The Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Service for Local Development and Local Community Affairs, has announced a Public Call for financing and co-financing the best business plans. New startups will be financed from the Budget of Stari Grad Sarajevo, intended for entrepreneurship development and employment of vulnerable groups, including youth, unemployed, women and persons with disabilities.
From 2016 to 2020, the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo, independently and in cooperation with partners, provided more than three million BAM for projects in the field of entrepreneurship development and reduction of the unemployment rate.
This year, the Municipality will finance or co-finance business plans not only for young people, but also for the unemployed, regardless of age, women, as well as people with disabilities.
“Given the overall situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the fact that a large number of people lost their jobs, this year we have provided significant funds in the budget to support self-employment of primarily vulnerable groups. For that purpose, we changed the Rulebook on Startup financing, in order to comply with all legal procedures in providing employment support,” said Mayor Hadžibajrić.
In the previous five years, the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo, through this support mechanism, co-financed the start-up business for about 30 young people.
Some of the newly started businesses of young people were: the first veterinary pharmacy in the Old Town, a studio for 3D printing, a video games development studio, but also crafts such as photography, car mechanics, car painting, etc.
The Municipality of Stari Grad proved that startups are very important, as well as support for young people by increasing the budget in this area for 2021, although it is significantly reduced compared to last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The public call will be open until April 21, 2021
The best business plans will be selected and financially supported. The cash prize is intended to co-finance the costs of starting a business through: financing the costs of business registration, operating costs, lease of business premises, working capital, contribution fees and other costs.
The amount of non-refundable funds planned in the business plan can amount to a maximum of 10,000 BAM.
