The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Serbia launched a program of green innovation vouchers. The green innovation vouchers, the worth of which ranges from 4,000  to 20, 000 EUR, are grants for small and medium-sized enterprises that cover up to 90% of the research and development costs for the purpose of increasing resource efficiency and making an easy transition to a green economy. The program aims to improve the process of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises in the field of resource efficiency and thus support the long-term competitiveness of the Serbian economy and reduce its impact on climate change.

Through this program, the companies will be able to cover most of the research and development costs by vouchers, which will help them to develop innovative products, services or processes in order to reduce the use of resources, such as energy, water and raw materials. The small and medium-sized companies that meet the requirements may apply for the vouchers worth up to 20,000 euros (excluding VAT) to cover 90% of the research and development costs, while the companies are expected to fund at least 10% of total costs.

Research and development services should help the implementation of green innovations, which must have a measurable positive impact on the environment.

Such services include:
• Verification of the concept, development, prototyping, testing, the certification of  new products, services or processes
• Innovative improvement of the existing products, services or processes
• Training or consultancy in the fields of innovation and intellectual property protection.

The public call is open until January 31, 2018.

The application form and detailed information on the program are available on www.inovacionivauceri.rs.

Source: www.inovacionivauceri.rs and Coordination Body