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Consolidated version as at 6 January 2018

Order published by Register of Legal Acts (hereinafter RLA) on 20 June 2017; RLA ID Code: 2017-10282

ORDER REGARDING APPROVAL OF THE FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCING SMART FDI PROJECTS BASED ON MEASURE NO. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848

UNDER PRIORITY 1 “PROMOTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATIONS” OF THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION STRUCTURAL FUNDS FOR 2014-2020

PASSED BY THE MINISTER OF ECONOMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

20 June 2017 No. 4-363Vilnius

Pursuant to Article 6.2.7 of the Rules on Allocation of Responsibility and Functions among Institutions for the Implementation of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 approved by Resolution No. 528 on Allocation of Responsibility and Functions among Institutions for the Implementation of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 4 June 2014, I hereby

approve the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 (enclosed).

Minister of Energy,Interim Minister of Economy

Žygimantas Vaičiūnas

COORDINATED with the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania by Notice No. ((24.37-02)-5K-1708590; 5K-1710854)-6K-1703727) of 1 June 2017

APPROVED by Order No. 4-363 of 20 June 2017 passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania

FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCING SMART FDI PROJECTS BASED ON MEASURE NO. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848

UNDER PRIORITY 1 “PROMOTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATIONS” OF THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME OF

THE EUROPEAN UNION STRUCTURAL FUNDS FOR 2014-2020

CHAPTER IGENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the Framework) sets forth the requirements to be followed by applicants drafting and submitting grant proposals for funding of projects co-financed from the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Proposal) under the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 approved by the Implementing Decision of the European Commission of 8 September 2014 approving certain elements of the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the Operational Programme). For the purpose of promoting investments into economic growth and job creation, the Republic of Lithuania shall be granted financial aid from the European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund, European Social Fund and the allocation of the Youth Employment Initiative special envelope (the European Commission notified about the said decision by Notice No. C(2014)6397). The grants shall be given to entities implementing the projects co-financed from the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Projects) based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” (hereinafter referred to as Measure), provided that such Projects are financed in accordance with the Framework, and also to institutions evaluating and selecting Proposals and monitoring the implementation of Projects.

2. The Framework was drafted in compliance with the following documents:2.1. The Implementation Plan for Measures under the Priority Axis of the Investment

Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 approved by Order No. 4-933 On the Approval of the Implementation Plan for Measures under the Priority Axis of the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 and Approval of the Framework for Calculation of National Monitoring Indicators passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 December 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Measure Implementation Plan);

2.2. The Project Management and Financing Regulations approved by Order No. 1K-316 On the Approval of Project Management and Financing Regulations passed by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 8 October 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Project Regulations);

2.3. Articles 13, 14, 25 and 29 of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ 2014 L 187, p. 1) as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1084 of 16 June 2017 (OJ 2017 L 156, p. 1) (hereinafter referred to as the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER));

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2.4. Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ 2013, L 352, p. 1) (hereinafter referred to as the De Minimis Aid Regulation);

2.5. Annex to the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 approved by Resolution No. 1326 On the Approval of the Annex to the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 26 November 2014;

2.6. Framework for Calculation of National Monitoring Indicators of the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 approved by Order No. 1K-499 On the Approval of the Framework for Calculation of Monitoring Indicators for the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 passed by the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 30 December 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Framework for Calculation of Monitoring Indicators for the Operational Programme);

2.7. Recommendations on the Eligibility of Project Expenditure in the European Union Structural Funds approved by Minutes No. 34 of 4 July 2014 (as last amended) adopted by the Steering Committees for the Human Resource Development Operational Programme, Economic Growth Operational Programme, Operational Programme for Promotion of Cohesion and Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020, and published on the website of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU) Structural Funds, i.e. www.esinvesticijos.lt (hereinafter referred to as the Recommendations on the Eligibility of Project Expenditure).

Article amendments:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published by RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

3. The definitions used in this Framework shall have the meanings defined in the legal norms and documents listed in Article 2 hereof, Rules on Allocation of Responsibility and Functions among Institutions for the Implementation of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 approved by Resolution No. 528 on Allocation of Responsibility and Functions among Institutions for the Implementation of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 4 June 2014 and Rules for Management of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 approved by Resolution No. 1090 On Approval of the Rules for Management of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 3 October 2014.

4. The following are other terms and definitions used in the Framework:4.1. Large Enterprise shall mean any legal entity which does not comply with the

definition of a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise within the meaning of the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development).

4.2. Experimental Development shall have the same meaning as applied pilot activity defined in Article 2 (86) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.3. Innovations shall mean the implementation of organisational and procedural innovations.

4.4. Enterprise Group shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Consolidated Financial Reporting of Enterprise Groups of the Republic of Lithuania.

4.5. Microenterprise shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development.

4.6. Decisive Influence shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Competition of the Republic of Lithuania.

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4.7. Lithuanian Higher Education and Research Institution (hereinafter referred to as the Higher Education and Research Institution) shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Lithuania.

4.8. Small Enterprise shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development.

4.9. Research shall have the same meaning as industrial research defined in Article 2 (85) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.10. Research and/or Experimental Development and Innovation Infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the R&DI Infrastructure) shall mean the infrastructure necessary for research and/or experimental development, inter alia, facilities complying with the requirements of good manufacturing practice as defined in the guidelines on good manufacturing practice of the respective field (provided that such guidelines are publicly available, e.g. on the Internet) and the requirements of good laboratory practice (provided that these requirements are publicly available, e.g. on the Internet) that are necessary for the implementation of the said activities. If no standing good manufacturing or laboratory practices exist, the specific nature of the infrastructure of the project, e.g., high hygiene, vibration or similar requirements for facilities are usually typical of high-technology enterprises, might be taken into consideration.

4.11. Implementation of Organisational Innovation shall have the same meaning as defined in Article 2 (96) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.12. Initial Investment shall have the same meaning as defined in Article 2 (49) (a) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.13. Implementation of Process Innovation shall have the same meaning as defined in Article 2 (97) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.14. Independent Enterprise shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development.

4.15. Undertaking in Difficulty shall have the same meaning as defined in Article 2 (18) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.16. Foreign Investor (Natural Person or Legal Entity) shall mean a foreign legal entity and/or natural person that invests their own or borrowed assets or assets under fiduciary management in accordance with the procedure established by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.

Article amendments:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published by the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

4.17. State Aid Beneficiary shall mean an economic entity which has been granted state aid.

4.18. Effective Collaboration shall have the same meaning as defined in Article 2 (90) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

4.19. Medium-Sized Enterprise shall have the same meaning as defined in the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development.

5. The implementation of the Measure shall be supervised by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) and the Public Institution Lithuanian Business Support Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Managing Authority).

6. The form of finance under the Measure shall be a non-repayable grant.7. The Project selection under the Measure shall be continuous project selection.8. In accordance with the Framework, the estimated amount to be allocated for the

implementation of the Projects shall be up to EUR 39,137,278 (thirty nine million one hundred and thirty-seven thousand two hundred and seventy-eight euro) of the EU structural funds (i.e., the European Regional Development Fund), out of which EUR 5,689,120 (five million six hundred and eighty-nine thousand one hundred and twenty euro) shall be the reserve fund of the European Regional Development Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Performance Reserve), which could be allocated to finance the Project subject to the approval of an amendment to the Annex of the Operational Programme by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, whereby the Performance

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Reserve would be allocated for the implementation of Priority 1 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations”. If, following an open call for proposals, the amount requested to be financed under the favourably assessed Proposals is higher than the allocated amount, the Managing Authority may submit a proposal to the Ministry to increase the allocation of finance for this call for proposals. Subject to the Ministry’s approval, the amount for the call for proposals may be increased within the limit of the total allocated funds for this Measure provided for in the Measure Implementation Plan and without violating the legitimate expectations of the applicants.

9. The purpose of the Measure is to attract foreign investments into research and/or experimental development and innovations (hereinafter referred to as R&DI) in the Republic of Lithuania under Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) approved by Resolution No. 951 On the Approval of Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 14 October 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Smart Specialisation Areas).

10. The following activities shall be financed:10.1. Foreign direct investment into research and/or experimental development (hereinafter

referred to as R&D) activities;10.2. Foreign direct investment developing a new or expanding the existing R&DI

infrastructure of an enterprise;10.3. Foreign direct investment into activities related to the Implementation of Process and

Organisational Innovations.11. An applicant may choose to implement all of the three activities indicated in Article

10 of the Framework or two activities out of the three indicated in Article 10 hereof or one of the activities indicated in Articles 10.1 and 10.2 hereof.

12. The first call for proposals for eligible activities under the Framework is planned to be launched in the second quarter of 2017.

13. Inapplicable as of 04-NOV-2017.Article amendments:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published in the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

14. The financing to be allocated under the Framework is state aid which shall comply with all the conditions stipulated in Chapter I of the General Block Exemption Regulation and the relevant specific conditions stipulated in Chapter III of the General Block Exemption Regulation:

14.1. The financing to be allocated to the activities indicated in Article 10.1 hereof shall comply with the provisions of Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation and the De Minimis Aid Regulation;

Article amendments:No. 4-2 of 05-JAN-2018, published by RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

14.2. The financing to be allocated to the activities indicated in Article 10.2 hereof shall comply with the provisions of Articles 13 and 14 of the General Block Exemption Regulation;

14.3. The financing to be allocated to the activities indicated in Article 10.3 hereof shall comply with the provisions of Article 29 of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

15. The state aid granted under the Framework shall be deemed as having an incentive effect if it complies with the provisions of Article 6 (2) of the General Block Exemption Regulation. At the time of Proposal evaluation, the Managing Authority shall verify the applicant’s eligibility to state aid under the General Block Exemption Regulation and, provided that the Ministry decides to finance the Project, the Managing Authority shall register the amount of granted state aid in the Register of Granted State and De Minimis Aid within 5 business days. The statutes of the Register of Granted State and De Minimis Aid were approved by Resolution No. 35 On the Approval of the Statutes of the Register of Granted State and De Minimis Aid passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 January 2005.

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CHAPTER II REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICANTS AND PARTNERS

16. In accordance with the Framework, potential applicants may be private legal entities incorporated (acquired) by a Foreign Investor (Natural Person or Legal Entity) in the Republic of Lithuania, which is under the Decisive Influence of the said Foreign Investor, or a Foreign Investor (Legal Entity) or a branch of the Foreign Investor (Legal Entity) founded in the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with Article 23.4 of the Framework.


17. The following are potential partners as set forth in the Framework:17.1. Private legal entities and/or Higher Education and Research Institutions may be

partners for the purpose of activities stipulated in Article 10.1 hereof;17.2. No partners may be involved for activities stipulated in Article 10.2 hereof; 17.3. If the Applicant carrying out the activity stipulated in Article 10.3 hereof is a Large

Enterprise, a Microenterprise, Small and/or Medium-Sized Enterprise shall be selected as a partner.18. The Applicant (entity implementing the project) and its partner(s) shall be Independent

Enterprises as defined in the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development for the purpose of achieving Effective Collaboration in accordance with Articles 50 and 75 of the Framework.

19. Financing may be allocated to Applicants and partners in all areas, except for the cases provided for in Article 3 (3) of Regulation (EU) No. 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and Council of 17 December 2013 on the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions concerning the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 (OJ 2013 L 347, p. 289) and in accordance with the restrictions stipulated in Article 1 (2)-(5), Articles 4 and 13, and Article 14 (16) of the General Block Exemption Regulation. In accordance with the Framework, financing shall not be allocated to the Applicant (partner) categorized as an Undertaking in Difficulty and also if the Applicant (partner) failed to return the previously granted state aid which had been acknowledged as illegal and incompatible with internal market by the decision of the European Commission.


20. If submitted together with a partner(s), the Proposal shall be accompanied by a copy of a valid joint venture (partnership) agreement or a letter of intent for cooperation. The joint venture (partnership) agreement shall be signed by the Applicant and all Project partners. If the Proposal is submitted together with a letter of intent for cooperation, a copy of the signed and valid joint venture (partnership) agreement must be submitted prior to signing the agreement on project management and financing.


