Large investment loan with a capital discount. Round 4.

The project applicant must meet the following conditions:

• is a large or medium-sized merchant
• is registered with the Commercial Register of the Republic of Latvia
• the merchant has no tax debts exceeding EUR 1000 in total
• the eligible costs of the investment project are at least EUR 10 000 000
• The objective of the investment project is:
  • the introduction of new equipment and technological processes in manufacturing or service provision in specific sectors;
  • the introduction of new equipment and technological processes in manufacturing or service provision, or making significant changes in the manufacturing of the relevant product or service provision process, if a merchant applies for aid for investments related to primary agricultural production*
• the merchant, including when evaluating at the level of its group of linked enterprises, is not subject to an unfulfilled order for the recovery of funds;
• the merchant, including when evaluating at the level of its group of linked enterprises, is not considered to be a company in difficulty;
• the investment supports the merchant’s activities in line with the European Union’s goals and Latvia’s commitments relating to green and digital transformation, including the European Union’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, except for investment projects that apply for funding for investment projects solely in the military field, for which the Ministry of Defence has issued an opinion on the investment project’s compliance with essential security interests related to the production of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment; 

When applying for aid for investments related to primary agricultural production, in addition to the conditions specified in the section “Project applicant”, the merchant does not meet any of the following criteria:

• a capital company – a joint-stock company or a limited liability company (except for a medium-sized merchant that has existed for less than three years) – has lost more than half of its share capital due to accumulated losses, if, after deducting accumulated losses from reserves and all other items generally considered to be part of the company’s equity, the result is negative and exceeds half of the share capital, taking the share premium into account;
• a company in which at least some members have unlimited liability for the company’s debts, in particular, a general partnership and a limited partnership (except for a medium-sized merchant that has existed for less than three years), more than half of the capital shown in the company’s accounting records has been lost due to accumulated losses;
• the merchant has been declared insolvent, legal protection proceedings have been initiated or are being implemented, or its economic activity has been terminated, or it meets the criteria specified in the laws and regulations for insolvency proceedings to be applied to it at the request of the debtor or creditor;
• the merchant has received rescue aid and has not yet repaid the loan or revoked the guarantee, or has received restructuring aid and is still subject to a restructuring plan;
• for large merchants, the ratio of merchant debt to equity balance value has exceeded 7.5 in the last two years, and the merchant’s interest coverage ratio, calculated on the basis of the merchant’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), has been less than 1.0. 

Additional requirement for large merchants

The application must be accompanied by a hypothetical scenario for the implementation of the investment project, prepared in accordance with the Altum guidelines (Guidelines for large merchants applying for aid for primary agricultural production, for the preparation of a hypothetical scenario justification for an investment project).

• Total available funding under Round 4 of the programme – EUR 67 042 025;
• Loan with a capital discount – up to 30% of the project’s eligible costs, but not more than EUR 10 million.

Under the aid programme, a capital discount is granted if the project is implemented:

• In the priority areas of smart specialisation (RIS3):
      - knowledge-intensive bio-economics
      - biomedicine, medical technologies, pharmacy
      - photonics and smart materials, technologies and engineering systems
      - smart energy and mobility
      - information and communication technologies
• In the field of tourism
• In the field of culture or creative industries
• In the military field
• In the field of primary agricultural production

A merchant operating in both supported and unsupported sectors must demonstrate in the funding application and ensure throughout the project and after its completion (at least 3 years for medium-sized, 5 years for large) that these activities and costs are clearly separated.  

Activities, sectors, and economic operators that are not eligible for funding are specified in Paragraph 82 of Cabinet Regulation No. 667, Regulations on Loans with Capital Discounts to Support Large Investment Projects.

