The Regional Council, upon the proposal of Giuseppe Meloni, Councillor for Planning and Budget, has approved the restructuring of the resources of the Regional Guarantee Fund for SMEs and the activation of new financial instruments to support the Sardinian production system.
The intervention mobilizes 244.8 million euros destined for new lines of intervention for the provision of loans and the granting of guarantees and for the establishment of the special section of Sardinia in the Central Guarantee Fund for SMEs .
The goal, it explains, is to support businesses in investing, innovating, and accessing credit and complementary finance, in an economic phase marked by growing international uncertainty and increased prudence in the banking system.
The measure affects the Regional Guarantee Fund, which since its establishment with Law 1 of 2009 to date has enabled the release of over 800 million euros in bank and non-bank credit to companies on the island , supporting them during periods of credit crisis and moments of difficulty for the regional economy through the provision of over 320 million in guarantees.
The Fund currently has approximately €214.8 million. Of this, €48 million remains set aside to cover existing commitments, while the remainder is allocated to new instruments designed to meet the needs of an economic system profoundly changed compared to that of fifteen years ago, when it was established to facilitate access to credit.
Resource management will continue to be entrusted to Sfirs SpA, the Sardinia Region's financial company, which specializes in managing regional financial instruments for businesses.
"The reorganization approved by the Regional Council," Villa Devoto stated, "aims to broaden the lines of intervention available to regional businesses, combining traditional guarantees with new forms of financial support designed to support economic growth and encourage new investments." "Our task, as administrators, is also to monitor the changes underway and prepare businesses to address them," Councilor Meloni stated . She added: "Today's economic context is very different from that in which the Regional Guarantee Fund was created, one of the main financial instruments created by the Region to support Sardinia's productive system. Geopolitical tensions, rising energy costs, and the progressive tightening of conditions for accessing bank credit require new and more effective tools. For this reason, we have chosen to reorganize the resources already available in the Fund and to develop a strategy that will allow us to impact Sardinia's development through the financial instruments we are redesigning." We want to support those who invest and those who create jobs, providing certain opportunities for liquidity, access to credit, and complementary finance emerging from the production system," concludes the councilor.
The largest portion of the resources, 80 million euros, will be allocated to supporting major investments and infrastructure projects of strategic importance for Sardinia , through guarantee instruments capable of facilitating access to the financing needed to carry out projects with significant economic and employment benefits.
Another 28 million euros will be used to support business growth through financing, loans and innovative market tools, with particular attention to business development processes and generational turnover .
In addition, €20 million will be allocated to lending crowdfunding, a financing method that will allow companies to access new opportunities for raising funds for investment.
The Region is also allocating 28 million euros to innovative tools that will allow companies to transform the value of goods and inventories in warehouses into new liquidity to be reinvested in production .
An additional €10.8 million will be allocated to businesses most exposed to energy price fluctuations, through financial instruments aimed at mitigating the impact of energy price increases. Alongside these measures, the Regional Government has decided to establish, for the first time, a special Sardinian section within the Central Guarantee Fund for SMEs, with an initial allocation of €30 million.
The Central Guarantee Fund is the main national instrument that facilitates access to credit for small and medium-sized enterprises through public guarantees on loans granted by banks and financial intermediaries . The new Special Section will further increase access to credit for Sardinian businesses.
