One of the most important changes is the adjustment of financial eligibility requirements related to solvency and liquidity indicators. From now on, financing can be obtained by farms whose quick coverage ratio (current assets – inventory / current liabilities) is less than 1 but greater than 0.4 (previously it was from 0.5 to 1) and if their debt ratio (liabilities / assets) is less than or equal to 0.8.
Also, financing can be provided to farms whose quick coverage ratio is less than or equal to 0.4, and the debt ratio is less than or equal to 0.6 (previously the debt ratio interval of 0.6–0.8 was applied).
“When creating these loans, we relied on the good practice of previous state aid measures. However, the experience of the first months of implementation and feedback from farmers showed that some farms experiencing temporary financial difficulties do not meet the current eligibility criteria. Therefore, a decision was made to review the financing eligibility criteria to better reflect the current situation in the sector while maintaining responsible use of state funds. We believe that these changes will allow concessional financing to reach a wider range of farms, primarily those who need it most,” says ILTE board member, Head of the Development Service Tadas Gudaitis.
With the updated financing conditions, an additional 10 million euros are allocated for loans – the total financing budget increases to 50 million euros. At the same time, the funds allocated for financing are redistributed – 40 million euros are planned for farms affected by market price fluctuations or adverse meteorological phenomena, and 10 million euros for farms unable to obtain financing on the market.
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Since the start of financing in May, ILTE has received more than 600 applications. Currently, more than 240 financing agreements have been signed, worth about 25 million euros, and more than 30 applications are still being evaluated.
The updated loan provision conditions can be found on the ILTE website www.ilte.lt.