• The applicant submits two applications within the specified deadline – LIAA and ALTUM
  • the application to the LIAA must be submitted via the business.gov.lv e-service
  • the application to Altum must be submitted at mans.altum.lv, information about aid at altum.lv
• The role of the LIAA:
  • to evaluate the economic contribution of the submitted projects
  • to make a decision on the selection results
  • to carry out post-monitoring, providing an opinion on the fulfilment of the conditions for the application of capital discounts within the framework of the loan programme
• The role of ALTUM:
  • to evaluate the viability of projects that have received a positive decision in the LIAA selection process and their compliance with the programme conditions
  • to make a decision on granting aid
  • to conclude the contract
• The customer implements the project
• LIAA performs project post-monitoring
• If the beneficiary achieves the performance indicators set out in the project, part of the loan is written off over a period of three years.

• The applicant submits two applications within the specified deadlines – LIAA and ALTUM
  • the application to the LIAA at business.gov.lv e-service
  • the application to Altum must be submitted at mans.altum.lv, information about aid at altum.lv
• The deadline for submitting project applications to both institutions is from 20 November 2025, at 12:00, to 20 March 2026, at 23:59.
• Sample project application form (DOCX) (the project application form must be completed electronically when registering for the e-service platform www.business.gov.lv)

Within the framework of the investment project, the applicant for aid makes investments to start, expand, and streamline production:

• Purchase of new equipment
• Acquisition of intangible assets
• Construction works and immovable property acquisition only for a complex investment project that also provides for the acquisition of equipment)

! investment projects that were started before the application was submitted to Altum are not supported.

The project is evaluated according to the following criteria, which must be achieved as a result of project implementation:

1. Average gross salary for employees:

• the average monthly gross salary of employees hired as a result of the investment project > the average gross salary in the previous year in the region where the project is being implemented, multiplied by a coefficient of 1.3; or
• the average monthly gross salary of employees who have retained their jobs > the average gross salary in the previous year in the region where the project is being implemented, to which a coefficient of 1.3 is applied, additionally ensuring an increase in the average gross salary by at least 30%.

2. Turnover generated as a result of the investment project:

• as a result of the investment project, the company’s turnover = the company’s turnover in the year of completion of the investment project + (coefficient* x capital discount).

*coefficient of at least 2

3. Number of jobs created and secured as a result of project implementation:

• as a result of the investment project, for every EUR 250 000 of total available capital discount, one new full-time job has been created, or an existing full-time job has been retained with an increase in salary;
• the total number of new or retained full-time jobs with increased wages is at least 12, and these have been maintained throughout the relevant post-monitoring period.

4. Amount of investment in research and development by the merchant:

the amount of the merchant’s investment in research and development in Latvia at the merchant level in the sector specified in the investment project application is at least EUR 250 000 per year

Additional points are awarded during the evaluation of project applications if:

• at the time of submitting the project application, the LIAA has a binding decision of the credit committee of the financial institution on granting a loan for the implementation of the investment project or the last annual report, confirming that the merchant has sufficient funds available for the implementation of the planned investment project, excluding the planned capital discount
• the project is planned to be implemented in the Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Latgale NUTS 3 2021 data region

Investment projects submitted in the military field have priority over other submitted investment projects if the Ministry of Defence has issued an opinion on the project’s compliance with essential security interests related to the production of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment.

After the investment project has been fully completed and the merchant has submitted an application for post-monitoring, but no later than two years after the investment project has been fully completed, the LIAA initiates and implements post-monitoring of the relevant investment project for a period of three years.

Investment projects that have been granted funding in the military field and have received an opinion from the Ministry of Defence on the compliance of the investment project with essential security interests in relation to the production of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment are subject to post-monitoring for three years, unless the project targets have been achieved in the first or second year of post-monitoring.

Each year of post-monitoring, the LIAA evaluates the fulfilment of the project indicator criteria after the end of the relevant post-monitoring year, and the LIAA makes a decision on the achievement or non-achievement of the project indicators.

The capital discount is applied in three parts. After each post-monitoring year, the principal amount of the loan issued by Altum may be reduced by one third.  If the merchant does not meet the achievable indicators set within the project in a post-monitoring year, the capital discount is not applied in the respective post-monitoring year, i.e., the merchant loses the relevant one-third of the maximum amount of capital discount available for the project.