The Municipality of Tirana, within the framework of the project “Financial Support (Grant) for New ‘Green’ Businesses based on an eco-friendly model, or existing businesses attempting to transform into ‘green’ businesses by incorporating go-green elements,” announces the call for applications.

All interested individuals or companies are invited to participate in this project, which aims to:

Stimulate and motivate entrepreneurs to start new businesses that are environmentally friendly, designed to enhance environmental sustainability, or to develop businesses that are conscious of their environmental impact and take steps not only to mitigate the damage caused by their production methods and products but also to actively work towards a greener planet.

The project aims to:

Educate businesses about environmental sustainability in their regional and global context in conserving and preserving finite resources. Support businesses in their efforts to adopt environmentally friendly lifestyles and business practices. Build communities of individuals taking actions towards smarter and more environmentally friendly consumption. Improve quality of life through responsible consumption and preservation of traditions. The grant will support new or existing green businesses, for a period of up to one year and up to 500,000 (five hundred thousand) lekë per business. This amount covers 80% of the investment value the business will make. The applicant must provide financial contribution equal to at least 20% of the requested funded grant.

Proposals to be submitted must include the following documents:

Green Grant Application Form; Business and Financing Plan according to the required model (certifications/patents, other supporting documents verifying the eco-friendly aspect of existing businesses and start-up); Self-declaration form; Copy of identification card; Extract of business from the commercial registry issued by NBR for existing businesses (from e-Albania); All applicants intending to start a new business have a 15-day deadline after Grant approval by the Grant Approval Commission and signing of the Contract to register their business with NBR; Original bank account verification in lekë for existing businesses. New businesses will provide bank account after being declared winners and registered with NBR; Personal certificate downloaded from e-Albania; All applicants must strictly adhere to the application format and attachments provided in this guide.

Eligible Applicants:

Eligible candidates and participants of the Project are all Albanian citizens over 18 years old, residents of the Municipality of Tirana, who have an idea to create a green business or have an existing small/medium-sized business registered in Tirana and aim to transform into eco-friendly businesses.

All applicants should consider that eligible expenses covered by grant funds should be used for implementing the business plan and may include:

Purchase of materials for furnishing or refurbishing premises/spaces for the business; Purchase of machinery, tools, and equipment, as well as software and other intangible assets to diversify production with additional new green products or a radical change in the overall production process of these products; Expenses for other intangible assets (licenses, branding, and patenting products); Creation of a website and promotion or advertising activities only for the first 6 (six) months of the start, not exceeding 10% of the total grant (both for new economic units and existing ones); Salaries and insurance will be covered only for employees directly involved in the production process of green products, up to 3 months after the start of the business, based on the minimum wage in Albania (the remaining part of the salary must be covered by the business itself).

The application call begins on February 1, 2024, and will remain open for document submission until March 31, 2024.

Completed application forms along with the relevant documentation should be submitted in person at the Information and Service Sector for Citizens offices at the Municipality of Tirana.

In addition to applying at the Municipality of Tirana’s office, the grant applicant must electronically submit the Business Plan and Financing Plan to the following contact address: [email protected].

Any application received after the announced deadline will be considered invalid.

The grant cannot be awarded more than once for the same enterprise for this project, and priority will be given to applicants who have not benefited from grants from other financial schemes offered by the Municipality of Tirana for the same or another business, at least within the last 2 years.

For downloading the necessary documentation, please click here!