Recent Development
On 22 March 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Technology ("Ministry") amended the Regulation on the Technological Products Investment Support Program ("Regulation"). The amendments expand the scope of the Regulation; regulate the announcements on the technological product investment support program, application conditions and the scope of support; and amend the procedures and principles to be applied in the evaluation process.
The amendments are available online here (in Turkish).
What's New?
The main amendments introduced to the Regulation are as follows:
Technological products within the scope of support
- Investments for the products already supported under the Regulation and the establishment of fast-charging stations for electronic vehicles are now within the scope of the support.
Announcement of support
- The Ministry will specify the application period, call schedule, application method, duration and budget of the project, subject, amount or rate of the investment and evaluation criteria in the announcement of investment support. The Ministry can announce investment opportunities at least once a year, either for a certain period or indefinitely.
- The Ministry will also indicate whether a performance bond of up to 6% of the support amount will be requested from the investor to be supported in the announcement.
Evaluation
- The technological products whose production is largely insufficient to meet the domestic market needs are now within the scope of the support.
- The evaluation commission can take into account the contribution to technological development, domestic production capacity and the need for public support when evaluating the application.
The scope and amount of support
- Only machinery and equipment support can be provided for investments in fast-charging stations.
- Machinery and equipment support will be provided for a maximum of 36 months from the date of execution of the contract between the Ministry and the investor. It will cover all kinds of permanent equipment, gear and mold, as well as the relevant expenses required for the project, such as customs, transportation and insurance.
- Non-refundable support in the investments for establishing fast-charging stations can be up to 75% and, in other projects, up to 60% of the expenditures of the project amount. The support rate can be increased up to 20 points if the machinery and equipment to be purchased is certified as a domestic product, provided that the aforementioned rates are not exceeded. In any case, the support cannot exceed TRY 20 million (approximately USD 1,308,009) for fast-charging stations.
- In machinery and equipment support, software expenses will also be evaluated in determining the project amount.
- Up to 25% of the support for machinery and equipment can be paid in advance.
Other
- Machinery and equipment purchased within the scope of support for fast-charging stations cannot be sold or rented, and the right of use cannot be transferred and pledged for one year.
- The company that completed the investment must submit the final report to the General Directorate of National Technology within three months of completing the project.
The application, evaluation, monitoring and inspection, payment, finalization processes, support items and contractual elements, as well as the procedures and principles regarding the implementation of the support program will be published on the Ministry's website.
Conclusion
With the increase in the use of electric vehicles, the Ministry has expanded the scope of the support program to encourage investments in charging stations and other technological products in light of today's needs. Information regarding the support to be provided can be found in the Ministry's upcoming announcements. Companies operating in this field can apply for investment support programs by following the Ministry's announcements.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.