Ljubljana - A total of EUR 30 million in funds will be allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovenia as part of a call for applications for digital transformation of SMEs (P4D React EU), the government has announced. The entire amount will be contributed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

According to the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, which approved the EU funding, this is the fifth investment under the React-EU initiative, which aims to promote the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and initiate a green, digital and resilient recovery.

The call for applications will partially cover costs for technical equipment and digital transformation of key processes in small and medium-sized enterprises.

This will stimulate the growth and development of the supported enterprises and address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government office said on Monday.

Investments will be dedicated to introducing and utilising digital business models, digital transformation in production and business, promoting energy-efficient processes, increasing value added per employee and preserving jobs.

The call for applications will co-finance at least 300 projects or companies that will implement digital transformation processes, raise the competences of employees and increase their added value per employee by at least 3%.

The Slovenian Enterprise Fund is expected to launch the call for applications to companies registered in Slovenia on Friday.

The ERDF has already contributed EUR 3.6 million to relocate the Pulmonary Diseases Unit to UKC Maribor, EUR 4.5 million to secure additional capacities at the Ljubljana Nursing Hospital, EUR 1.5 million for IT support for vaccination procurement, and EUR 93 million for co-funding of infrastructure investments to strengthen institutional care providers.