21. The joint venture (partnership) agreement shall explicitly state the rights and obligations of the parties with regard to the Project (i.e. the financial and intellectual contribution of each party to the Project, activities to be carried out by each of the parties, the right to jointly developed or acquired assets, project deliverables, etc.), liability of the parties and their commitment to adhere to the good partnership practice as follows:

21.1. All partners must have read the Proposal and familiarized themselves with the undertaken rights and obligations in the Project;

21.2. The entity implementing the Project shall consult the partners throughout the entire Project and inform the partners about the Project progress on a regular basis;

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21.3. The entity implementing the Project shall supply all partners with copies of the reports submitted to the Managing Authority;

21.4. All amendments to the Project affecting the rights and obligations of the partners shall firstly be coordinated with the partners before seeking the approval of the Managing Authority.

CHAPTER III REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE PROJECTS

22. The Project shall comply with the general project requirements established in Article 10 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations.

23. The Project shall comply with the following specific project selection criteria adopted by Resolution No. 44P-2.1 (24) of 30 March 2017 passed by the Monitoring Committee of the Investment Operational Programme of the EU Structural Funds for 2014–2020:

23.1. The Project complies with the Lithuanian Innovation Development Programme for 2014-2020 approved by Resolution No. 1281 Regarding the Approval of the Lithuanian Innovation Development Programme for 2014–2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 18 December 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Lithuanian Innovation Development Programme for 2014-2020) (it is assessed whether the Project contributes to the implementation of Target 1 “To Promote Investments into High Value-Added Activities” of the second objective “To Enhance Innovation Potential of Business” of the Lithuanian Innovation Development Programme for 2014-2020, i.e. whether the product(s) developed during the Project or following the Project’s implementation is (are) new only to the firm, new to the operating market or new to the world as defined in Oslo Manual. Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological Innovation Data, 3rd edition, 2005, the publication developed jointly by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Eurostat).

23.2. The Project complies with the Investment Promotion and Industrial Development Programme for 2014–2020 approved by Resolution No. 986 Regarding the Approval of the Investment Promotion and Industrial Development Programme for 2014–2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 17 September 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Investment Promotion and Industrial Development Programme for 2014–2020) (it is assessed whether the Project contributes to the first objective “To Enhance Direct Investments into Manufacturing and Service Sectors” of the Investment Promotion and Industrial Development Programme for 2014–2020).

23.3. The Project complies with the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) approved by Resolution No. 411 On the Approval of the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 30 April 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) and the Operational Plan of at least one of the priorities listed in the Programme (it is assessed whether the Project contributes to the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation), the implementation of the Operational Plan of at least one of the priorities listed in the Programme, and the thematic specificity of the priority identified in the respective Operational Plan).

23.4. The investor (Applicant) must have invested into the manufacturing or service sector in the Republic of Lithuania no earlier than 10 years before filing the Proposal and is planning to launch R&DI activities in the Republic of Lithuania or the investor (Applicant) has not carried out any activities in the Republic of Lithuania and intends to launch R&DI activities in the Republic of Lithuania (the intention is to specify a range of applicants to attract new foreign investors. It is assessed whether the investor (Applicant) has invested into the manufacturing or service sector in the Republic of Lithuania no earlier than 10 years prior to submitting the Proposal and intends to

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launch R&DI activities in the Republic of Lithuania or whether the investor (applicant) has never operated in the Republic of Lithuania and intends to launch R&DI activities in the Republic of Lithuania)

24. The project shall contribute to the implementation of at least one objective stipulated in the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region as approved by the European Commission Communication No. COM(2012) 128 of 23 March 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the EUSBSR), published on the European Commission’s website http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/lt/policy/cooperation/macro-regional-strategies/baltic-sea/library/#1, in accordance with the political area “Innovation” under the Operational Plan of the EUSBSR approved by the European Commission Decision No. SWD(2015)177 final of 10 September 2015 published on the European Commission’s website http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/lt/policy/cooperation/macro-regional-strategies/baltic-sea/library/#1.

25. Large-scale projects co-financed from the EU structural funds shall not be financed under the Framework.

26. The Projects to be financed under the Framework shall comply with Article 8 of the Law on Investment of Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as the Law on Investment). If the Managing Authority assessing the Project determines that the Project qualifies for the restrictions stipulated in Article 8 (2-3), the said Managing Authority shall address competent authorities and upon receipt of clarification therefrom that the project does not meet the requirements stipulated in Article 8 of the Law on Investment, the Proposal shall be rejected.

27. The duration of the project activities under the Framework shall not exceed:27.1. 24 months from the date of signing the project grant agreement to be co-financed from

the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Grant Agreement), if only the activities stipulated in Article 10.1 or Articles 10.1 and 10.3 hereof are intended to be implemented;

27.2. 36 months from the date of signing the project grant agreement to be co-financed from the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Grant Agreement), if only the activities stipulated in Article 10.2 hereof or if more than one activity, one of which is stipulated in Article 10.2 hereof, are intended to be implemented.

28. In certain cases, the duration of the implementation of the project activities stipulated in Article 27 hereof may be extended due to objective reasons that the entity implementing the project could not foresee at the time of submitting the Proposal and during its evaluation. The term shall be extended following the procedure stipulated in the Project Regulations but without breaching the terms and conditions set forth in Articles 213.1 and 213.5 of the Project Regulations.

29. The Project may be launched only upon registration of the Proposal with the Managing Authority; however, any project expenditure incurred from the moment of the registration of the Proposal with the Managing Authority until the signing of the Grant Agreement shall be at the Applicant’s and partner(s)’ own risk. If the implementation of the Project for which financing is sought is launched prior to the registration of the Proposal with the Managing Authority, the Project becomes entirely ineligible and no financing shall be allocated thereto.

30. The Project activities shall be implemented in the Republic of Lithuania or in other country, provided that the products, deliverables or benefits (or a portion thereof proportional to the financial contribution of the Republic of Lithuania) developed under the Project shall belong to the Republic of Lithuania. If the Project activities are to be carried out a country other than the Republic of Lithuania, this country must be a member state and the expenditure of any such activities must not exceed 15% of the eligible expenditure.


31. In the proposal, the Applicant shall specify the smart specialization and priority areas listed in the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental

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(Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) that the Project shall be attributed to and shall also indicate the thematic specificity that applies to the Project. The final decision of (non)attributing the given Project Proposal to the specific smart specialisation or priority area shall be made by the Managing Authority during the evaluation. In the event that the Managing Authority determines that the Project shall be attributed to a different smart specialisation and/or priority area than the one indicated by the Applicant, the latter shall be given the possibility to clarify the information on the smart specialisation and priority area stipulated in the Proposal on the basis of the evaluation performed by the Managing Authority. In the event that the Applicant refuses to clarify the information, the Proposal shall be rejected.

32. The Project shall have to achieve the following monitoring indicators of the Measure, some of which that are listed in Articles 32.1, 32.2 and 32.4 or 32.5 of the Framework shall be mandatory for the Applicant (the applicant shall choose at least one of the two indicators as mandatory):

Article amendments:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published by the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-1744932.1. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises receiving grants, code P.B.

202;32.2. Product monitoring indicator: private investments complying with public support to

innovations or R&D projects, code P.B. 227;32.3. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises cooperating with research

institutions, code P.B. 226;32.4. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises that have received

investments for the purpose of launching new products to the market, code P.B. 228;32.5. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises that have received

investments for the purpose of developing new products within the enterprise, code P.B. 229;32.6. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises that have received

investments for the purpose of creating long-term jobs, code P.N. 804;32.7. Product monitoring indicator: the number of enterprises that have received

investments for the purpose of developing products, services or process prototypes (concepts), code P.N. 814 (the indicator becomes mandatory if the Project activities fall under Article 10.1 of the Framework);


32.8. Result monitoring indicator: jobs for researchers created in enterprises that have received investments, code R.N. 811.

33. The monitoring indicators of the Measure stipulated in Articles 32.6, 32.7 and 32.8 of the Framework are calculated in accordance with the Framework for Calculation of National Monitoring Indicators approved by Order No. 4-933 On the Approval of the Implementation Plan for Measures under the Priority Axis of the Investment Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 and Approval of the Framework for Calculation of National Monitoring Indicators passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 December 2014. The monitoring indicators of the Measure stipulated in Articles 32.1, 32.2, 32.3, 32.4 and 32.5 of the Framework are calculated in accordance with the Framework for Calculation of Monitoring Indicators of the Operational Programme. The frameworks for the calculation of all the monitoring indicators of the Measure stipulated in Article 32 of the Framework are published on the EU Structural Funds website www.esinvesticijos.lt.

34. Requirements on project management maturity shall not apply.35. The Project shall have no restrictions that could have an adverse effect upon the

implementation of the principles of gender equality, non-discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, language, origin, social standing, faith, beliefs and views, age, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.

http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/

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36. The Project shall have no activities that could adversely affect the implementation of the sustainable development principle.

37. The activities under the Project shall be launched no later than 6 months from signing the Grant Agreement in case of undertaking the activities stipulated in Article 10.1 hereof or activities stipulated in Articles 10.2 and 10.3 hereof, or not later than 12 months from signing the Grant Agreement in case of undertaking only the activity stipulated in Article 10.2 hereof or undertaking more than one activity, including one of the activities stipulated in Article 10.2 hereof.

38. The Project and Project activities could not have been and cannot be funded from the State and/or municipality budget of the Republic of Lithuania, other financial resources at the disposal of the State and/or municipalities, EU Structural Funds or other measures of the EU financial assistance or other international aid, if upon giving a grant of the EU Structural Funds, such measures would be recognised eligible for funding and/or been paid more than once.

CHAPTER IVREQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE EXPENDITURE AND FINANCING

SECTION ONEGENERAL REQUIREMENTS

39. The Project expenditure shall comply with the requirements set forth in Chapter VI of the Project Regulations and the Recommendations on the Eligibility of Project Expenditure in the European Union Structural Funds.

40. The maximum grant amount that may be allocated to the Project shall be:40.1. EUR 3,000,000 (three million euro) for the activity stipulated in Article 10.1 hereof;40.2. EUR 6,500,000 (six million five hundred thousand euro) for the activity stipulated in

Article 10.2 hereof;40.3. EUR 500,000 (five hundred thousand euro) for the activity stipulated in Article 10.3

hereof;41. The minimum grant amount that could be allocated to the Project shall be EUR

50,000 (fifty thousand euro).42. Acquisition or leasing (financial leasing) expenses and depreciation expenses of the

same assets shall not be eligible, i.e., the same long-term asset shall be either acquired (including the possibility of leasing (financial leasing)) as provided for in Table 4 of the Framework applying Article 14 of the General Block Exemption Regulation or the depreciation expenses of the same long-term asset may be financed as provided for in Table 4 of the Framework applying Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation and Table 6 of the Framework applying Article 29 of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

43. In addition to the requirements stipulated in Chapter VI of the Project Regulations, the Project expenditure shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 13, 14, 25 and 29 of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

44. The Project budget shall be compiled following the Recommendations on the Eligibility of Project Expenditure in the European Union Structural Funds. The Project budget table provided in the Proposal form shall be completed following the Instructions on Completing the Project Budget Form provided in the Recommendations on the Eligibility of Project Expenditure in the European Union Structural Funds.

45. The Project expenditure financed at a flat rate indicated in Item 7 of Table 2 and Item 7 of Table 6 of the Framework shall comply with Article 35 of Chapter VI of the Project Regulations.

46. The following shall be regarded as ineligible expenditure under the Framework:46.1. Expenditure Set forth in Article 34 of Chapter VI of the Project Regulations;46.2. Expenditure not listed in Tables 2, 4 and 6 of the Framework.

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47. The state aid expenditure eligible for funding that can be determined and may be subject to exemption under the General Block Exemption Regulation may be cumulated together with the following:

47.1. Any other state aid, provided that these measures are related to different categories of eligible expenditure which may be identified;

47.2. Any other state aid related to the same eligible expenditure which may partially or fully coincide, provided that the total amount does not exceed the allowed state aid intensity or the total amount of state aid under the General Block Exemption Regulation is applicable to the same state aid.

48. State aid which is subject to exemption under Article 8(5) of the General Block Exemption Regulation shall not be cumulated with any de minimis aid related to the same eligible expenditure, where such accumulation would result in exceeding the state aid intensity referred to in Resolution No. 571 On Regional Aid Map of the Republic of Lithuania for 2014−2020 passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 25 June 2014 (where state aid is granted on the basis of Article 14 of the General Block Exemption Regulation), Article 25 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (where state aid is granted in accordance with this Article) or Article 29 of the General Block Exemption Regulation (where state aid is granted in accordance with this Article).

