Entrepreneurs who invested in Romanian rural areas received between 2015 and 2022 support for the establishment and development of non-agricultural businesses through the Agency for Rural Investments Financing (AFIR), the agency informs, according to Agerpres.

More than 14,900 applications for the financing of rural non-agricultural investments worth over 1.3 billion euros were filed with AFIR and in the end, following the evaluation and selection process, the agency concluded financing contracts with 4,287 entrepreneurs for projects worth a total of 398 million euros.

AFIR settled investment expenses totaling 278.7 million euros made by the beneficiaries of this sector.

The eligible investments that received funding through Sub-measure 6.2 – Support for the establishment of non-agricultural activities in rural areas include: the provision of medical, social, sanitary and veterinary services, the production of non-alcoholic soft drinks, the production of mineral waters and other bottled waters, the manufacturing of textile products, fabric production, AFIR representatives specify.

Financing under Sub-measure 6.4 – Investments in the establishment and development of non-agricultural activities was directed towards the establishment of tourist reception units such as caravan, camping or bungalow parks, as well as to facilities for the manufacturing of textile products, clothing, leather goods, paper and cardboard articles, the manufacturing of chemical and pharmaceutical products, the manufacturing of electrical and electronic products, etc.

As far as the beneficiaries of financing contracts through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) are concerned, AFIR offered financing to over 3,800 small and medium-sized enterprises that develop non-agricultural investments in the countryside, 1,484 service-related activities, 876 agritourism boarding facilities and 128 other projects for craft activities.

Also, 926 young entrepreneurs received European funding through the National Rural Development Plan to develop rural businesses. With the help of AFIR-managed European funds, 4,558 new jobs were created in the rural non-agricultural sector, of which 1,681 are for women.

Agerpres