Loans START
Financing is available for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to initiate new activities or to enhance existing operations.
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This is translated information. In case of any discrepancies, the original Lithuanian version shall prevail. |
Who is eligible?
All entities that meet the status of an SME under the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Business, and meet at least one of the following criteria:
- That have been operating for the period not exceeding 3 years from the day of registration of an enterprise or self-employment;
- That are implementing the projects of social impact and that have been operating for the period not exceeding 5 years from the day of registration of an enterprise or self-employment;
- That were established in Lithuania not earlier than on 24 February 2022, the stakeholder of which (shareholder, member, partner) or the owner of which is a Ukrainian citizen holding the Lithuanian residence permit or a Ukrainian legal entity that has been operating not more than 5 years.
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That is a SME that has been operating for no longer than 5 years and in which at least one participant* is over 55 years of age and has held more than 50% of the company’s shares, stakes, or contributions for at least one year prior to the loan application submission;
- That is an entrepreneur over 55 years of age, operating for no longer than 5 years.
* Participant – a shareholder, member, stakeholder, unit holder, or any other entity participating in the Client’s capital.
Loan amount and duration
- In case of investment financing - loans up to EUR 3 000 000. Loan’s term is 10 years.
- In case of supplementation of circulating assets - loans up to EUR 500 000. Loan’s term is 3 years.
While there is no restriction on the number of loans per Borrower, the total outstanding loan balances under the Facility must not exceed EUR 3,000,000 for the same Borrower at any given time.
A grant of up to 30% of the loan amount may be provided.
Loan interest
A variable annual interest rate applies to borrower.
- Borrower operating for no longer than 3 years are eligible for a 50% discount on the annual loan interest rate.
- A 70% discount on the annual loan interest rate applies to borrowers who meet at least one of the following criteria:
- are implementing Social Impact Projects and have been operating for no longer than 5 years;
- are established in Lithuania no earlier than February 24, 2022, and have a participant (shareholder, member, stakeholder, unit holder, or other entity participating in the Client’s capital) or owner who is a citizen of Ukraine or a Ukrainian legal entity holding a residence permit in Lithuania, and the company has been operating for no longer than 5 years;
- are Ukrainian citizens who have obtained a residence permit in Lithuania no earlier than February 24, 2022, and are operating in Lithuania as entrepreneurs for no longer than 5 years;
- are SMEs that have been operating for no longer than 5 years, in which at least one participant (shareholder, member, stakeholder, unit holder, or other entity participating in the Client’s capital) is over 55 years of age and has held more than 50% of the SME’s shares, units, or contributions for at least one year prior to the loan application submission;
- are entrepreneurs over 55 years of age, operating for no longer than 5 years.
Preliminary interest rate calculator is available in Lithuanian version.
Where to apply?
The application for loan shall be addressed to ILTE. It shall be submitted together with the supporting documents via the application submission system (Lithuanian language version).
ILTE evaluates the submitted application no later than within 30 working days, counting from the date of all correctly submitted documents.
The grant may be provided at the borrower's discretion, indicated in the application for the loan.
The grant amount is up to 30% of the loan amount granted. The corresponding portion of the loan will be written off (reducing the loan amount). The decision regarding the potential grant is made concurrently with the decision to grant the loan.
The grant is awarded if all of the following conditions are met:
- The borrower qualifies as a micro-enterprise, small enterprise, or individual entrepreneur.
- The borrower receives a loan intended for investment financing.
- The borrower has sufficient remaining state aid allowance (i.e., the maximum allowable amount of state aid is not exceeded).
- The borrower has implemented the project.
| You may apply for a loan if you meet the following conditions:
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You, as the borrower, meet at least one of the following criteria:
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| The state and/or municipality does not hold, or holds less than 25% of, the company’s shares, units, or other capital representing ownership in the company. |
| You do not operate in the agriculture sector and do not engage in fisheries or aquaculture activities. |
| The activity for which funding is requested is not a financial or insurance activity, except in cases where financial technologies are being developed. |
| The activity for which funding is requested is not related to: the specialized retail of weapons and ammunition, the manufacture and/or wholesale of tobacco products, gambling or betting operations, wholesale of spirits or other alcoholic beverages. |
| You operate in the Republic of Lithuania. |
| You meet the minimum criteria for reliable taxpayers. |
| You are not a company undergoing bankruptcy, restructuring, or liquidation. If you are an entrepreneur, you have not been declared bankrupt as an individual. |
| You have not received state aid that was declared as unlawfully granted by the ILTE or found to be incompatible with the EU internal market by the European Commission, or you have fully repaid such aid including interest. |
| Neither you, your manager, representative, persons in your ownership and management structure, beneficiary, nor natural or legal persons for whom the loan will be used, nor subjects involved in the transaction and/or payment and supply chain are subject to international sanctions and/or restrictive measures. |
| Your equity ratio (ratio of equity to total assets) after receiving the loan is not less than 0.1, calculated according to the most recent set of financial statements or interim financial statements as defined in Article 3 of the Law on Financial Reporting by Undertakings and Groups of the Republic of Lithuania. |
| At the time of loan granting, you are not considered to be in difficulty, as defined in Article 2(18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation. |
| You and your related companies have submitted to the administrator of the Register of Legal Entities (when required under Lithuanian law) the financial statements for the last two financial years, clearly indicating the composition of equity. If you have been operating for less than two years, a financial statement for a shorter period is submitted. |
| You do not have, or have terminated, trade relations with individuals and/or legal entities from countries hostile to the Republic of Lithuania by August 31, 2022. |
| You, your manager, representative, persons in your ownership and management structure, and beneficiaries are not related to money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion and/or other related criminal activity. |
| In the last 5 years, neither you, your manager, a member of the administration, management or supervisory body, nor any person authorized to represent you, make decisions, or exercise control has been convicted by a final court or administrative decision for serious professional misconduct, fraud, corruption, participation in a criminal organization, money laundering, terrorist financing, terrorist offenses or offenses related to terrorism, child labor or other human trafficking-related crimes, etc. |
| In the last 5 years, there have been no final court or administrative decisions declaring you guilty or criminally liable for failure to fulfill tax or social security payment obligations. |
| The activity for which funding is requested does not fall under the cases listed in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No. 2021/1058. |
| The investment is not physically completed or fully implemented by the date of the funding decision, as specified in the second subparagraph of Article 58(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. |
| You have submitted all required documents. |
* Participant – shareholder, member, stakeholder, unit holder, or another entity participating in the borrower’s capital.
** Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Marijampolė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Tauragė, Telšiai, and Utena counties.
*** Vilnius county.
All requirements are described in the description (Lithuanian language)
The instrument is subject to state aid.
| Business operators | Micro- or small enterprise | Medium-sized enterprise |
| The loan is granted | According to the General Block Exemption Regulation | According to the Regulation de minimis |
| Applied provisions of the Regulation |
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In the case of investment financing, private financiers must participate in the implementation of the project, contributing no less than 20% of the project's costs (calculated without VAT, except in cases where the loan recipient is not a VAT payer), of which at least 10% of the project costs must come from the loan recipient's own funds. The loan amount provided by ILTE cannot exceed 80% of the investment project’s costs (calculated without VAT, except in cases where the loan recipient is not a VAT payer).
A private financier can be the loan recipient or a private individual or legal entity operating in the Republic of Lithuania or a foreign country, contributing to the implementation of the project.
The project being financed must be recognized as economically viable and financially sustainable at the time of ILTE's application evaluation.