Two billion euros of the allocated assets go to the National Innovation Fund for venture capital. This is the effect of an amendment to the infrastructure decree approved on Monday 25 October by the Environment and Transport Committees of the Chamber after a partial reformulation by the Ministry of Economy (Mef).
The content of the correction
The first signed amendment by Sestino Giacomoni (Forza Italia), provides that 2 billion, now registered in the residual account in the budget of the Ministry of Economy, will be assigned by 31 December 2021 to the Ministry of Economic Development.
In turn, the ministry led by Giancarlo Giorgetti will be able to use the sum to subscribe, “up to an amount of 2 billion”, units or shares of venture capital and venture debt funds set up by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Venture Capital Sgr, which manages the National Innovation Fund.
In short, part of the resources of the Heritage destined (also known as the Relaunch Heritage), the fund of about 40 billion established by the 2020 relaunch decree, managed by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which should recapitalize companies with turnover above 50 million but whose activation has so far been a long and quite tortuous.
Possible increase in equipment
The new contribution of resources to the National Innovation Fund eventually it could almost triple the current budget. The amendment establishes that the contribution will be conditional on subscription by the same Cdp and other professional investors of additional resources for at least 30% of the amount of the ministry’s subscription, possible as mentioned up to 2 billion.
According to Giacomoni, with this dowry «Cassa Depositi e Prestiti will be able to make an increasingly decisive contribution to support for SMEs». Positive judgment also from M5S, which with the Conte-II government had strongly supported the launch of the Innovation Fund: “The tools for venture capital – says Luca Carabetta, member of the Productive Activities commission – will continue to be fundamental as already happened in the midst of pandemic ».
Assistance on Pnrr projects
The $ 2 billion game is only part of the amendment. The text, in fact, assigns to the CDP itself – and limited to the interventions for SMEs also to Mediocredito Centrale (Mcc, indirectly controlled by the Mef through Invitalia) – a task of assistance on the projects of the Recovery and resilience plan. “The goal is to ensure effective and timely implementation of interventions,” says Giacomoni.
Until the end of the plan, therefore on 31 December 2026, all central and local administrations will be able to use Cdp, and its direct and indirect subsidiaries, for assistance and technical support activities aimed at managing the funds.
The signing of conventions
To do this, the PAs will have to sign specific agreements, within the limits of the resources of their respective budgets, “also to apply to the economic frameworks of the investments they contribute to making”. In other words, to get help in managing the projects that they are obviously unable to complete independently, the administrations may have to pay to the 2 subsidiaries of the Ministry of Economy a fee that reduces the resources made available by the government to that investment.