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Elmaddin Hajiyev: "The execution of the projects and the proper use of the paid funds are under control" 19.07.23

Grants are considered to be of great importance for expanding access to financial resources and funding projects of micro, small and medium enterprises. One of the institutions providing grants to SMBs is the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBİA). Grants are allocated by the Agency to fund projects of SMBs in the fields of education, science, research and support. Elmaddin Hajiyev, Head of the Business Services Department of KOBİA, addressed our questions on the matter.

- Mr. Elmaddin Hajiyev, how many business entities have received grants through the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBİA)?

- Grants are allocated to the SMB projects presented by KOBİA in accordance with the "Procedure for financing educational, scientific, research and support projects related to the development of micro, small and medium business" approved by the Cabinet of Ministers Decision dated September 30, 2020. Pursuant to the procedure, the projects submitted to the competition shall cover the areas of education, science, research and support. Any legal entity of SMB entities or natural persons carrying on business activities without establishing a legal entity are eligible to participate in the competition. Projects that have been fully funded by other institutions, in progress or have been completed will not be funded under this grant support.

The key benefit of this support is the expansion of SMBs' access to financial resources.

In addition, implementing new mechanisms and innovative projects in relevant fields, supporting start-up projects, creating new inventions, useful models, technological innovations and industrial examples beneficial for the activities of entrepreneurs are of great importance for applying scientific knowledge in the field of SMBs.

The allocation of grants are made on the basis of competitions held by KOBİA. To date, 3 competitions have been held for funding educational, scientific, research and support projects of SMBs. As part of these competitions, 39 SMB projects were awarded grants.

- How often are grant competitions held and which candidates are most likely to win?

- Pursuant to the relevant rule approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, the competition is organized by KOBİA twice in a calendar year. SMBs will be notified in advance about the competition through the official website of KOBİA, social media accounts and media outlets. All projects submitted to the Agency and meet the requirements are registered and assessed by the Expert Commission. Projects that are beneficial for the development of any field, measurable, and can yield effective results by making best use of available resources will be more likely to successfully earn the competition. Projects with the same content funded within the scope of past competitions held by KOBİA are not admitted to re-competition.

- Which areas of the competition are most often applied for project funding and what criteria are used when selecting the winners?

- To date, 282 projects in education, 256 in support, 68 in research field, 56 in science, and 101 in other fields were submitted to the Agency to receive grants as part of the three competitions held.

Out of 39 projects allocated grant funds, 5 of them are based in the field of education, 1 to science, 4 to research, and 29 to support. These projects include fuel efficiency in various fields, development of various devices, online platforms and software, recycling, zero waste production, obtaining international certificates and patents, fostering women's entrepreneurship, conducting research in favour of SMBs, etc.

The selection of the winners by the Expert Commission and KOBİA is made in accordance with the conditions set forth in the relevant Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. When examining the projects, the expert commission determines whether the project submitted to the competition and its attached the documents comply with the relevant rule, confirm the relevance and effectiveness of the project submitted to the competition, identifies duplicate or similar projects, etc. When examining the projects submitted to the competition, KOBİA makes a substantiated decision on whether or not to provide funding for each project based on the opinion of the Expert Commission.

Projects require expertise are evaluated according to 14 criteria set forth by the aforementioned rule.

These criteria include clarity of the project goals and objectives, relevance of the topic, innovativeness, clearly formulated and justified idea, application potential for practical purposes, impact on the development of micro, small and medium entities, opportunities for sustainable development and resilience, preparation of the budget in accordance with the funds required for the implementation of the project, the level of perfection of the proposed monitoring mechanisms to assess the implementation status, the presentation of the project by two or more persons , the availability of the required material and logistics, the compliance of the project and the attached documents with the rules, and the experience of the project executor in the relevant field are included.

KOBİA makes a decision on funding projects that have successfully passed the compliance stage. Subsequently, a contract is concluded between KOBİA and the person submitting the project to the competition.

If a project submitted does not pass the evaluation, a decision is made to reject funding for the project and a letter is sent to the applicant. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to take part in the forthcoming competitions by improving the projects they submitted to the grant competition, but were dismisses from funding.

- How is the implementation of the granted projects be monitored?

- In conformity with the relevant rule, KOBİA reserves the right to request initial, interim and final reports, conduct monitoring and evaluation on the funded projects. The contract regarding projects whose funding has been decided concluded between KOBİA and the project submitter and it includes, among other things, the provisions on project monitoring and submission of reports. The monitoring group established under KOBİA oversees the implementation of the winning projects and the proper use of the paid funds.

- What is the maximum amount for project funding? Are there any plans to increase this amount?

- The maximum funding amount for each project submitted to KOBİA stands at 20 thousand manats. The amount was set by the rule approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. To date, more than 750 thousand manats has been awarded to 39 winning projects in the three competitions held by KOBİA.

- Overall, are there any changes expected to be made on the organization of the competition?

- The current experience, proposals and requests of various stakeholders regarding the organization of competitions and the constantly evolving conditions may lead to relevant changes in the future. One of the areas we are currently working on is the complete electronicization of the competitions.

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