The Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies Stefano Patuanelli signed the decree for the development of the logistical capacity of the wholesale agri-food markets operating in the agri-food, fish, forestry, floriculture and nursery sectors, to which 150 million euros are earmarked. within the PNRR measure “Development of logistics for the agri-food, fishing and aquaculture, forestry, floriculture and nursery sectors”.
The concessions are aimed at financing the construction or modernization of local market infrastructures aimed at improving the climate for businesses and consumers at a local level and at modernizing and developing the industrial base. In particular, projects aimed at:
- make the commercial and logistical capacity of the markets more efficient and improve through interventions aimed at improving the storage, storage and processing capacity of raw materials, preserving the differentiation of products for quality, sustainability, traceability and production characteristics;
- reduce environmental impacts through energy requalification interventions or in any case capable of reducing the environmental impact of commercial activities and increasing the sustainability of the products traded;
- reduce food waste through, for example, the strengthening of product controls and the distribution of food surpluses;
- re-functionalize, expand, restructure and digitize areas, spaces and buildings connected to the activities and logistical processes of the market areas;
- improve accessibility to hub services and strengthen the safety of market infrastructures also through the use of innovative and zero-emission technologies.
The beneficiaries of the investments are public or private subjects, managers of wholesale agri-food markets or other subjects entitled to carry out the same interventions. An amount equal to at least 40% of the resources is reserved for the financing of projects to be carried out in the Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia and Sicily regions.
Each project must have a total cost of no more than 20 million and no less than 5 million. The subsidies will be granted, in the form of a direct grant, up to a maximum of 10 million euros per investment project, in any case not exceeding the difference between the eligible costs and the operating result of the investment (funding gap).
The terms and procedures for submitting applications for subsidies will be defined with a subsequent Notice.