Kazlų Rūda restates SME grants, caps aid at €4,000 a year

Kazlų Rūda municipality has restated its small-and-medium-business support programme in a new wordingE TAR, setting the full menu of grants, caps and application rules local firms now face. Decision No. TS-175 of 26 October 2026E TAR, signed by mayor Mantas Varaška, amends the procedure approved by Decision No. TS-51 of 25 March 2024E TAR and reissues it in full, implementing the municipality's 2026–2028 strategic plan under the Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros įstatymas (Law on SME Development). All support is paid from the municipal budget.

Support goes to micro, small and medium enterprises registered in Kazlų Rūda municipality or operating there, and to self-employed persons working under a business certificate or individual-activity certificate, farmers and associated business structures operating in the municipality that meet the Section IV requirements. Recipients must have no debts to the state budget, Sodra or the municipal budget unless payment is deferred by law, must have filed their financial-statement set where required, and must not be bankrupt, in liquidation or under restructuring. Costs already financed from EU, state or municipal money cannot be compensated twice, and only costs incurred within the 12 months before the application qualify under measures 7.1, 7.2, 7.4 and 7.6.

The menu runs from start-up costs to export fairs. Registration and establishment costs are compensated up to 100 per cent but no more than 200 euros for firms registered within the previous 12 months. Equipment for a newly created full-time job is compensated up to 4,000 euros per job and 8,000 euros per recipient, with a 12-month job-retention duty and a 30-day replacement duty if the employee leaves for reasons beyond the recipient's control; seasonal-activity jobs get up to 2,000 euros once per programme with a 6-month retention duty. Business plans and EU-fund applications are compensated up to 1,000 euros where the application scores positively, first-year commercial premises rent up to 1,000 euros, domestic fairs up to 500 euros, and international export fairs up to 50 per cent and 2,000 euros a year provided the recipient displays Kazlų Rūda publicity material prepared by the tourism and business information centre. Websites and e-shops get up to 500 euros, training up to 1,000 euros, food retailers, caterers and local producers 1 per cent of the previous year's sales up to 4,000 euros a year, and agreed festive decoration up to 50 per cent of municipal taxes and charges paid, capped at 200 euros a year. No recipient may draw more than 4,000 euros in a calendar year across all measures, or 8,000 euros where the multi-job equipment measure appliesE TAR.

Hunting and trapping, alcohol and tobacco production and trade, real-estate brokerage, legal services, pawnshops and gambling are not supported. Where funds run short, first-time applicants, founders under 29, innovation, non-traditional business, organic farming and heritage-product projects go first, with earlier applications breaking ties.

Applications go to the municipal administration under published calls, no later than 31 October of the current yearE TAR except for the festive-decoration measure, on paper to Atgimimo g. 12, 69443 Kazlų Rūda or by email, and defective applications must be fixed within 5 working days. Funding is allocated by the administration director on the SME working group's proposal, the contract must be signed within 30 days, and misused money must be repaid within 14 working days.

Legal basis: Kazlų Rūdos savivaldybės taryba Decision No. TS-175 of 26 October 2026 restating Decision No. TS-51 of 25 March 2024; Smulkiojo ir vidutinio verslo plėtros įstatymas, Articles 5(1), 6(2) and 7.