Among the eight state aid schemes established by OUG nr. 8/2026 (Government Emergency Ordinance no. 8/2026), there is one that, on paper, targets exactly the profile of most Romanian SMEs: investments contributing to the acceleration of innovation in entrepreneurship and the digital transition. It is also the scheme about which the least is currently known — all the more reason to understand the framework in which it will be built ahead of time.
What the Ordinance actually stipulates
The text lists it as a distinct item in the list of schemes and establishes only two firm points: the object — innovation in entrepreneurship and digital transition — and the administrator: the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, which acts as both the provider and the administrator of the scheme.
The rest is to be established later. The budget is approved via the Government Decision that establishes the scheme, as is the case with the tourism scheme.
What is NOT yet established
- Minimum and maximum investment thresholds. The article setting minimum values in the ordinance only covers the first five schemes; this scheme is not included.
- The form of support. It is not known whether it will be a grant, tax credit, state guarantee, interest subsidy, or a combination — the ordinance lists possible forms only for the other schemes.
- The total budget and annual allocation.
- The period for issuing financing agreements. For other schemes, the ordinance sets clear intervals (2026–2032, 2026–2028, 2027–2032, 2026–2029). For this one, it does not.
- Eligibility criteria and the project selection process.
The ordinance stipulated that all schemes be approved by Government Decision within 90 days of coming into force. The deadline has been exceeded for several of them — a signal that the actual implementation pace is slower than that in the text.
What clues we have about the direction
Although the scheme itself is not detailed, the ordinance contains definitions that say something about the type of company the state wants to support through this tier.
- Fast-growing enterprise: a company that records an average annual growth rate of at least 10% in turnover or number of employees, over a period of three consecutive years.
- Start-up enterprise: a company established in the year of registering the application for a financing agreement, or which has or has not carried out economic activity, but for no more than 3 consecutive years before the application date.
Additionally, the ordinance authorizes the Investment and Development Bank (BID) to establish investment vehicles intended primarily to support investment projects and innovative activities of fast-growing and high-tech enterprises. For the year 2026, the Ministry of Finance was authorized to transfer the sum of 1 billion EUR to the disposal of BID, and the state's or BID's stakes in the share capital of the financed companies cannot exceed 20% of the subscribed and paid-up capital.
In other words: in the area of innovation, the state is building two parallel channels — the classic state aid scheme through the Ministry of Economy and capital instruments through BID. Both are worth following.
How to prepare, even if the rules are not yet written
There are things required for any scheme in this package that cannot be improvised in two weeks after the call is published.
- The business plan. The ordinance requires it to cover the investment implementation period plus 5 years after completion, demonstrating economic efficiency and viability.
- Growth history. If the definition of "fast-growing enterprise" becomes a scoring criterion, the figures from the last three consecutive years matter — and you cannot change them retroactively.
- Investment documentation. Eligible expenses are reported without VAT and must target identifiable tangible and intangible assets.
- Status of previously received aid. The cumulation of aid is checked at the level of a single enterprise, and exceeding the maximum permitted intensity leads to rejection or recovery.
Where to track progress
Draft Government Decisions appear for public consultation on the websites of the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance before adoption. The ordinance also mandates the full publication of the schemes on the provider's website within a maximum of 30 days from adoption. The public debate period is, in practice, the only window in which you can signal that a criterion is unrealistic for small businesses.
Article prepared based on the text of OUG nr. 8/2026, in its published form. At the time of writing, the scheme had not yet been established by Government Decision, and elements marked as unestablished may appear in the approval act.