49. In the event that the entity implementing the Project fails to reach the set monitoring indicators of the Measure, the provisions of Article 22 of Chapter IV of the Project Regulations shall apply.

SECTION TWOSTATE AID GRANTED TO ACTIVITY INDICATED IN ARTICLE 10.1 OF THE

FRAMEWORK UNDER ARTICLE 25 OF THE GENERAL BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION AND DE MINIMIS AID REGULATION

Change of title of the Article:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published by the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

50. The co-financing rate of the Project (calculated as a percentage of the total eligible expenditure of the activity indicated in Article 10.1 of the Framework) is indicated in Table 1 hereinafter.

Table 1. Co-financing rate of the Project.

No.R&D activities

Possible increase of the base co-financing rate up to a maximum of 80 percent of the

total eligible expenditure

The maximum threshold with respect to the status of the state

aid beneficiary

Base co-financing rate

Increase for Medium-Sized Enterprises

Increase for Small and Microenterprises

Increase for Effective Collaboration, provided that the conditions stipulated in Article 25(6)(b) of the General Block Exemption Regulation are met

Large Enterprise

Medium-Sized Enterprise

Small or Microenterprise

1. Research 50% 10 percentage

20 percentage

15 percentage

65% 75% 80%

11

points points points 2. Experime

ntal development

25% 10 percentage points

20 percentage points

15 percentage points

40% 50% 60%

51. The co-financing rate of the Project shall be determined individually for each state aid beneficiary (including the partner).

52. The portion of the eligible expenditure of the Project not covered by the allocated grant shall be financed from the funds of the entity implementing the Project and/or its partner.

53. The Applicant and/or partner may contribute to the Project implementation with a larger amount of funds than is required at their own initiative and/or using their own or other sources of financing.

54. If the Project is implemented jointly with partners, the Applicant shall incur no less than 50 percent of the eligible expenditure of the activity indicated in Article 10.1 of the Framework and, if it is subject to an increase of the co-financing rate for Effective Collaboration as indicated in Table 1 hereof, no more than:


54.1. 70 percent of the eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof, provided that the partner or one of the partners is a Microenterprise, Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise;

54.2. 90 percent of the eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof, provided that the partner or one of the partners is a Higher Education and Research Institution.

55. If the Project is implemented with partners and is subject to an increase of the co-financing rate for Effective Collaboration as indicated in Table 1 hereof, the partner shall incur no less than:

55.1. 10 percent the eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof, provided that the partner is a Higher Education and Research Institution. If more than one Higher Education and Research Institution are acting as partners, they shall jointly incur no less than 10 percent of the eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.

55.2. 30 of the eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof, provided that the partner is a Small, Medium-Sized or Microenterprise. If more than one legal entity are acting as partners (one of which must be a Small, Medium-Sized or Microenterprise), they shall jointly incur no less than 30 percent of eligible expenditure allocated for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.

56. If the Project is implemented with a Higher Education and Research Institution as a project partner, the latter’s contribution into the project may also be in-kind, e.g. voluntary work, which shall be accounted for in fixed rates in accordance with the procedure stipulated in Article 420.2 of the Project Regulations on the basis of the “Study Report on Determination of Fixed Pay Rates in Research Projects” approved by Order No. V-227 On the Approval of the Study Report on Determination of Fixed Pay Rates in Research Projects passed by the Chairman of the Research Council of Lithuania on 10 November 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Study Report on Determination of Fixed Pay Rates in Research Projects). Voluntary work shall not be paid for using the Project financing funds but shall be accounted for and indicated in the Proposal for the purpose of evaluating the contribution of the Higher Education and Research Institution to the Project implementation.

57. Expenditure incurred by partners and complying with the requirements set forth in Article 39 hereof and the conditions stipulated in Table 2 hereinafter shall be qualified as eligible expenditure. Such expenditure, however, shall be covered by the entity implementing the Project.

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The financing for the Project implementation shall be received by the entity implementing the project directly, who shall in turn pay the partners. The partners shall not receive any financing directly. The financing intensity to partners shall be subject to monitoring and verification upon receipt of payment requests. The entity implementing the Project shall transfer the allocated amount of financing to the partners within 5 business days from the receipt of the respective request to pay. The entity implementing the Project is not entitled to the financing allocated for the partner.

58. Table 2 of the Framework sets forth the categories of eligible and ineligible expenditure.

Table 2. Eligible and ineligible expenditureExpenditure

category No.

Expenditure category Requirements and clarifications

1. Land Ineligible expenditure.

2. Immovable property Ineligible expenditure.

3.

Construction, reconstruction, repairs and other works

Ineligible expenditure.

4. Plant, fixtures and other assets

Eligible expenditure shall encompass acquisition costs of patented know-how and inventions or rights under a license agreement from external sources under normal market conditions, i.e. when an acquisition is made from external sources at market prices on the basis of a contract made by the parties, provided there are no elements of a secret arrangement. Along with expenditure stipulated in Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of Table 2 hereinafter, such expenditure shall not account for more than 50 percent of the eligible expenditure for an activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.Acquisition costs of software licenses shall not be deemed eligible expenditure.

5. Project implementation

The following expenditure shall be qualified as eligible:5.1. Acquisition costs of R&D services from external sources under normal market conditions, i.e. when acquisition is made from external sources at market prices on the basis of a contract concluded by the parties, provided there are no elements of a secret arrangement by the parties;5.2. Acquisition costs of consultation or equivalent services to be used exclusively for R&D activity, also, acquisition cost of services that are not R&D but are required for R&D activities and are vital to achieve the Project goals;5.3. costs of patenting the products to be developed under the Project (these costs are eligible expenditure pursuant to De Minimis Aid Regulation and are paid under the simplified procedure applying the Fixed Rate for Invention Patenting and Design Registration on International Scale set forth on 7 April 2017 by the Study Report on Fixed Rates for Invention Patenting and Design Registration on International Scale published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/isradimu-patentavimo-ir-dizaino-registravimo-tarptautiniu-mastu-

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fiksuotuju-ikainiu-nustatymo-tyrimo-ataskaita);5.4. Expenses related to other operating costs directly related to R&D activity, such as costs for materials, low-value inventory, stock and similar products to be qualified as short-term assets;5.5. Depreciation expense of long-term tangible assets (fixtures, equipment, tools, facilities, machinery and installations, buildings and/or premises) used for R&D activities, provided that no public funds (including public funds of foreign states) have been used for their acquisition;5.6. Salaries and employment-related expenses for Project staff as part of the employer’s obligations calculated in the procedure provided for in labour laws and other laws regulating salaries and employment relations. Salary expenses for Project staff for annual paid leave and/or compensation for unused annual leave shall be paid by means of applying maximum flat rates of annual leave. The rates are fixed in accordance with the study performed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 January 2016 and titled “Study Report on Determination of Flat Rates of Annual Leave and Additional Leave Expenses” which is published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/kasmetiniu-atostogu-ismoku-fiksuotuju-normu-nustatymo-tyrimo-ataskaita (if a Higher Education and Research Institution is a project partner, the fixed rate shall be applied in accordance with the “Study Report on Determination of Fixed Pay Rates in Research Projects”);5.7. Business trip expenses of the Project staff calculated in accordance with the procedure established in the laws regulating calculation of business trip expenses. The transport expenses in the Republic of Lithuania for the Project staff working on the Project activities (business trips of the Project operations staff) shall be paid by applying fixed rates of fuel and public transport expenses. The fixed rates are determined on the basis of the study performed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 25 April 2015 and titled “Study Report on Determination of Fixed Rates of Fuel and Public Transport Expenses” which is published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/supaprastinto-islaidu-apmokejimo-tyrimai;5.8. Overheads directly related to Project implementation and distributed proportionately by type of activity (on a pro rata basis), i.e. equipment rental fees (except for equipment financed by the EU Structural Funds or other EU financial instruments); 5.9. Overheads directly related to Project implementation and distributed proportionately by type of activity (on a pro rata basis), i.e. rental for buildings or facilities necessary for Project implementation.

The expenditure stipulated in Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of Table 2 of the Framework together with the expenditure stipulated in

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Article 4 of Table 2 of the Framework shall not account for more than 50 percent of the total eligible expenditure for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.The expenditure stipulated in Articles 5.8 and 5.9 of Table 2 of the Framework together with the expenditure stipulated in Article 7 of Table 2 of the Framework shall not account for more than 10 percent of the total eligible expenditure for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.

6.Providing information about the Project


7.

Indirect expenditure and other expenditure at the flat rate of the Project

The indirect expenditure shall be calculated at flat rates in accordance with Annex 10 of the Project Regulations.

The expenditure stipulated in Article 7 of Table 2 of the Framework together with the expenditure stipulated in Articles 5.8 and 5.9 of Table 2 of the Framework shall not account for more than 10 percent of the total eligible expenditure for the activity indicated in Article 10.1 hereof.


59. If the Project is implemented jointly in partnership with a Higher Education and Research Institution it shall be presumed that the indirect state aid given via the Higher Education and Research Institution shall not be transfer to other legal entities participating in the Project, provided that one of the following conditions has been met:

59.1. the results not covered by intellectual property rights may be made publicly available and all intellectual rights to R&D and innovation results related to the activity of the Higher Education and Research Institution participating in the project are awarded entirely to the Higher Education and Research Institution, i.e. the Higher Education and Research Institution derives full economic benefit out of these rights and reserves the right to use all of if, in particular, the title and licence; these conditions may also be met if the Higher Education and Research Institution decides to continue concluding contracts on these rights, including giving licences to its partner;

59.2. when the Higher Education and Research Institution receives a compensation from a legal entity participating in the project which is equal to the market price of the respective intellectual property rights related to the activity of the Higher Education and Research Institution during project implementation and which are transferred to legal entities participating in the project, i.e. compensation for all economic benefit derived from such rights; in accordance with the general state aid principles and with regard to the fact that it may be difficult to objectively determine the market price for intellectual property rights, this condition shall be regarded as having been met if the Higher Education and Research Institution acting in the capacity of the seller negotiates for the highest benefit at the time of concluding an agreement on assignment of intellectual property rights. Any contribution by a legal entity participating in the project to cover expenses incurred by the Higher Education and Research Institution shall be deducted from such a compensation.

60. No indirect state aid might be granted if, having evaluated the joint venture (partnership) agreement concluded between the partners, the Managing Authority draws a conclusion that all intellectual rights to R&D and innovation results and possibilities for exercising the rights to these results shall be distributed among different partners and a proper record of this shall be made to reflect their interest in the project, work load, financial and other contribution to the Project implementation.

61. If none of the conditions given in Article 59 hereof have been met and having evaluated the Project in accordance with Article 60 of the Framework, the Managing Authority

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determines that state aid has been granted, the total value of the contribution of the Higher Education and Research Institution to the Project implementation (i.e. eligible expenditure) shall be regarded as state aid. The Managing Authority shall reduce the financed part of the Project by the value of this contribution either for the Applicant and/or partner depending on whichever of these has received the state aid (e.g. an enterprise implements a research project in partnership with a university. The co-financing rate for the enterprise is 50 percent. The eligible expenditure incurred by the enterprise amounts to EUR 600,000 (six hundred thousand euro). If the enterprise received a grant of EUR 300,000 (three hundred thousand euro) during the Project implementation and it turns out that at least one of the conditions stipulated in Article 59 hereof has not been met, e.g. the university transferred intellectual property rights to the enterprise at a price lower than the market price (the market price shall be determined in the manner prescribed in the internal procedure of the Managing Authority), i.e. the market price equals EUR 35,000 (thirty five thousand euro) but the university transferred the intellectual property rights at a compensation of EUR 15,000 (fifteen thousand euro), the financing granted to the enterprise under the Framework shall be reduced by EUR 20,000 (twenty thousand euro) (the financing allocated may not exceed EUR 280,000 (two hundred and eighty thousand euro).

SECTION THREESTATE AID GRANTED TO ACTIVITY INDICATED IN ARTICLE 10.2 OF THE

FRAMEWORK UNDER ARTICLE 14 OF THE GENERAL BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION


Table 3. Co-financing rate of the Project.No. Status of the Applicant The maximum threshold of the co-financing rate1. Large Enterprise 25 percent2. Medium-Sized Enterprise 35 percent3. Microenterprise or Small Enterprise 45 percent

63. The portion of the eligible expenditure of the Project not covered by the allocated grant shall be financed from the funds of the entity implementing the Project.

