Information about de minimis aid

As a publicly owned financing company, Finnvera must comply with EU state aid regulations when providing financing services.

Finnvera does not grant direct support or grants to companies, but Finnvera’s financing includes so-called imputed state aid. If the price or terms of Finnvera’s financing are below the EU’s market price level, the price difference is considered imputed aid.

• The imputed aid included in Finnvera’s financing is primarily provided as so-called de minimis aid. A company may receive a maximum of EUR 300,000 in de minimis aid from different state or municipal actors over a three-year period. For the fisheries sector, the maximum amount of de minimis aid is EUR 30,000 over a three-year period.
• If a company has received or is about to receive the maximum amount of aid, or if the company is a company in difficulty in accordance with the De minimis Regulation, it may be prevented from receiving the aid or the aid may require a higher financing price, i.e. so-called pricing without including aid.
• The maximum level of de minimis aid is monitored at the so-called single undertaking level defined in the Regulation. The company is responsible for ensuring that the maximum amount of de minimis aid paid by different parties is not exceeded. If the maximum amount is exceeded, the aid may be recovered in full and with interest.
• Finnvera’s financing for investments may include project-specific investment and employment aid granted by the EU to SMEs (so-called SME aid).
• In addition, Finnvera can use the SME Rescue and Restructuring Aid Scheme that is suitable for financing enterprises in difficulty.
• However, due to state aid regulation, export guarantees must always be priced in a way that they do not include any aid.

In connection with each financing decision, Finnvera checks whether the financing can include imputed State aid or not and selects a form of aid that may be suitable for the case.