Announcements

The “Severe Business and Commons for Moldova” (SBC), implemented by GIZ and financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-financed by the European Union and the Swiss Government, calls for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Moldova operating in the industrial sector to express their interest in receiving technical assistance in the field of industrial energy efficiency improvement.

As part of its energy transition efforts, the project will support SMEs selected by carrying out industrial energy audits, subsequently providing guidance on how to implement the recommended energy efficiency measures. The provision of financial support for those measures will be managed by the Organisation for the Development of Entrepreneurship (ODA) with financial support from the Swiss Government.

Purpose of the call:

Identification of up to 40 SMEs eligible for fully funded industrial energy audit. Supporting beneficiary SMEs in preparing for the financing of recommended energy efficiency measures.
Supporting Moldova’s energy transition by reducing energy consumption and improving competitiveness in the industrial sector.
In order to qualify for this Appellant, the following eligibility criteria must be met by the Appellants:

General criteria

• Is classified as an SME under the conditions laid down in Law 179/2016;
• Does not hold a dominant market position as determined by the competent authority;
• Is not an enterprise in whose share capital the member’s share that is not the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise exceeds 25 %, except for non-commercial organisations;
• Is not importing goods subject to excise duty;
• It is not a trust company and an insurance company;
• It is not a collective investment undertaking;
• It is not a bank;
• It is not a non-bank credit organisation, savings and loan association;
• It is not Lombard and currency exchange unit other than banks;
• It is not a gambling undertaking;
• It is not a voluntary pension fund;
• It is not an undertaking where State control has repeatedly highlighted the same breaches of law;
• They are not undergoing insolvency, reorganisation/liquidation/suspension of business;
• It has no arrears owed by the national public budget at the time of the request for the support;
• Does not have, as founder, a member of the shareholder or associate legal entities incorporated in jurisdictions that do not implement international transparency standards;
• Does not have among the beneficial owners natural or legal persons against whom national and/or international restrictive measures are imposed;
• Do not have conflicts of interest with members of the management bodies of IPODA and have not been sanctioned in the last 1.5 (one-and-a-half) years for corruption, fraud or misuse of public funds;
• Do not/have not received any other public support for the same investments.
  

Specific eligibility criteria

• Carry out economic activity in the territory of the Republic of Moldova for a continuous period of at least 1.5 (one and a half) financial reporting periods up to the date of submission of the business plan.
• Submitted to the National Statistical Office the financial statements or the State Tax Service unified fiscal accounts for at least the last two consecutive years in which it activated in the project or related areas concerned. During this period, the enterprise needs to demonstrate a positive or stable trend in economic and financial developments, reflected by maintaining positive equity.
• Entities with negative equity in the last fiscal year are not eligible unless they can document the sustainable financial recovery on the basis of interim and/or forecast financial statements reflecting the positive trend of the main indicators (operating profit, positive EBITDA, cash, debt relief).Exception can make the years in which a state of emergency was set up, according to Law No 212/2004 on the state of emergency, as well as war and war.
• If the applicant has previously activated in related areas, he shall demonstrate that it has already initiated the transition to the area covered by the business plan, through the allocation of relevant resources, such as: acquisition of specific equipment, conditioning of production/supply of services, hiring staff, registering the corresponding CAEM code, development of pilot products or services, or establishing commercial partnerships or prior contracts supporting the business plan activity.
• It is not part of a group of affiliated undertakings whose number of employees and revenues from sales or total assets held cumulatively exceed the conditions for defining small and medium-sized enterprises laid down in Article 4 of Law No 179/2016 on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Expenditure criteria:

• The purchase of modern equipment, machinery and technological lines for industrial, processing or packaging processes with a view to replacing or supplementing existing equipment with the aim of increasing the efficiency and quality of production.
• Purchase of industrial robots for repetitive operations (e.g.: the southing, assembly, packaging, etc.), systems for automatic handling of raw materials or finished products.
• Purchase of equipment and solutions aimed at modernising existing technology lines in industrial production or processing processes.
• Deployment of technologies aimed at increasing the added value of their products and/or the continuity of the value chain.
• Solar water heating systems, such as solar collectors, pumps, boilers and inert tanks, including accessories for installation and installation costs.
• Photovoltaic panels (accessors intended for fitting photovoltaic panels, including inverts and bi-directional meters, including installation costs) and/or energy storage systems.
• Wind installations for the production of the electrical current, including installation costs and/or energy storage systems.
• Technological equipment and equipment for the production and/or use of biogas, including installation costs.
• Heating equipment and facilities (air-water heat time, ground-aer, ground-water, heat plants on biomass, tanks, boilers), including installation costs.
• Irrespective of the applicant’s sector of activity, investments in renewable energy systems for the marketing of electricity produced, including its sale in the grid or other natural and/or legal persons, shall not be eligible for funding.
• Only investments aimed at covering the applicant’s own electricity consumption, as demonstrated by consumer bills during the last consecutive 12 calendar months prior to the submission of the business plan, shall be eligible.
• If installed capacity of equipment exceeds demonstrated consumption, a surplus of up to 20 % above demonstrated consumption is acceptable in order to cover a possible future increase in energy consumption resulting from the expansion of activity.
• Costs associated with installed capacity exceeding this 20 % limit are not eligible for funding and will be fully borne by the applicant.

Economic activity criteria:

• The applicant’s business activity must correspond to the list of eligible economic activities according to CAEM-2 Section C, except for the following classes of economic activities: 11.01; 11.04; 12.00; 20.51; 25.40; 30.40; 32.11.
• Be registered in the Republic of Moldova as a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise.
• Operate an active production unit in the Republic of Moldova.
• Have significant energy consumption and interest in reducing operational costs.
• Be available to actively participate in the audit process.
• Present evidence of financial availability to co-finance at least 50 % of future investments based on audit recommendations.

Successful applicants will benefit from the following support:

• A professional industrial energy audit (with a total value of up to EUR 5000);
• Tailor-made recommendations for improving energy efficiency and integrating renewable energy solutions;
• Assistance and guidance in the preparation of applications for subsequent funding managed by ODA.

Interested companies must submit the following documents as part of the EOI call:

• Completed application form (to be requested at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.);
• The certificate of financial availability, signed and stamped, issued by the bank, confirming that the organisation has sufficient financial resources in the account or access to a credit line.

The full package must be sent by e-mail to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , no later than 21.11.2025 no later than 21.11.2025 at 5 p.m. under the heading ‘EOI for Industrial Energy Audit for SMEs’. Clarification questions will be addressed to the same e-mail address mentioned above and no later than 18.11.2025 no later than 14:00.

Selection process (internal procedure)

The applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:
Annual energy consumption and cost intensity (40 points)

The score will be awarded according to the ratio of annual energy expenditure to the total operating or production costs. Applicants are encouraged to attach management reports documenting the total annual operating or production costs in order to support the declared figures.

Previous energy efficiency efforts or plans (20 points)

The score will be awarded on the basis of previous concrete energy efficiency activities and plans (such as audits carried out, investments made and performance history); (II) level and types of risks identified by location condition and institutional context, (iii) proposed measures to mitigate these risks (e.g. remedial plans, guarantees and technical advice).

— Inclusion of women and young people in management/labour (20 points)

Applicants will receive additional scores according to the degree of participation and involvement of women and young people in the managerial structure and workforce.

The applications with the highest scores will be included in the short list.

GIZ reserves the right to carry out field visits prior to the final selection. All applicants will be notified of the visit by email no later than 3 (three) working days before the date of the visit.