64. The Applicant may contribute to the Project implementation with a larger amount of funds than is required at their own initiative and/or using their own or other sources of financing.

65. The Applicant shall use its own financial resources or raise the funding from external sources without any public assistance and shall offer a financial contribution equal to at least 25% of the eligible expenditure allocated for an activity indicated in Article 10.2 hereof as provided for in Article 14 (14) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.

66. Categories of eligible and ineligible expenses under the Framework are listed in Table 4 of the Framework.

Table 4. Eligible and ineligible expenditure Expendit

ure category

No.




3. Construction, The following expenditure shall be qualified as eligible:

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reconstruction, repairs and other works

3.1. construction expenses attributable to R&DI infrastructure;3.2. reconstruction expenses and capital repairs attributable to R&DI infrastructure, provided that the reconstruction and capital repairs enhance the useful properties and/or extend the useful life of the asset.


Acquisition or leasing (financial leasing) expenses of the below listed long-term assets (the period of leasing (financial leasing) may not be longer than the period of the Project implementation, i.e. tangible assets acquired through leasing (financial leasing) shall become property of the entity implementing the Project before the end of project implementation). The following expenditure shall be qualified as eligible:4.1. The furniture directly necessary for the implementation of R&D activities and for furnishing newly established workplaces for researchers and auxiliary staff;4.2. Computer hardware. The expenses for this asset may not account for more than 50 percent of the total allocated expenditure for the activity indicated in Article 10.2 of the Framework, provided that the activity stipulated in Article 10.1 is not being implemented;4.3. The patents and licences related to the R&DI infrastructure or use thereof;4.4. Other plant, fixtures, tools and machinery attributable to the R&DI infrastructure.





7.



67. If state aid is granted for an initial investment related to a fundamental change in the existing production process of an enterprise or diversification of activities thereof, the eligible expenditure shall satisfy the provisions of Article 14 (7) of the General Block Exemption Regulation. Information as to whether state aid is requested for an initial investment related to a fundamental change in the existing production process of an enterprise or diversification of activities thereof shall be specified in the business plan requesting financing under the Measure; the recommended template and requirements for the contents thereof have been established in the Framework of Requirements for Financing Business Plans under measures administered by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 published on the website of the Ministry www.ukmin.lt (hereinafter referred to as the Business Plan).

68. All long-term tangible assets to be acquired in the Project shall be brand new (not second-hand) and produced not earlier than 3 years before the acquisition date.

69. For the purpose of calculating investment expenses, the intangible assets shall satisfy the following requirements:

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69.1. The assets must be used exclusively for the activity of the entity implementing the Project;

69.2. The assets must be prone to depreciation;69.3. The assets must be purchased under market conditions from third parties unrelated to

the buyer; 69.4. The assets must be included in the assets of the entity implementing the Project and

must remain associated with the Project for which the aid was granted for at least five years in the case of Large Enterprises or three years in the case of Microenterprises, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises after the grant is given.

70. If the R&DI infrastructure developed during the Project is intended to be used in production, the funds of the Measure may be granted to cover the part of the development and installation expenses of the R&D infrastructure proportionate to its intended use exclusively for R&D activities. The proportionality of the R&DI infrastructure to R&D activities being developed shall be determined by means of assessing the proportion of time when such infrastructure is going to be used exclusively for R&D activities and other activities not related to R&D. For the purpose of establishing whether an activity constitutes an R&D activity, the following documents shall be taken into account: the Framework of Recommended Classification of Research and Experimental Development Stages approved by Resolution No. 650 On the Approval of the Framework of Recommended Classification of Research and Experimental Development Stages passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 6 June 2012 and the Frascati Manual (measuring of research and experimental development activities and standard practices recommended for statistical reviews of research and experimental development, Frascati Manual, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2015). The time of using infrastructure for R&D activities shall include time used directly for R&D activities as well as time spent in preparation of the infrastructure for respective R&D activities and downtime in-between relevant R&D activities. In all cases the time used for R&D activities shall be economically reasonable.

SECTION FOUR STATE AID GRANTED TO ACTIVITY INDICATED IN ARTICLE 10.3 OF THE

FRAMEWORK UNDER ARTICLE 29 OF THE GENERAL BLOCK EXEMPTION REGULATION


Table 5. Co-financing rate of the Project. No.

Status of the state aid beneficiary The maximum threshold of the co-

financing rate1. Large Enterprise, provided that the requirements of Article 29 (2)

of the General Block Exemption Regulation have been satisfied15 percent

2. Microenterprise, Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise 50 percent

72. The co-financing rate of the Project shall be determined individually for each state aid beneficiary (including the partner).

73. The portion of the eligible expenditure of the Project not covered by the allocated grant shall be financed from the funds of the entity implementing the Project and/or its partner.

74. The Applicant and/or partner may contribute to the Project implementation with a larger amount of funds than is required at their own initiative and/or using their own or other sources of financing.

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75. If the Applicant falls within the category of Large Enterprise, it shall effectively collaborate with partner(s), such as Microenterprises, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise(s) which shall incur at least 30 percent of the total eligible expenditure allocated for an activity stipulated in Article 10.3 of the Framework. Otherwise, no state aid shall be granted to the Applicant.

76. If the project is being implemented jointly with partner(s), the Applicant shall incur at least 70 percent of the total eligible expenditure allocated for an activity indicated in Article 10.3 of the Framework.

77. Expenditure incurred by partners and complying with the requirements set forth in Article 39 hereof and the conditions stipulated in Table 6 hereinafter shall be qualified as eligible expenditure. Such expenditure, however, shall be covered by the entity implementing the Project. The financing for the Project implementation shall be received by the entity implementing the project directly, who shall in turn pay the partners. The partners shall not receive any financing directly. The financing intensity to partners shall be subject to monitoring and verification upon receipt of payment requests. The entity implementing the Project shall transfer the allocated amount of financing to the partners within 5 business days from the receipt of the respective request to pay. The entity implementing the Project is not entitled to the financing allocated for the partner.

78. Table 6 of the Framework sets forth the categories of eligible and ineligible expenditure.

Table 6. Eligible and ineligible expenditure.Expendit

ure category

No.




3.

Construction, reconstruction, repairs and other works



Eligible expenditure shall encompass acquisition costs of patented know-how and inventions or rights under a license agreement from external sources under normal market conditions, i.e. when an acquisition is made from external sources at market prices on the basis of a contract made by the parties, provided there are no elements of a secret arrangement. Acquisition costs of software licenses shall not be deemed eligible expenditure.


The following expenditure shall be qualified as eligible:5.1. Acquisition costs of R&D services from external sources under normal market conditions, i.e. when acquisition is made from external sources at market prices on the basis of a contract concluded by the parties, provided there are no elements of a secret arrangement by the parties;5.2. Expenses related to other operating costs, such as costs for materials, low-value inventory, stock and similar products to be qualified as short-term assets;5.3. Depreciation expense of long-term tangible assets (fixtures, equipment, tools, facilities, machinery and installations, buildings and/or premises), provided that no public funds (including public funds of foreign states) have been used for their

19

acquisition;5.4. Salaries and employment-related expenses for Project staff as part of the employer’s obligations calculated in the procedure provided for in labour laws and other laws regulating salaries and employment relations. Salary expenses for Project staff for annual paid leave and/or compensation for unused annual leave shall be paid by means of applying maximum flat rates of annual leave. The rates are fixed in accordance with the study performed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 January 2016 and titled “Study Report on Determination of Flat Rates of Annual Leave and Additional Leave Expenses” which is published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/kasmetiniu-atostogu-ismoku-fiksuotuju-normu-nustatymo-tyrimo-ataskaita (if a Higher Education and Research Institution is a project partner, the fixed rate shall be applied in accordance with the “Study Report on Determination of Fixed Pay Rates in Research Projects”);5.5. Business trip expenses of the Project staff calculated in accordance with the procedure established in the laws regulating calculation of business trip expenses. The transport expenses in the Republic of Lithuania for the Project staff working on the Project activities (business trips of the Project operations staff) shall be paid by applying fixed rates of fuel and public transport expenses. The fixed rates are determined on the basis of the study performed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on 25 April 2015 and titled “Study Report on Determination of Fixed Rates of Fuel and Public Transport Expenses” which is published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at http://www.esinvesticijos.lt/lt/dokumentai/supaprastinto-islaidu-apmokejimo-tyrimai .



7.


The indirect expenditure shall be calculated at flat rates in accordance with Annex 10 of the Project Regulations.

SECTION V DRAFTING OF PROPOSALS, PROVISION OF INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION

OF APPLICANTS, SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS AND EVALUATION

79. To receive the grant, the Applicant shall complete a proposal in a partially pre-filled form in PDF format which is available at the Related Documents section under the Financing chapter of the website of the EU Structural Funds (www.esinvesticjos.lt).

80. The applicant shall complete a proposal (the Applicant may submit his proposal only in Lithuanian or in the Lithuanian and English languages if he wishes to ensure the appropriate quality of the translation (a translation is deemed to be of appropriate quality if it has been certified with a translator‘s signature and a stamp of a translation agency or with a signature and stamp of an

20

authorised representative of the supplier), yet, the document in Lithuanian shall take precedence during evaluation) and shall upload it together with the Annexes referred to in Article 84 of the Framework by the last day of the deadline for the submission of proposals on the data exchange website (hereinafter referred to as the DEW) for projects co-funded by the European Union Structural Funds. If the DEW is not properly functioning, the proposals shall be submitted to the Managing Authority in writing in accordance with the procedure set forth in Article 12 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations.

81. If the proposal is submitted in writing in accordance with Article 80 of the Framework, the following methods shall be available:

81.1. A signed hard copy of the proposal and its annexes is submitted to the Managing Authority (accompanied by the proposal and its annexes recorded in an electronic medium). The content of the original and the electronic versions of the proposal must be identical. Having established that the content of the electronic version of the proposal does not match the content of the hard copy, the information provided in the hard copy of the proposal shall prevail. The proposal may be submitted by registered mail, via a mail courier or delivered in person to the address indicated in the call for proposals;

81.2. An electronic document signed by a secure electronic signature is sent by e-mail to the Managing Authority as indicated in the call for proposals. When the proposal is submitted in the latter method, the documents attached and/or digital copies of the documents attached do not need to be certified by an electronic signature.

82. If the proposals are submitted through the DEW, the Applicant shall sign-in to the DEW via the State Information Resources Interoperability Platform and register as a DEW user.

83. If the DMS is temporarily not available and, as a result, the applicants are not able to upload the proposal or its annex(-s) thereto on the last day of the deadline for the submission of proposals, the Managing Authority shall extend the term for the submission of proposals for 7 (seven) days and/or provide the possibility to submit the proposal and the annexes in another way, announcing it in accordance with the procedure described in Article 82 of the Project Regulations.

84. Along with the proposal, the Applicant is required to submit the following annexes (the templates of the annexes stipulated in Articles 84.1 and 84.2 of the Framework are available under Documents at the website of the EU Structural Funds (www.esinvesticijos.lt), document type: Templates of Annexes to Proposals):

84.1. A completed checklist on the eligibility of value-added tax on purchase and/or import for funding from the EU Structural Funds or budget of the Republic of Lithuania, if the Applicant is requesting to qualify the value-added tax as eligible expenditure, i.e. the Applicant includes these expenses into the project budget;

84.2. Budget breakdown by the Applicant and partner(s), if the Project is implemented jointly with a partner;

84.3. A declaration on the status of a Small or Medium-Sized Enterprise, if the Project is implemented in cooperation with partner(s). The declaration template was approved by Order No 4-119 On the Approval of the Framework and Template for Status Declaration of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 26 March 2008;

84.4. Information about the received state aid, other financing sources and the data required to assess the compliance of the project with the conditions of financing according to the project selection criteria and the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 (Annex 3 to the Framework);

84.5. Documents substantiating and validating the budget (commercial proposals, references to market prices, etc.);

84.6. A business plan (if a business plan is submitted in a form other than the recommended one, it shall nevertheless contain all the information indicated in the recommended form). The

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applicant may submit a business plan only in the Lithuanian or in the Lithuanian and English languages provided that the appropriate quality of the translation is ensured and that the Lithuanian version will prevail during evaluation);

84.7. Preliminary sources of funding (applicant’s contribution and compensation of the ineligible expenditure);

84.8. A copy of the joint venture (partnership) agreement or letter of intent for cooperation, if the project is implemented jointly with partner(s);


84.9. A declaration(s) by partner(s), if the project is intended to be implemented jointly with partner(s) (the form of the partner’s declaration shall be an integral part of the completed form of the proposal);

84.10. A declaration of free form certifying that the Applicant has fulfilled all tax obligations and paid state social insurance contributions (applicable only in cases when the Applicant is a Foreign Investor (Legal Entity);


84.11. Certified financial statements for the past two financial years of the Applicant and/or partner(s), if the Project is to be implemented jointly with partner(s) (not applicable if the Applicant and/or partner(s) have submitted annual financial statements to the Register of Legal Entities);

84.12. Documents certifying that the Applicant and/or partner(s) can legally engage in the activity (perform functions), the launch and/or performance and/or development of which the Project is intended for, of the Project is implemented jointly with partner(s) (applicable only if the laws of the Republic of Lithuania require so);

84.13. A summary of the Project and its business plan in English;84.14. A declaration of free form, where the Applicant confirms to be following the

requirements set forth in Article 14 (16) of the General Block Exemption Regulation.Supplemented article:No. 4-628 of 03-NOV-2017, published by the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID Code: 2017-17449

85. In addition to the documents listed in Article 84 hereof, the Applicant may also submit an expert opinion of the Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology of Lithuania (ASITL) or the Research Council of Lithuania on the compliance of the Project activities to the R&D and contribution by the project to the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) and the thematic specificity of the Operational Plan of at least one of the priorities listed in the Programme. The experts who have evaluated the proposal shall not be related to either the Applicant or the partner(s) (if the Project is implemented jointly with partner(s)), i.e. having no employment relationship either with the Applicant or partner(s) for at least 5 years; the expert and the Applicant or partner(s) shall have no personal property or non-property interests, shall not be closely related either by blood or marriage with the Applicant or partner(s)). The contact information and documentation required for obtaining an expert opinion is provided on the websites www.mita.lt and www.lmt.lt.

86. If environmental impact assessment is required in accordance with the laws regulating environmental impact assessment of the planned economic activity, the Applicant shall prepare the report on environmental impact assessment before signing the Grant Agreement and shall have the decision or selection conclusion (its copy) issued by the competent authority. If environmental impact assessment is not mandatory, the Applicant shall submit a letter of free form to the Managing Authority and shall indicate the information on the basis of which it has been determined that the Project is not subject to environmental impact assessment, substantiating it with relevant provisions of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of Planned Economic Activity of the of the Republic of Lithuania. In the event that the Managing Authority extends the deadline for

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signing the Grant Agreement in the cases stipulated in Article 101 of the Framework, the deadline for submission of the documents listed herein shall be extended accordingly.

87. If the Applicant and the Project comply with the eligibility requirements of the Project stipulated in Annex 1 of the Framework, and if the Applicant is planning a new construction, reconstruction or major repairs necessary for the performance of the activity indicated in Article 10.2 hereof, the Applicant shall, not later than within 1 month from the date of submission of the Proposals to the Managing Authority, submit the technical design for the construction, reconstruction or major repairs to the Managing Authority. The technical designs shall be drawn and approved according to the procedure set forth in the legal norms regulating new construction, reconstruction or major repairs.

88. If the Applicant’s contribution or part of the contribution is a bank credit, the Applicant shall submit a decision of the bank (other credit institutions, legal entities) to extend a credit for the specific project no later than before the deadline necessary for the decision on evaluation of the Proposal notified by the Managing Authority. The Applicant shall conclude the credit contract prior to the conclusion of the Grant Agreement. If the Applicant’s contribution or part of the contribution is an increase of the share capital, the Applicant shall submit an agreement on subscription of shares and documents certifying the payment for shares (1/4 stake) to the Managing Authority prior to signing the Grant Agreement. In the event of failure by the Applicant to comply with this requirement within the deadline established by the Managing Authority for signing the Grant Agreement, the invitation to sign the Grant Agreement is voided and the Project shall not be funded. In the event that the Managing Authority extends the deadline for signing the Grant Agreement, then the deadline for the signing of the credit contract, share subscription agreement and documents certifying the subscription of shares (1/4 stake) and other sources of funding indicated in Article 101 hereof shall be extended accordingly.

89. The last date of the deadline for the submission of applicants is set in the call for proposals which is published on the website of the EU Structural Funds at www.esinvesticijos.lt. The continuous project selection is completed before the deadline if, in accordance with the decisions to finance the received projects and the newly submitted proposals, the amount allocated and requested for financing allow the distribution of the total allocated amount of the call for proposals and the Ministry has not issued a decision to increase the amount of the call for proposals as defined in Article 8 hereof.

90. The Applicants shall be informed and consulted in the manner set forth in Section 5 of Chapter II of the Project Regulations. The information about the persons providing consultations of the Managing Authority and their contact details shall be indicated in the notice on the call for proposals published according to the Framework in the website of the EU Structural Funds at www.esinvesticijos.lt.

91. The Managing Authority shall carry out the evaluation of the project eligibility in the manner specified in Sections 14 and 15 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations, and according to the requirements set forth in Annex 1 of the Framework.

92. In the course of the Proposal evaluation, the Managing Authority may request the Applicant to provide missing information and/or documents (inter alia, information and/or documents in English). The Applicant shall provide the information and/or documents within the term set by the Managing Authority. If need be, the Managing Authority may arrange for project discussion via conference call or other means of communication in the presence of experts of the Managing Authority, the Applicant and Public Institution Invest Lithuania.

93. During evaluation of the compliance of the Project Proposals with the general requirements laid down in Articles 1.1 and 1.2 of the Framework and with the specific project selection criterion indicated in Article 23.3 of the Framework, the Managing Authority shall be guided by the conclusion given in Article 85 of the Framework (if any) and, if need be, an opinion of an expert of its choice. If the two expert opinions do not match, either a third expert is involved or an expert group discussion is arranged (the discussion may take place interactively), drawing upon additional experts if and where appropriate.

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94. The Proposals shall be evaluated during a period no longer than 60 days from their receipt by the Managing Authority. Every two months the Managing Authority shall submit the Proposals it has evaluated to the Ministry for making the final decision. The date of the first submission of the Proposals is the date of the registration of the first Proposal at the Managing Authority.

95. In case of a failure to evaluate the proposals within the deadline set forth in Item 94 of the Framework (in case the evaluation of the proposals requires applying to other institutions, or an on-the-spot check at the project implementation and/or administration site), the evaluation deadline may be extended by a decision of the Managing Authority. The Managing Authority shall notify the applicants about the new deadline for the evaluation of the proposals in the manner set forth in Item 127 of the Project Regulations via the DMS, and in case the DMS functionalities are not available, the respective information shall be provided in writing, also such information shall be provided in writing to the Ministry and the Managing Authority in accordance with Item 9 of the Project Regulations (if the functionality is available – through sub-system SFMIS2014 of the 2014–2020 European Union structural funds), and shall indicate the reasons for the extension.

96. The Proposal shall be rejected for reasons specified in the Framework in accordance with the procedure set forth in Article 93 and Sections 14 and 15 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations. The Applicant shall be notified of the rejection of its Proposal in writing (via the DEW, provided that it is fully operational) within 3 business days from the date of the decision to reject the Proposal.

97. The Applicant shall have the right of appeal against the decision to reject the Proposal in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section 43 of Chapter VII of the Project Regulations no later than 14 days from the day on which the Applicant learned or should have learned about the contested decision of the Managing Authority.

98. After the Managing Authority completes the evaluation of the Proposals, the decision regarding the financing or the refusal to finance the Project shall be taken by the Ministry in the manner set forth in Section 17 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations.

99. After the Ministry passes the decision to finance the Project, the Managing Authority shall notify the Applicants of such a decision within 3 business days of the receipt of the decision by e-mail (or via the DEW, provided that it is fully operational).

100. For the purpose of implementing the Projects financed under the Framework, trilateral Grant Agreement shall be concluded between the Applicants, the Managing Authority and the Ministry. The Grant Agreements shall be drawn up only in Lithuanian or in the Lithuanian and English languages (bilingual contracts), provided that the appropriate quality of translation services is ensured and on the understanding that the Lithuanian version shall take precedence over the English version. The Grant Agreements shall be amended or terminated in the manner set forth in Section 19 of Chapter IV of the Project Regulations.

101. After the Ministry passes the decision regarding the financing of the Project, the Managing Authority shall in the manner set forth in Section 18 of Chapter IV of the Project Regulations, and using the form provided in Annex 4 of the Project Regulations which has been adapted for this Framework and coordinated with the Ministry, draw up and submit to the Applicant a draft agreement and indicate the deadline for signing the draft agreement in the manner set forth in Article 166 of the Project Regulations. In the event of failure by the Applicant to sign the Grant Agreement within the term of validity of the offer set by the Managing Authority, the offer to sign the Grant Agreement shall be considered as expired. The Applicant shall have the right to apply to the Managing Authority with a request to change the term for signing the Grant Agreement due to objective reasons beyond the Applicant’s control. In the event that the Applicant refuses to sign the Grant Agreement or fails to sign the agreement within the established term, the Managing Authority shall notify the Ministry thereof and the Applicant in the manner set forth in Article 168 of the Project Regulations.

102. Before earmarking the financing (before the conclusion of the agreement) and for the purpose of verifying that at the time of allocating financing (the moment of signing the Grant

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Agreement) neither the Applicant nor partner(s) (if the Project is to be implemented jointly with partner(s)) is not an Undertaking in Difficulty, the Managing Authority may request the Applicant and/or partner(s) (if the Project is to be implemented jointly with partner(s)) to submit annual financial statements for the past financial year (this requirement shall not apply to the Applicant and/or partner(s) who have already submitted their annual financial statement to the Register of Legal Entities). Should it transpire that at the time of allocating financing (the moment of signing the Grant Agreement) the Applicant is an Undertaking in Difficulty, the financing shall not be granted (no Grant Agreement shall be concluded) (should it transpire that a partner(s) is an Undertaking in Difficulty (if the Project is to be implemented jointly with partner(s)), the Project may be submitted for re-evaluation without the involvement of this partner in the Project).

103. The rights in rem of the Applicant to immovable property which will be used directly during the Project implementation for the activity described in Article 10.2 hereof and/or the legal facts stipulated in Article 4.254 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania shall be registered in the Register of Immovable Property prior to the conclusion of the Grant Agreement. The Applicant’s rights in rem to property shall be verified by the Managing Authority against the Register of Immovable Property. If the Managing Authority decides to extend the deadline for the signing of the Grant Agreement in cases referred to in Article 101 hereof, the deadline for registration of the Applicant’s rights in rem to the immovable property which will be used directly during the Project implementation and/or the legal facts stipulated in Article 4.254 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania shall be extended accordingly.


104. The original of the Grant Agreement may be drafted and submitted as: 104.1. A signed hard-copy document or104.2. An electronic document signed by secure electronic signature means which have a

qualified certificate of an electronic signature, depending on whichever of the two options of the document is chosen by the entity implementing the Project.

CHAPTER VI REQUIREMENTS FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

105. The Project is implemented following the requirements of the Grant Agreement, the Framework and the Project Regulations.

106. A Project Steering Committee shall be set up for carrying out the supervision of the Project implementation. The Project Steering Committee shall monitor the project progress and submit recommendations to the entities implementing the Project regarding its implementation. The Project Steering Committee shall be composed of the representatives of the Managing Authority and the Ministry. Representatives of other institutions, enterprises or organizations may also be invited to be members of the Project Steering Committee. The composition of the Project Steering Committee is approved by the Order of the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania, and its operational principles shall be set forth in the Project Steering Committee Regulations.

107. If the Applicant is a Foreign Investor (Legal Entity), such an Applicant shall register a private legal entity whereupon it shall exercise a decisive influence in the Register for Legal Entities of the Republic of Lithuania no later than before signing the Grant Agreement.

108. Following the termination of the Project financing, the continuity of the investments shall be ensured for 5 years in the case of Large Enterprises or 3 years in the case of Microenterprises, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in accordance with the procedure set forth in Section 27 of Chapter IV of the Project Regulations.

109. With regard to long-term tangible assets which were acquired or developed through Project financing during the Project implementation, the entity implementing the Project shall take out an all-risk insurance for the maximum replacement value. The insurance coverage of assets

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shall last throughout the entire duration of the Project as of the moment of its development or acquisition and for at least five years in the case of Large Enterprises and three years in the case of Microenterprises, Small or Medium-Sized Enterprises from the termination of the project financing and in accordance with the procedure set forth in the legal norms regulating insurance matters. In the case of an insured event, the entity implementing the Project shall restore the lost asset as well as ensure that such obligations are also respected by its partner(s).

110. The joint venture (partnership) agreement may be amended after the Grant Agreement has entered into force. The amendments to the joint venture (partnership) agreement are possible, provided that they did not have a material impact on the decision on granting financing to the Project. Amendments to the joint venture (partnership) agreement shall be coordinated with the Managing Authority. Amendments to the joint venture (partnership) agreement shall be effected by means of amending or supplementing the joint venture (partnership) agreement.

111. The entity implementing the Project and intending to carry out an activity during project implementation for which financing has been granted and which is subject to authorization, licensing or certificate in accordance with the governing law shall submit a copy of such an authorization, license or certificate obtained upon project completion to the Managing Authority within the deadline set forth in the Grant Agreement. Failure to submit a copy of such an authorization, license or certificate may result in the request of the Managing Authority to return the grant given to finance the Project.


112. The Managing Authority shall have the right to unilaterally terminate the Grant Agreement in the procedure set forth in Article 192 of the Project Regulations, subject to the Ministry’s approval and provided that the Project activity has not been launched within 6 months from signing the Grant Agreement, if the Project activity is the one indicated in Article 10.1 or activities indicated in Article 10.1 and 10.3 of the Framework, or within 12 months from signing the Grant Agreement, if the Project activity is the one indicated in Article 10.2 of the Framework or if more than one activity is intended to be carried out under the project, with one of such activities being the one indicated in Article 10.2 of the Framework.

113. The entity implementing the Project shall inform about the project under implementation or a completed project in the procedure set forth in Section 37 of Chapter VII of the Project Regulations.

114. A new item of immovable property developed during the Project shall be registered with the Register of Immovable Property no later than by the date of submission of the last request to pay to the Managing Authority.

115. The entity implementing the Project and its partner(s) shall record the expenses on R&D activities in their annual income tax return to be submitted to the State Tax Inspectorate under the procedure set forth by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania.

116. When providing information to statistical authorities in the manner prescribed, the entity implementing the Project and its partner(s) are obliged to provide information about R&D expenses.

117. The entity implementing the Project is obliged to submit all the information required for proper supervision and evaluation of the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation), R&DI priorities and R&DI action plans to the authority(-ies) carrying out such supervision and indicated in the Framework for the Development of Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation), Evaluation and Monitoring of the Implementation Impact, Strengthening Cooperation among Business Entities and Higher Education and Research Institutions approved by Order No. V-1218/4-911 passed by the Minister of Education and Science and the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 15 December 2014 On the Approval of the Framework for the Development of Priority Areas of Research,

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Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation), Evaluation and Monitoring of the Implementation Impact, Strengthening Cooperation among Business Entities and Higher Education and Research Institutions.

118. The requirements for project completion are provided for in Section 27 of Chapter IV of the Project Regulations.

119. All documents related to project implementation shall be kept on file in the procedure and for a period provided for in Section 42, Chapter VII of the Project Regulations, as well as for a period stipulated in Article 12 of the General block exemption regulation.

CHAPTER VII PROCEDURE FOR AMENDING THE FRAMEWORK

120. The procedure for amending the Framework is defined in Section 11 of Chapter III of the Project Regulations.

121. If the Framework is being amended after the Projects have been already selected, such amendments of the Framework shall, without prejudice to the principle of equality, also apply to Projects under implementation in the cases specified in Article 91 of the Project Regulations.

___________________________

Annex 1 to the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020

ASSESSMENT TABLE TO DETERMINE THE ELIGIBILITY OF THE PROJECT FOR FUNDING

Proposal code

Applicant’s name

Project title

The project will be implemented:

with partner(s) without partner(s)

INITIAL REVISED

(“Revised” shall be selected if this table is revised after returning the Proposal for repeated assessment.)

General requirement/special project selection criterion (hereinafter

referred to as the Special Criterion), the aspects of its evaluation and explanations

The specification of the general requirement/ Special Criterion

The assessment of the general requirement/ Special Criterion Yes / No/ Not

applicable/ Yes with reservations

Comments

1. The project envisaged to be financed shall contribute to the implementation and results of at least one specific priority task of the Investment Operational Programme for the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Operational Programme) for 2014-2020, and at least one activity eligible for funding in accordance with the description of the conditions for project funding.1.1. The objectives and tasks of the Project shall comply with at least one specific task and targeted

The objectives and tasks of the Project shall comply with the specific task 1.2.1. “Strengthening R&DI and Innovation

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outcome of the Operational Programme. Activity in Private Sector” under the Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme and its targeted outcome.

Source of information: the Proposal for funding the Project co-financed from the European Union Structural Funds (hereinafter referred to as the Proposal).

1.2. The objectives, tasks and activity of the project shall comply with at least one activity laid down in the framework for project financing.

The objectives, tasks and activity of the project shall comply with the activity referred to in Articles 10 and 11 of the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020 (hereinafter referred to as the Framework).

Source of information: the Proposal. 1.3. The project shall comply with other requirements relating to project activity referred to in the Framework.

The project shall comply with the requirements set forth in Articles 23.3 and 23.4 and Articles 25, 26 and 29 of the Framework.

Sources of information: the Proposal and Annex 3 of the Framework.

2. The project shall comply with the provisions of strategic planning documents.2.1. The project shall comply with the provisions of strategic planning documents.

The project shall comply with national strategic planning documents referred to in Articles 23.1 and 23.2 of the Framework.

Source of information: the Proposal.

2.2. The project shall contribute to the implementation of at least one objective of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, approved by the European Council Conclusions No.

The project shall contribute to the implementation of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region as stipulated in Article 24 of the Framework.

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15265/09 on 30 October 2009 and revised on 23 March 2012 by Communication No. COM (2012) 128 of the European Commission. The objective shall be implemented in accordance with at least one policy area, horizontal action or implementation example referred to in the operational plan of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region approved by the European Commission Decision No. SWD (2015)177 on 10 September 2015.


3. The project shall achieve clear and real quantitative goals.3.1. The Project shall contribute to the implementation of at least one national product and (or) achievement of a result indicator specified in the Framework and (or) the Ministry’s Measure Implementation Plan.

The project shall attain the monitoring indicators specified in Article 32 of the Framework.


3.2. The consistent inherent logic of the project shall be retained, i.e. the outcome of the Project is determined by the Project activity. Project activity preconditions the implementation of the Project’s objectives and the latter precondition the achievement of the Project’s targeted result.


3.3. The Project’s objectives shall be specific (i.e. reflect the essence and characteristics of the Project) and can be evaluated (they are quantifiable and measurable). The objectives shall be implementable, and the beginning as well as the end of the activity shall be clear.


4. The project shall comply with horizontal (sustainable development as well as non-discrimination and gender equality) principles, the implementation of the project shall comply with the provisions of the European Union’s (hereinafter referred to as the EU) Competition Policy.4.1. There shall be no project actions that could adversely affect the implementation of the sustainable development principle in the following areas:

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4.1.1. Environmental protection (quality of the environment and natural resources, landscape and biological diversity preservation, climate change, environmental protection, etc.);


4.1.2. Social domain (employment, poverty, social exclusion, public health, education and science, preserving cultural identity, sustainable consumption);


4.1.3. Economics (sustainable development of the main regions and industries);


4.1.4. Territorial development (reducing environmental, social and economic disparities);


4.1.5. Information and knowledge society. Not applicable.4.2. Specific actions (initiatives) demonstrating that the project promotes the implementation of the sustainable development principle shall be proposed.

Not applicable.

4.3. The Project shall have no restrictions that could have an adverse effect upon the implementation of the principles of gender equality, non-discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, language, origin, social standing, beliefs and views, age disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.


4.4. The proposed specific actions shall demonstrate that the project contributes to the implementation of the principle of gender equality and (or) promotes non-discrimination based on gender, race, nationality, language, origin, social standing, beliefs and views, age disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.

Not applicable.

4.5. The project shall be compatible with the provisions of the EU Competition Policy:4.5.1. The funding provided shall not exceed the de Not applicable.

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minimis aid ceiling and shall meet the requirements applicable for de minimis aid.4.5.2. The project shall be financed in accordance with the harmonized state aid scheme or the European Commission’s decision or Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OL 2014, L 187, p. 1), provided that all the requirements laid down in it are complied with.

The project shall meet the general requirement, if it meets the requirements of the Framework and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OL 2014, L 187, p. 1).Annex 2 of the Framework shall be filled in the process of compliance assessment with regard to this assessment aspect.

Sources of information: the Proposal, the Register of State Aid and De Minimis Aid, the regulations of which were approved by Resolution No. 35 On the Approval of the Regulations of the Register of State Aid and De Minimis Aid passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 19 January 2005.

4.5.3. The Project financing does not constitute unlawful state or de minimis aid.

Not applicable.

5. In organizational terms, the Applicant and partner(s) shall be capable of implementing the submitted project properly and in a timely manner, and meet the requirements imposed on them.5.1. The Applicant and partner(s) shall be legal entities, their branches, agencies (hereinafter referred to as the Legal Entity) or natural persons engaged in an economic or commercial activity (hereinafter referred to as the Natural Person) as established in the Framework.5.2. The Applicant and partner(s) shall be included in the list of eligible applicants laid down in the Framework.

The list of eligible applicants (partners) shall be provided in Articles 16, 17 and 18 of the Framework.

Sources of information: the Proposal, the documents referred to in Article 84.12 of the Framework.

5.3. The Applicant and partner(s) have a legal base Sources of information: the Proposal, the documents referred

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to perform the activity (carry out functions) that the project is intended to launch and (or) implement and (or) develop.

to in Article 84.12 of the Framework.

5.4. The Applicant and partner(s) shall be subject to no restrictions regarding financing:5.4.1. the Applicant and partner(s) that are Legal Entities shall not be undergoing insolvency or restructuring proceedings, criminal proceedings concerning their economic or commercial activity. The Applicant and partner(s) shall not be in the course of liquidation and they shall not be subject to the agreement reached in a creditors’ meeting to enforce insolvency proceedings with regard to out-of-court procedures (this provision shall not be applicable for institutions financed by the state budget). The Applicant and partner(s) that are Natural Persons shall not be undergoing insolvency proceedings or criminal proceedings concerning their economic or commercial activity;5.4.2. at the time the Proposal is evaluated, the Applicant and partner(s) shall have fulfilled their liabilities regarding payment of taxes and social insurance contributions in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania or other country’s legislation in case the Applicant and partner(s) are Legal Entities established abroad or Natural Persons who are foreign nationals (this provision shall not be applicable for institutions, whose activity is financed by the budget of the Republic of Lithuania and (or) its municipalities and (or) state funds, and the Applicants whose tax or social insurance payment deadlines have been deferred in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Lithuania);

Sources of information: the Proposal, the information from the State Tax Inspectorate under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania and the State Social Insurance Fund Board under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the Authority of Audit, Accounting, Property Valuation and Insolvency Management under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, State Enterprise Centre of Registers, and information available for the Public Institution Lithuanian Business Support Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Managing Authority).

