A total of 19 Montenegrin micro and small enterprises have received support to implement cross-border projects in collaboration with partner businesses from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the First Call for the EmBRACE – Small Projects Fund (SPF).
The decision was made during the evaluation committee session in Zagreb, where a total of 24 projects were approved.
These are small-scale projects awarded EU grants of up to €200,000 per project. The EmBRACE project is implemented within the trilateral cooperation program Interreg VI-A IPA Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2021–2027.
During the First Call, which was open from June 18 to September 17, 2024, enterprises from the three countries had access to a fund of €3 million. However, due to the high number of quality applications, the Croatian Agency for SMEs, Innovations, and Investments (HAMAG BICRO), which manages the project, decided to increase the budget for the First Call to €4.1 million to support as many small-scale projects as possible.
Out of 62 applications received, 24 small-scale projects were approved for funding, with a total budget of €4,811,916.77, of which €4,090,129.24 consists of EU grants. Montenegrin micro and small enterprises are participating in 19 of the 24 approved projects.
The list of all approved small-scale projects under the First Call for project proposals can be downloaded here.
The announcement of the next call within the EmBRACE project is planned for mid-2025.
The Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro congratulates all supported enterprises and wishes them great success in implementing their projects.