiary may also apply for investment aid in the form of a subsidy for the purchased assets in zone A.

In order to qualify for priority areas in the industrial production sector, investment projects must fulfil a number of specific conditions relating to the production of products which are either the result of an activity that falls within the relevant sector of the NACE classification or are aimed at direct or indirect sales to entities whose main activity falls within the relevant sector of the NACE classification. These relevant industries include:

• C10 food production
• C20 Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
• C21 Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations
• C26 Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
• C27 Manufacture of electrical equipment
• C28 Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
• C29 Manufacture of motor vehicles, semi-trailers and trailers
• C30 Manufacture of other transport equipment

 

At the same time, at least 75 % of the eligible investment costs must be spent on the acquisition of the relevant technologies.

 

Technology Centre

A technology centre is defined as an establishment in which the development or innovation of technically advanced products, technologies or production processes is carried out. As in the case of industrial production, maximum intensities and amounts of investment aid are determined for technology centres. These are the same, including an increased maximum intensity for micro and small enterprises (by 20 %) and for medium-sized enterprises (by 10 %).

 

	subsidy on purchased assets		other forms of aid
	priority areas	other areas	priority areas	other areas
Minimum investment	100 000	200 000	50 000	100 000
Minimum number of work opportunities created	5	10	5	10
Minimal multiplication of average gross monthly wage	2,00	1,70	2,00	1,70

(taken from “Basic information 2021, Regional investment aid, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic”, available here)

Again, it should be noted that routine or periodic modifications to products, production lines, production processes, services and other ongoing operations are not considered to be development and innovation, even if such modifications would constitute an improvement.

 

The same priority areas as those for industrial production are also included in applications for regional investment aid for technology centres. The relevant technologies for identifying priority areas are also the same. These are:

 

• Autonomous and collaborative industrial robots and artificial intelligence
• Industrial Internet of Things
• Simulation
• Augmented reality with real-time information
• Additive, assisted manufacturing
• Big data and analytics
• Cloud and cybersecurity

 

Combination of regional investment aid in manufacturing and technology centres

The combination of an investment project in the field of industrial production and a technology centre must fulfil the conditions of both parts separately. For industrial production, the minimum investment amount is reduced by the minimum investment amount in the technology centre part.

 

Business service centre

Establishments providing centralised support services, in particular management, IT, accounting, finance, legal services, control, procurement, marketing and human resources, in addition to the hiring of labour, may apply for regional investment aid in this area.

 

The conditions for granting investment aid in business service centres can be found in the following table:

 

	subsidy on purchased assets		other forms of aid
	priority areas	other areas	priority areas	other areas
Minimum investment	100 000	–	0	0
Minimum number of work opportunities created	10	–	10	25
Minimal multiplication of average gross monthly wage	1,80	–	1,80	1,50

(taken from “Basic information 2021, Regional investment aid, Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic”, available here)

The specific features of this area are the investment plan, which must be the initial investment. Not only for this reason, the intensity of support in the subsidy for purchased assets for other (non-priority) areas is zero. Except for this specificity, the maximum aid intensity remains the same as for industrial production and technology centres.

The priority areas include in particular:

• jobs in management, development and training of people,
• jobs characterised by creative activities,
• activities aimed at creating new business processes or improving existing business processes,
• activities requiring the application of expertise in decision-making and planning.

Regional investment is intended to be an important support in reducing economic disparities between districts and at the same time to increase the competitiveness of less developed districts. We also support this intention, so if you have an investment plan, do not hesitate to start it together with us and contact us.