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5.4.3. at the time the Proposal is evaluated, the Applicant and partner(s), who are Natural Persons or managers of Legal Entities, managing partners of limited partnerships or representatives of small partnerships with the right to act on behalf of a legal entity, or accountants or other persons who have the right to record and sign the Applicant’s accounting documents shall have no valid criminal records or binding court decrees on their conviction passed during the last 5 years (with regard to participation in joint criminal activities, organized crime, criminal gang, their organization or management, bribes, influence peddling, bribing, abuse of one’s position, failure to perform official duties, fraud, embezzlement, squander, fraudulent damage to property, damage or destruction of property, illegal enrichment, smuggling, swindling the customs, illegal use of excise free goods, illegal retaining of goods and products in the Republic of Lithuania, illegal engagement in economic, commercial and financial or professional activities, illegal operations of a legal entity, unlawful use of the trademark of goods or services belonging to someone else, fraudulent declaration of the activities of the legal entity, failure to pay taxes, use of a credit, loan or target aid for other purpose than the intended one or breaching the set procedure, credit frauds, debtor’s dishonesty, criminal bankruptcy, production of false electronic payment means, falsifying real electronic payment means or illegal handling of such means and its data, illegal use of the electronic payment means and its data, submission of false data on revenue, profit or assets, failure to submit declarations, reports or other

8

documents, fraudulent or negligent accounting, acquisition and use of illegally acquired assets, legalization of illegally acquired money or assets, production, storage or use of counterfeit money or securities, forgery of documents or use of forged documents, forgery of stamps, seals or templates, participation in other illegal activities damaging the financial interests of the Republic of Lithuania and/or the EU) (this provision shall not be applicable if the activity of the Applicant and partners is financed by the budget of the Republic of Lithuania and (or) its municipalities and (or) state aid or European Investment Fund and European Investment Bank);5.4.4. If the Applicant and partners transfer their production operations inside the member state or to another member state, no recovery procedure shall be or shall have been initiated at the time the Proposal is evaluated (this provision shall not be applicable for public legal entities);5.4.5. at the time the Proposal is evaluated, the applicant and partner(s) shall not be under the restriction (for a term of up to 5 years) disallowing the allocation of the EU financial support due to illegal employment of third-country nationals (this provision shall not be applicable for public legal entities);5.4.6. at the time the Proposal is evaluated, the Applicant and partner(s) shall not be under the restriction to receive financial support due to failure to return or fully repay funds in the timeframe specified in the decision governing funds repayment (this provision shall not be applicable for institutions, the activity of which is financed from

9

the budget of the Republic of Lithuania and (or) its municipalities and (or) state funds as well as institutions whose activity is financed by the EU Structural Funds for 2007–2013 or the EU Structural Funds for Technical Assistance for 2014–2020, the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank);5.4.7. at the time the Proposal is evaluated, the Applicant and partner(s) shall have submitted annual financial statements as well as annual consolidated financial statements to the Register for Legal Entities as stipulated in the provisions of the Register for Legal Entities approved by Resolution No. 1407 On the Establishment of the Register for Legal Entities and Approval of the Provisions of the Register for Legal Entities passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 12 November 2003 (this provision shall not be applicable should the applicant be a natural person; this provision shall be applicable only in case financial statements must be completed in accordance with the laws applicable for legal entities, foreign legal entities or other organizations).5.5. The Applicant and partner(s) shall have (shall be able to ensure) sufficient administrative capacity needed to implement the Project.


5.6. The maturity of the Project complies with the requirements laid down in the Framework.

Not applicable.

5.7. Partnership in the implementation of the project is substantiated and beneficial. (This assessment aspect is taken into consideration only when the Applicant is planning to implement the project with a partner or partners).

Sources of information: the Proposal, the documents referred to in Article 84.8 of the Framework.

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6. Sources of financing the project expenses shall be clearly identified and ensured.6.1. The contribution of the Applicant and partner(s) complies with the requirements laid down in the Framework and the financing of the contribution is ensured.

The Applicant and partner(s) shall contribute to the Project implementation as referred to in Articles 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 64, 65, 73, 74, 75 and 76 of the Framework.

Sources of information: the information is cross-checked with the records of the Register for Legal Entities, the list of creditors and debtors of the Applicant and partner(s) (cases of indebtedness are provided with the list which is drafted no later than 30 days before the submission of the Proposal to the Managing Authority), cash flow forecasting (in months) for the Project implementation period, which shall specify and identify the sources of financing according to the schedule of the Project, the estimated expenditure (in accordance with funding conditions), the estimated amounts of financial assistance, etc. cash flow forecasting shall demonstrate that the applicant and partner(s) will have sufficient sources of financing to fund their own contribution and ensure the smooth financing of the Project activity and they shall be based on the documents of planned sales (contracts, offers for commercial nature, orders, etc.), estimated sources of financing (own funds, funds from banks or other credit institutions, legal entity loans or other sources); other documents that prove the capacity of the Applicant and (or) partner(s) to ensure the continuity of their activity during the period of Project implementation and contribute to the Project’s financing.

6.2. The financing of ineligible project-related expenditure shall be ensured.

Sources of information: the sources of information referred to in Annex 1 of Article 6.1 of the Framework.

6.3. The continuity of financial project (activities) results shall be ensured.


7. Efficient use of funds necessary for the Project implementation shall be ensured.7.1. The choice of the alternative for Project implementation shall be based upon the results of a

Not applicable.

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cost-benefit analysis:7.1.1. Assumptions regarding befits, costs, sources of financing, benefit creation and other matters, employed in order to assess the Project implementation alternative or alternatives shall be justifiable;7.1.2. A reasonable period of time of the same length shall be allowed to assess the Project implementation alternative or alternatives;7.1.3. Similar and reasonable discount rates shall be employed in order to assess the Project implementation alternative or alternatives;7.1.4. The optimal Project implementation alternative shall be selected with regard to the financial and (or) economic indicators (net present value, the internal rate of return, cost-benefit ratio) of the Project implementation alternatives;7.1.5. There shall be no known legal, technical and social restrictions to the selected Project implementation alternative.7.2. The selection of the Project implementation alternative shall be based upon the cost efficiency indicator.

Not applicable.

7.3. The main risks to the Project shall be assessed, and risk management measures as well as the resources necessary for their implementation shall be envisaged.


7.4. The envisaged project activity shall be eligible for funding and meet the requirements set for activities of the same scope. Expenses shall meet the established requirements and be necessary for Project implementation. Activity and expenses shall be planned in an efficient and justifiable manner with regard to public procurement procedures


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initiated or completed before the submission of the Proposal. No refinancing shall be allocated to projects concerning the same activities that the Applicant and partner(s) implemented and (or) are implementing.

7.5. The Applicant shall implement the Project’s goals, activity, objectives and achieve its results in the course of the Project implementation period; the Project implementation period meets the requirements laid down in the Framework of the conditions for project funding.

The project implementation period/deadline shall meet the requirement laid down in Article 27 of the Framework.


7.6. The project shall meet the requirements established for cross-financing.

Not applicable.

7.7. The flat rate of project expenses, the fixed unit cost of Project expenses, fixed amounts of Project expenses and (or) awards shall be reasonably applied.

The flat rate of Project expenses applicable for the Project shall meet the requirements established in Table 2 and Table 6 of the Framework.

Source of information: the Proposal.7.8. The Proposal shall adequately specify the Project’s category, the revenue that is expected to be received from the project (including net revenue), correctly calculate and adequately determine the level of financing necessary for the Project with regard to whether:– no revenue is generated;– revenue is generated and it is estimated beforehand;– revenue is generated but it is impossible to estimate it beforehand.

Not applicable.

8. Project activity shall be performed inside the Operational Programme territory.8.1. The Project activity shall be performed inside the Republic of Lithuania or outside the Republic of Lithuania, but products, achieved results and

The programme territory for Project activity shall meet the requirements established in Article 30 of the Framework.

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benefits (or a part of them, proportional to the financial contribution of the Republic of Lithuania) obtained in the course of their implementation shall be granted to the Republic of Lithuania, and the project shall comply with at least one of these conditions:8.1.1. the Project expenses co-financed with the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund and carried outside the Republic of Lithuania but in the territory of the EU shall not exceed the percentage specified in the Framework; the same applies to activities designed for representation and conducted in accordance with the Framework;8.1.2. The Project activity co-financed with the European Social Fund shall be carried out in:– EU territory;– outside EU territory but the expenses for such activities shall not exceed the percentage specified in the Framework;8.1.3. The Project activity linked with technical assistance shall be carried out.


FINAL CONCLUSION REGARDING ASSESSMENT OF THE PROJECT COMPLIANCE WITH GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

1) The Proposal is assessed positively with regard to all general requirements and specific criteria: Yes No Yes with reservations Comments: ____________________________________________________________________

2) The Applicant made no attempts to obtain any confidential information or exercise undue influence on the institution performing the evaluation in the course of the current evaluation of the Proposal or during the selection process: No attempts were made Attempts were madeComments: ____________________________________________________________________

14

(It is obligatory to fill this field only if the answer selected is “Attempts were made”, i.e. factual circumstances should be provided.)

3) Expenditure determined to be eligible for funding and declaration to the European Commission (hereinafter referred to as the EC) in the course of the evaluation of the eligibility of the Project for funding:

Total Project value (including eligible

and ineligible expenditure) (EUR)

The maximum amount of the eligible expenditure:Revenue

decreasing the amount of

expenditure eligible for

declaration to the EC (EUR)

Expenditure eligible for declaration to the EC

Total (EUR)

Out of which: The maximum amount of

expenditure eligible for declaration to the EC

(EUR)

Part of eligible

expenditure (%)

Maximum funding request (EUR)

Part of eligible

expenditure (%)

Own funds of the Applicant and partner(s)

(EUR)

Part of eligible expenditure

(%)

1 2 3 4=(3/2)*100 5 6=(5/2)*100 7 8 9=(8/2)*100

Notes:

As appropriate, taking into consideration the risks involved in the project, the Managing Authority may introduce supplementary conditions which it proposes to be included in the Grant Agreement in this field.

____________________________________ ______________________ ___________________________

(position of the person representing the institution evaluating the proposal) (date) (full name and signature, if the document is filled in paper form)

______________________

Article amendments:No. 4-2 of 05-JAN-2018, published by the RLA on 05-JAN-2018, ID Code: 2018-00249


VERIFICATION FORM FOR THE COMPLIANCE OF THE PROJECT WITH STATE AID RULES

1. Legal basis of the measureCommission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty (OJ 2014, L 187, p. 1) (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation).

2. Data relating to the Proposal/Project Proposal/Project numberApplicant/Entity implementing the ProjectProject title

3. Verification questions to determine whether the Proposal/Project is compliant with the RegulationNo. Questions Result Notes3.1. What category does the Applicant belong to (please choose only one option)? □ Yes □ No

- Microenterprise- Small Enterprise- Medium-Sized Enterprise- Large Enterprise

3.2. What category does the partner belong to (please choose only one option)? (If applicable)

□ Yes □ No

- Microenterprise- Small Enterprise- Medium-Sized Enterprise- Large Enterprise

3.3. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.4. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph □ Yes □ No

2

3 of Article 1 of the Regulation?3.5. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph

4 of Article 1 of the Regulation?□ Yes □ No


□ Yes □ No


□ Yes □ No


□ Yes □ No

3.9. Is the State’s incentive effect reasonable with regard to Paragraph 2 of Article 6 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.10. Are all State requirements regarding aid cumulation laid down in Article 8 of the Regulation met?

□ Yes □ No

Applicable if state aid is granted under Article 14 of the Regulation:3.11. Is state aid granted for initial investment (as it is defined in Clause a of

Paragraph 49 of Article 2 of the Regulation) as indicated in Article 14 of Part 3 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.12. Is state aid requested to finance eligible investment expenses for tangible and intangible assets laid down in Clause a of Paragraph 4 of Article 14 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.13. Are the provisions laid down in Paragraph 5 of Article 14 of the Regulation observed, i.e. is it envisaged that after the investment is ended, investment into the area that receives state aid shall be retained for at least 5 years in cases of Large Enterprises or at least 3 years in cases of Microenterprises, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises?

□ Yes □ No

3.14. Does state aid intensity comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph 12 of Article 14 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.15. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Article 13 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.16. Are assets acquired in compliance with Paragraph 6 of Article 14 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No

3.17. Are the provisions laid down in Paragraph 7 of Article 14 of the Regulation observed in the calculation of eligible expenditure? (If applicable)

□ Yes □ No

3.18. Are the provisions regarding intangible assets laid down in Paragraph 8 of □ Yes □ No

3

Article 14 of the Regulation observed?3.19. Does the State aid granted comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph

13 of Article 14 of the Regulation?□ Yes □ No

3.20. Are the provisions regarding the amount of state aid recipient’s financial contribution laid down in Paragraph 14 of Article 14 of the Regulation observed?

