The Agency for Financing Rural Investments (Agenția pentru Finanțarea Investițiilor Rurale - AFIR) has opened the session for the DR-23 intervention, with a budget of nearly 165 million euros destined for investments in the processing of agricultural products. The session closed on February 16, 2026.
DR-23 is the intervention that most substantially funds the food industry sector within the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (Planul Strategic PAC 2023-2027). The session budget was 164,929,100 euros, and the ceilings per project were among the highest in the entire strategic plan.
A company establishing a new processing unit could access up to 10 million euros. For the modernization of an existing unit, the ceiling was 3 million euros. The difference reflects the declared priority of the Ministry of Agriculture: Romania exports agricultural raw materials and imports processed products, and the intervention attempts to correct this imbalance.
Processors from the agri-food industry were eligible, under the usual conditions regarding the economic viability of the project and co-financing capacity. The submission was done online, on the AFIR portal, between December 15, 2025, and February 16, 2026.
The short window of only two months over the holidays was criticized by consultants, as a processing project worth several million euros requires feasibility studies, permits, and offers from suppliers, which are difficult to gather in eight weeks. Companies that did not have the documentation prepared in advance were, in practice, excluded.
For those who missed the session, the 2026 alternatives in the agri-food sector are the Energy Scheme for investments in photovoltaics, closed on August 14, 2026, and the DR-12 and DR-14 interventions, which open in September. The DR-22 intervention, for conditioning and storage, does not have a confirmed new session.
A technical detail that decided many files is the demonstration of raw material supply. AFIR requires processing projects to show where the raw material comes from and under what contractual conditions, precisely to avoid funding units that remain unused after completion. Framework contracts with farmers or cooperatives, signed before submission, weigh significantly in the evaluation.
The broader context explains why this intervention has such a large allocation. Romania exports cereals, oilseeds, and live animals, then imports the finished product, with added value created in other states. Each processing unit funded through DR-23 marginally reduces this trade imbalance. However, the pace remains slow, and competition with already consolidated processing units from Poland and Hungary is difficult.
What you need to know
- Budget: 164,929,100 EUR
- Grant: up to 10 million EUR for establishment, 3 million EUR for modernization
- Eligible: processors in the agri-food industry
- Period: December 15, 2025 - February 16, 2026. Session closed
Source: