As of today, April 20, 2020, after many weeks of expectations, the Slovak Guarantee and Development Bank (“SZRB”) launched incentive credit loan product “Working capital loan ENTREPRENEUR 2020” (“Loan”) for small and medium businesses in order to mitigate the negative economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Slovak Republic by financing operational costs for keeping the operation and employment, investments in assets for keeping the operation and employment and for repaying liabilities to Social security and health insurance.

Basic parameters of the Loan

The incentive includes, in addition to the provision of the Loan by SZRB with a fixed the interest rate of 4% p.a., the guarantee for the Loan by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic, a subsidy of the Loan up to 100% of the interest rate if all specified conditions are met. The amount of the Loan is from EUR 10,000 to EUR 350,000 and can be up to 50% of the total turnover for 2019 with a maximum maturity of three (3) years with the possibility of postponing the principal and interest payments for the first 12 months. The Loan can be drawn-down at once or gradually.

Businesses which can apply for the Loan

All small and medium businesses (within the meaning of the handbook "New definition of small and medium businesses")^[1] who carry out the business activities within the meaning of the Commercial Code as amended and:

• Carry-out the business for at least one completed accounting period,
• do not have as a scope of business a temporary employment agency or brokerage of the employment,
• have no overdue liabilities for more than 180 days in respect to the Social security and / or health insurance, and
• no insolvency proceeding or restructuring has been initiated against them.

Exclusion of economic sectors from the aid

The sectors of fisheries and aquaculture, primary production in agriculture (and its marketing), activities with exports to third countries or the Member States, and aid which is conditional on the use of domestic over imported goods are excluded from the aid and possibility of a drawn-down of the Loan. If an entrepreneur operates in the above-excluded sectors and simultaneously in another sector, it can apply for the Loan for sectors not excluded from this aid provided that he/she secures the separation of the activities or the differentiation of costs so that activities excluded from this aid are not supported through the Loan.

Interest rate subsidy and the fees for the Loan

The interest rate subsidy of 4% p.a. is provided for the entire period of the Loan under conditions of maintaining the average number of employees compared to the previous period and reducing obligations towards the Social Insurance Agency or health insurance companies. According to the SZRB tariff, the successful applicant will pay a fee of 0.5% of the volume of the Loan and a monthly fee for a loan account in the amount of EUR 8.

The Loan application documents

Along with the application for the Loan, the entrepreneur must also submit an application for subsidy assistance of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic and, among other things, documents in the form of affidavits, which is probably due to the effort to eliminate unnecessary administration and speed up the entire process of assessing the applications for the Loan.

Please note that this article does not contain detailed regulation of conditions for the aid. As part of our social responsibility, we will be happy to assist the eligible entrepreneurs significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the preparation of the application for the Loan as well as with the preparation of the necessary documentation. Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..