□ Yes □ No

3.201. Are the provisions laid down in Paragraph 16 of Article 14 of the Regulation observed?

Applicable if state aid is granted under Article 25 of the Regulation:3.21. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Clauses b

and/or c of Paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the Regulation?□ Yes □ No

3.22. Is state aid granted to finance eligible expenditure specified in Paragraph 3 of Article 25 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No


□ Yes □ No

3.24. Does state aid intensity comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph 6 of Article 25 of the Regulation? (If applicable)

□ Yes □ No

Applicable if state aid is granted under Article 29 of the Regulation:3.25. Does the granted state aid comply with the provisions laid down in Paragraph

2 of Article 29 of the Regulation? (If applicable)□ Yes □ No

3.26. Is state aid granted to finance eligible expenditure specified in Paragraph 3 of Article 29 of the Regulation?

□ Yes □ No


□ Yes □ No

4. State aid compliance assessmentDoes the granted state aid comply with the provisions of the Regulation? □ Yes □ No _____________________________________________ (assessor)

__________________ (signature)

_______________ (date)

Revision of the assessment: □ To approve the assessor’s conclusion□ Not to approve the assessor’s conclusion

Notes:_______________________________________________________________________

4

______________________________________ (Division Manager)

____________ (signature)

____________ (date)



INFORMATION ON RECEIVED STATE AID, OTHER FINANCING SOURCES AND THE DATA REQUIRED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPLIANCE OF THE

PROJECT WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCING SMART FDI PROJECTS BASED ON MEASURE NO. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 UNDER PRIORITY 1

“PROMOTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, EXPERIMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATIONS” OF THE OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

STRUCTURAL FUNDS FOR 2014-2020 AND PROJECT SELECTION CRITERIA

1. The activities carried out by the Applicant and partner(s) (if any) and Project activities are assigned according to the Classification of Economic Activities approved by Order DĮ-226 On Approval of the Classification of Economic Activities passed by the Director General of the Department of Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania on 31 October 2007 (hereinafter referred to as the CEA, Version 2) (applicable in the assessment of the Project compliance with Article 10 of the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020) (hereinafter referred to as the Framework).

1.1. The activity(ies) of the Applicant according to the CEA.1.2. The activity(ies) of the Applicant according to the CEA, for which the Project results shall be used (in case Project results are attributed to several activities, please provide the breakdown of the results in percentage). 1.3. The activity(ies) of the partner according to the CEA (to be completed if the Project is implemented with a partner).1.4. The activity(ies) of the partner according to the CEA, for which the Project results shall be used (in case Project results are attributed to several activities, indicate the breakdown of the results in percentage). (to be completed if the project is implemented with a partner).

2. Shareholders of the Applicants (indicate all the shareholders of the entity holding 10% or more shares of the entity).

No. Shareholder Shareholding (in percent)2.1.

2.2.

3. The Decisive Influence of the Investor upon the private legal entity (hereinafter referred to as the Enterprise) established by the Investor in the Republic of Lithuania or a branch of the Foreign Investor (Legal Entity) established in the Republic of Lithuania (applicable in the assessment of the Project’s compliance with Article 16 of the Framework).

2

Describe the situation of how the controlling person (Investor) implements or is in a position to implement his decisions in relation to the economic activity of the controlled undertaking, the decisions of its bodies or the composition of its personnel.Detailed description.

Provide the data on the founding (registration) of the Foreign Investor’s (Legal Entity’s) branch in the Republic of Lithuania.

The date and registration number of the established branch.

4. Received (anticipated) state aid for the project with regard to the Applicant (or the Applicant and partners).

Estimated amount of the state aid (from sources other than the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania).

Amount of received state aid

State aid provider

General Block Exemption Regulation article that sets forth the granting of state aid

Information on state aid and the basis for its granting

State aid provision date

4.1. Other state aid4.2. Intended de minimis aid granted to implement the Project (indicate the expenditure to be covered by de minimis aid)4.3. Other financial state aid in various forms for legal persons (state granted guarantees, microcredits, interest reimbursement of guaranteed loans, etc.)

5. Information on the Investor’s investment or intended investment in the field of scientific research and (or) experimental development and innovations (hereinafter referred to as the R&DI) (applicable in the assessment of the Project’s compliance with the provisions laid down in Article 23.4 of the Framework):

3

5.1. Information on the Investor’s (including the Investor’s Enterprise Group) investment in the Republic of Lithuania into the sectors of production or services made no earlier than 10 years before the date of submission of the Proposal to the Public Institution Lithuanian Business Support Agency (hereinafter referred to as the Managing Authority).

N-10 (cumulated investments made 10 years before

submission of the Proposal)

N (date of submission of the

proposal)5.1.1. The Investor’s investment into the sectors of production or services (EUR)

5.2. Please indicate the information concerning the investment and activity in the field of R&DI (applicable in the assessment of the Project’s compliance with the provisions laid down in Article 23.4 of the Framework):

The Applicant did not carry out any activity and (or) invest in the field of R&DI in the Republic of Lithuania

Mark Yes (No)

5.3. Information on intended investment into the field of R&DI in terms of one of the priority areas of research, experimental (sociocultural) and innovation development (smart specialisation) approved by Resolution No. 411 On the Approval of the Implementation Programme for Priority Areas of Research, Experimental (Sociocultural) and Innovation Development (Smart Specialisation) passed by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on 30 April 2014 (hereinafter referred to as the Smart Specialisation Direction), and one of the specific Smart Specialisation Directions during the course of the Project implementation and the first 3 years following the completion of the Project.

Total number of years (Y) from the launch of the Project to the year the financing was completed (must comply with the value of mandatory monitoring indicators specified in Article 32.2 of the Framework)

Y+1 Y+2 Y+3

5.3.1. Private investment into R&DI (EUR)5.3.2. The total amount of private investments into R&DI made during the course of the Project implementation and 3 years following the completion of the Project (EUR)

5.3.3. Provisions that form the basis for the calculation of private investments into R&DI made during the 3 years following the completion of the Project

6. The Project is assigned to one of the Smart Specialisation Directions and one of the priorities of the specific direction.

Smart Specialisation Direction (select one option)

The priority of the Smart Specialisation Direction(select one option)

4

6.1. Energy and sustainable environment

6.1.1. Smart energy generators, network and consumer energy efficiency, systems for diagnostics, monitoring, accounting and management.6.1.2. The generation of energy and fuel from biomass or waste, treatment, storage and disposal of waste.6.1.3. Digital construction, i.e. the technology of construction and use of smart low energy consumption buildings.6.1.4. Solar installations and technologies used for the generation of electricity, heating and cooling.

6.2. Health technologies and biotechnologies

6.2.1. Molecular technologies for medicine and biopharmacy.6.2.2. Advanced technologies applied in personal and public health.6.2.3. Advanced medical engineering for early diagnosis and treatment.

6.3. Agro-innovations and food technologies

6.3.1. Sustainable agro-biological resources and safer food.6.3.2. Functional food.6.3.3. Innovative production, improvement and processing of bio-based raw materials (biorefinery).

6.4. New production processes, materials and technologies

6.4.1. Photonics and laser technologies.6.4.2. Functional materials and coatings.6.4.3. Construction and composite materials.6.4.4. Flexible technological systems of product development and production.

6.5. Transport, logistics and information and communication technologies

6.5.1. Smart transport systems and information and communication technologies.6.5.2. Technologies (models) for the management of international transport corridors and the integration of transport modes.6.5.3. Advanced digital content, technologies to create it and interoperability of information systems.6.5.4. Solutions and services for the infrastructure of information and communication technologies and cloud computing

6.6. Inclusive and creative society

6.6.1. Modern educational technologies and processes.6.6.2. Technologies and processes to develop and install breakthrough innovations.

Please provide information on the thematic specificities under the selected priority of the Project.

______________________


VERIFICATION FORM FOR COMPLIANCE OF THE PROJECT WITH THE DE MINIMIS AID REGULATION

1. Legal basis for financing Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid (OJ 2013 L 352, p. 1) (hereinafter referred to as the De Minimis Aid Regulation)

2. Data relating to the Proposal/ProjectProposal/Project numberApplicant/Entity implementing the ProjectProject title

3. Verification questions to determine whether the activities of the final beneficiary of the grant given under the Proposal/Project complies with the De Minimis Aid Regulation

No. QuestionsResult

NotesYes No Not applicable

3.1. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) engaged in activities categorized under the fishery and aquaculture sector, regulated by Regulation (EU) No. 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products, amending Council Regulations (EC) No. 1184/2006 and (EC) No. 1224/2009 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 (OJ 2013 L 354, p. 1)?

□ □ □

3.2. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) engaged in the □ □ □

2

primary production of agricultural products?3.3. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) operating in

the sector of processing and selling agricultural products in cases when the amount of state aid is determined based on the price or quantity of the products acquired by producers of primary agricultural products or supplied by the respective companies to the market?

□ □ □

3.4. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) operating in the sector of processing and selling agricultural products in cases when the amount of state aid is dependent on whether the whole aid or its part is going to be transferred to the producers of primary agricultural products?

□ □ □

3.5. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) engaged in export-related activities in third world countries or member states (i.e. the activities are directly related to the exported quantities, development of the distribution network and other activities or export-related current expenses)?

□ □ □

3.6. Is the state aid provided to the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) dependent on whether the quantity of local or imported goods is the higher one?

□ □ □3.7. Is the Applicant (entity implementing the Project) engaged in

activities categorized under the sector specified in Articles 3.1–3.4 hereof, including at least one sector regulated by the De Minimis Aid Regulation, and state aid is given to the latter sector or it is ensured that no de minimis aid is provided to the sectors not regulated by the De Minimis Aid Regulation by employing respective measures, such as separating activities or expenditure? (if applicable)

□ □ □

3.8. Is or will the de minimis aid be used to acquire road transport vehicles for cargo transportation? □ □ □

3.9. Does the total amount of the de minimis aid granted to a single enterprise in the Republic of Lithuania as defined in the De Minimis Aid Regulation not exceed 200,000 euro within any □ □ □

3

financial period of three years (or, in a specific case, will exceed the said amount upon granting the de minimis aid)?

3.10. If the company (Applicant, entity implementing the Project) is engaged in cargo transportation by road for hire or at a fee or is engaged in any other activity that has the maximum threshold of 200,000 euro (two hundred thousand euro), is it ensured that the de minimis aid for cargo transportation by road activities does not exceed 100,000 euro (one hundred thousand) euro and that the de minimis aid is not used to purchase vehicles for cargo transportation by road? (if applicable)

□ □ □

3.11. In case of a merger or business acquisition, was the de minimis aid previously provided to either of the merging enterprises taken into consideration when calculating whether or not the de minimis aid to be granted to the new or acquiring company exceeds the respective ceiling stipulated in the De Minimis Aid Regulation? (if applicable)

□ □ □

3.12. In case of a de-merger, where a single company is separated into two or more different companies, is the de minimis aid granted prior to the de-merger allocated to the company that actually used the aid? If such an allocation proves to be impossible, is the de minimis aid distributed proportionately based on the equity of the new companies recorded in the balance sheet as at the day of the de-merger?

□ □ □

3.13. Is the total grant equivalent of the aid provision calculated properly and is the provided de minimis aid considered as transparent aid? (Article 4 of the De Minimis Aid Regulation)

□ □ □(Please indicate the paragraph of Article 4 of the De Minimis Aid Regulation regulating the transparent provision of the de minimis aid)

3.14. Is the de minimis aid cumulated as required in Article 5 of the De Minimis Aid Regulation? □ □ □

3.15. Does the provided de minimis aid fall within the validity term of the De Minimis Aid Regulation? □ □ □

4. Assessment of the compliance of financing with De Minimis Aid Regulation

4

4.1. Does the granted financing comply with the provisions of the De Minimis Aid Regulation? □ □

_____________________________________(assessor)

____________ (signature)

____________ (date)

Revision of the assessment: □ To approve the assessor’s conclusion□ Not to approve the assessor’s conclusionNotes:_______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________ (Manager)

____________ (signature)

____________ (date)

___________________Annex amendments:No. 4-2 of 05-JAN-2018, published by the RLA on 05-JAN-2018, ID Code: 2018-00249

Changes and amendments:

1.Order No. 4-628 passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 3 November 2017, published in the RLA on 03-NOV-2017, ID code: 2017-17449On Amendments to Order No. 4-363 passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 20 June 2017 Regarding the Approval of the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects Based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020

2.Order No. 4-2 passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 5 January 2018, published in the RLA on 05-JAN-2018, ID code: 2018-00249On Amendments to Order No. 4-363 passed by the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania on 20 June 2017 Regarding the Approval of the Framework for Financing Smart FDI Projects Based on Measure No. 01.2.1-LVPA-T-848 under Priority 1 “Promotion of Scientific Research, Experimental Development and Innovations” of the Operational Programme of the European Union Structural Funds for 2014-2020