17.01.2024

AGENCY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES EASES THE CONDITIONS FOR FINANCING PROJECTS FOR SPECIALIZED ENTERPRISES AND COOPERATIVES OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy publishes for public discussion a draft of a new Methodology for financing projects of specialized enterprises and cooperatives of people with disabilities. The main purpose of the normative act is to ease the conditions for applying for the allocation of funds from the Agency for People with Disabilities for the implementation of projects with a social and economic focus. They create conditions for the employment of people with disabilities and increase the opportunities for their full inclusion in society.

The methodology contains a number of measures to reduce the administrative burden and stimulate a wider range of specialized enterprises and cooperatives to submit projects. It facilitates the process of evaluating and ranking the approved proposals and their financing.

In order to stimulate the interest of the applicants, it is envisaged that the period during which specialized enterprises and cooperatives must be registered in the Agency for People with Disabilities will be reduced from one full reporting financial year to 3 full calendar months. It is proposed to drop the previous restrictions for applicants with up to 10 roster members to receive funding for training to increase the professional qualification and educational level of employed people with disabilities. According to the project of the new methodology, enterprises and cooperatives will be able to apply for training funding for the entire roster, not just for employees with permanent disabilities.

According to the methodology, Agency for People with Disabilities will allocate funds for financing projects with a social focus, which include activities to create safe and healthy working conditions, ensuring access to workplaces and sanitary facilities for people with permanent disabilities, as well as for conducting training courses for increasing the professional qualification, skills and competences of the employees. Applicants will be able to receive funds for the financing of business-oriented investment proposals that lead to technological renewal, purchase of equipment, opening of new jobs, improvement of competitive opportunities and financial stabilization of specialized enterprises and cooperatives of people with disabilities.