Manufacturers of new or significantly improved dual-use – civil and military – products will have significantly easier access to European Union co‑funding. These amendments could be particularly beneficial for startups. The relevant regulatory framework developed by the Ministry of Economics was approved by the government on October 21.
Until now, it was stipulated that, to apply for support for the development of new or significantly improved dual-use products, the project applicant’s turnover had to be at least twice as large as the requested public funding. Under the newly approved regulation, the turnover threshold is now reduced – it must be at least 30% of the requested public funding, or there must be a contract with the National Armed Forces with a value of at least 30% of the requested public funding.
If a company has a good tax compliance record, tax debts will not be assessed. Additional points are awarded to project applicants operating outside Riga.
Furthermore, companies that manufacture goods or offer technologies for both civil and military needs will have the opportunity to protect their intellectual property rights and attract professional expertise and sectoral association know‑how – eligible project costs will include expenses related to acquiring patents and other intangible assets, as well as costs for sectoral expertise for market and technology research, insofar as this is necessary for project implementation.
All this is stipulated in the amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers regulations “Implementation rules for the third round of the measure ‘Support for the development and internationalisation of new products’ under the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027 Specific Objective 1.2.1 ‘Strengthening research and innovation capacity and introducing advanced technologies for companies’”.
“Dual‑use technologies are becoming one of the pillars of growth for Latvia’s economy – a field where innovation, security, and export potential meet. At present, more than 40 Latvian companies are already developing products that can be used in both the civil and military sectors – from drone solutions and sensor technologies to innovations in materials science and software security solutions. With these amendments, we are expanding the available support and reducing bureaucratic barriers so that startups can also integrate into security industry value chains,” says Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis.
Given that, under the programme, support is provided for the development of new or significantly improved dual-use products and technologies intended for both military and civil needs, the process for evaluating project applications is being clarified – in the evaluation of project applications, the Ministry of Defence will be designated as the competent authority for the military component, while the civil component will be assessed by the Ministry of Economics.
In the first project application call, which concluded in April 2025, contracts were signed with 25 companies for public funding of 13.8 million euros. It is planned to attract private co‑funding in the amount of 8.7 million euros. For the new project application call, the available public funding is 15.5 million euros.
Originally published at https://inc-baltics.com/jaunuznemumiem-ar-militaru-ievirzi-eiropas-nauda-klust-pieejamaka/
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