FITD invests in five companies for the development of solutions for dealing with climate change

A total of five domestic companies are recipients of financial support within the Challenge for “Tackling Climate Change 2022” which was implemented by the Fund for Innovation and Technology Development in cooperation with the Cabinet of the Deputy President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, in charge of economic issues, coordination with economic sectors and investments.

The winners are: the project “Impact of shading nets on the quality and antioxidant potential of raspberries and blackberries grown in the Kryvopalanje region” of the Willamet company, the “Challenger@Work” project of the Grint IT company, the project “Ecological Beckathon tiles from rice husks and lignin” of the company Inovativnost DOOEL, the project “Llama” of the company Kodhem DOOEL and the project “From waste to organic value” Dominos DOOEL. The innovative solutions offered by the five companies will enable the development of innovative, climate/clean technologies, products and/or processes aimed at mitigating or reducing the consequences of climate change.

“Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing humanity, and that’s why I’m really proud that FITD is actively involved in the joint efforts of the Republic of North Macedonia to respond to the challenges of climate change, especially with investments in vulnerable sectors. The challenge to deal with climate change is only the beginning, but also a concrete step that we have taken in the direction of strengthening climate financing in North Macedonia, thus encouraging the potential of the private sector to invest in innovative solutions to deal with climate change. But we do not stop here, based on the recent decision of the Government, FITD to be appointed as the first national entity to start the accreditation process for GCF, we have started the process of preparing an application for accreditation for the Green Climate Fund. In this way, the state will be able to directly access the GCF, with full ownership in the climate financing process and its better integration with the national climate plans,” said Festim Halili, director of the Fund for Innovation and Technology Development.

Halili emphasized that he is confident that the supported projects of the companies, but also all of us – institutions, scientific and civic organizations and the private sector will actively join the fight against climate change.

The total budget of the call is 7.5 million denars, while the Fund provides financing up to 90% of the total budget for the project, in a maximum amount of 1.5 million denars per project. The implementation of the winning projects can be up to 12 months.

The challenge, which was open from 14.06. until September 1, 2022, a total of 25 project applications were submitted, which passed the two stages of pre-selection and final selection by the Commission for Evaluation and Selection, which made the final decision on financing the best five project applications.