In brief
- The Government has set up TechUp România, a state aid scheme worth 5.313 billion lei, roughly 1.05 billion euros, for companies working in artificial intelligence, microelectronics, biotechnology, green energy, space, advanced materials and cyber security.
- An eligible project has costs of between 5 and 50 million lei and must include a research and development component of at least 2 million, followed by a production component of at least 3 million.
- The aid comes as a grant, on top of which sits a 200% tax deduction for research and development spending. The applicant guide is due within 45 working days.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) no. 699 of 24 August 2026
Adopted: 20 August 2026
A Romanian deep tech firm with a 20 million lei project can now draw public money for the whole journey, from the laboratory to the production line, and can deduct its research spending twice from corporate income tax. Government Decision no. 643/2026, published in Official Gazette of Romania no. 699 of 24 August 2026, establishes the TechUp România scheme. It is the largest intervention of this kind adopted this year for the technology sector and it continues the run of measures through which the state is trying to shift private investment, after the Government had already announced its intention to simplify rulemaking through the regulatory strategy for the period 2026 to 2034.
The scheme rests on Regulation (EU) No 651/2014, which exempts certain categories of aid from the obligation to notify the European Commission, and on the regional aid map approved for Romania by Decision C(2021) 9750 final. The provider and administrator of the scheme is the Ministry of Finance, while the European Commission is merely informed, within 20 working days of entry into force.
The fields covered are listed in Annex no. 1: advanced computing, artificial intelligence, microelectronics and digital infrastructure; biotechnology, agritech and precision health; green energy, storage and climate technologies; mobility, space and autonomous systems; advanced materials and Industry 4.0 manufacturing; cyber security and digital security.
The payment guide for the scheme under Government Decision no. 486/2026 appeared on 28 August 2026: MF Order no. 1.112/2026 requires the file in seven folders, gives the ministry 60 working days to check it and makes settlement conditional on an on-site inspection.
What it changes in practice
The first effect is the money itself. The maximum budget of the scheme is 5.313 billion lei, split almost evenly: 2.656 billion lei for regional investment aid and 2.657 billion lei for research and development projects. The average annual budget is 759 million lei, that is 150 million euros at the exchange rate of 5.06 lei per euro used in the decision. The estimate is 350 beneficiary companies for each type of aid.
The second effect is the condition on how a project is built. Neither research without production nor production without research will be financed. Eligible costs excluding VAT must be at least 5 million lei and at most 50 million lei, of which the research and development component at least 2 million and the production or service delivery component at least 3 million.
The third effect concerns proof of technological maturity. The company must produce a maturity report obtained from a university or from a research organisation in Romania or in another member state, or alternative evidence that is accepted, or documents showing that the project follows on from another research project completed through a round of incubation or acceleration, or through the European platform „Strategic Technologies for Europe” (STEP), with a maturity level between TRL 3 and TRL 7.
The fourth effect is the aid intensity on the research side. Industrial research is covered up to 50% of eligible spending, and experimental development up to 25%. Regional bonuses are added on top: a further 15 percentage points in the regions that meet the conditions of Article 107(3)(a) of the Treaty and a further 5 points in those under point (c). For the production component, the intensity follows the regional map, set out in Annex no. 2.
The fifth effect is the tax advantage. Alongside the grant, the scheme allows a 200% deduction of eligible spending on tangible and intangible assets used exclusively for research and development, which lowers the taxable base. The Ministry of Finance issues a state aid calculation decision for this purpose, observing the intensity ceilings and the cumulation rules.
The sixth effect is an explicit reservation. Out of the total budget, at most 70% of the annual commitment appropriations is set aside for category B undertakings, meaning those able to finance their own contribution themselves. Category A covers autonomous undertakings which, on the date of the application, do not have sufficient resources for their own contribution and attract only private capital from venture capital funds or from individual investors.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
Until now, the large state aid schemes for investment financed either research or production capacity, as separate strands. TechUp România ties the two components into a single project and makes each conditional on the other, which the text of the decision calls full financing of the technological pathway.
The second change is the combination of grant and tax deduction. The scheme grants aid in the form of a grant and of a grant cumulated with the 200% deduction, so support no longer arrives only as a sum paid out, but also as a cut in corporate income tax.
The third change has to do with the calendar. Financing agreements are issued over the period 2026 to 2032, payments are made between 2027 and 2041, and the calculation decisions for the 200% deduction are issued between 2027 and 2040. That is a fifteen year horizon, unusually long for a scheme of this kind.
The fourth change concerns the type of company targeted. By defining category A, the scheme explicitly recognises firms that have no money for their own contribution and finance themselves from venture capital, which is exactly the profile of a technology start-up. Until now, the eligibility criteria favoured companies with a solid balance sheet.
What does not change are the European limits. The sectors listed in Article 1(3) of the Regulation remain excluded: fishery and aquaculture, primary agricultural production, part of the processing of agricultural products, steel, lignite and coal, transport, energy generation and distribution, broadband communications. Export aid, aid conditional on the use of domestic products and regional operating aid also remain prohibited.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- It covers the whole chain, from industrial research to the production line, so a firm no longer has to look for two separate sources of financing for the same project.
- It recognises start-ups financed from venture capital through a category of their own, which does not require own resources at the time of application.
- It combines the grant with a 200% tax deduction, which raises the real effect of the support for profitable firms.
- It is exempt from notification to the European Commission, so it does not depend on an approval that could have taken a year.
- It has a project ceiling of 50 million lei, which keeps the scheme open to mid-sized companies, not only to the very large ones.
What remains a problem
- The minimum threshold of 5 million lei in eligible costs leaves out small technology projects, however promising they may be.
- Setting aside up to 70% of the annual appropriations for category B means that firms without resources of their own compete for a smaller share of the budget.
- The actual rules for filing are not yet public: the applicant guide and the payment guide are due by order of the minister of finance within 45 working days.
- The technological maturity report has to be obtained from a university or a research organisation, an extra step with a cost and a duration of its own.
- Payments run until 2041, so a company that receives its agreement in 2026 may wait years before it is paid in full.
- Projects in the counties covered by the Just Transition Programme are eligible only if they were not eligible there, a condition that is easy to miss when filing.
Practical advice
- Do not start the project before filing the application. Starting means the beginning of construction works or the first legally binding commitment for equipment or intangible assets, and spending incurred earlier risks being ineligible.
- Check the CAEN code of your activity against Annex no. 1 in good time. The list is organised by field and subfield, with CAEN rev. 3 names, and eligibility is decided on that list, not on the commercial description of the firm.
- Contact a university or a research organisation for the technological maturity report before you start putting the file together. It is a mandatory document and obtaining it is not instant.
- Calculate the two components separately. Research must be at least 2 million lei and production at least 3 million, and a project that fails either threshold is not eligible, even if the total exceeds 5 million.
- Establish from the outset whether you fall into category A or category B. The difference is whether or not you have resources for your own contribution on the date of the application, and where the money comes from.
- Watch for the publication in the Official Gazette of Romania of the applicant guide, within 45 working days at most from the entry into force of the decision. The actual filing procedure is set out only there.
- Do not split a large project into subprojects in order to obtain more money. The decision expressly prohibits this practice and lays down cumulation rules within the same county, at group level, over a three year period.
Frequently asked questions
Who can apply for aid under TechUp România?
How much can a project receive?
What does the 200% deduction mean?
When can applications be filed?
What is the TRL level?
Which sectors are excluded?
Who administers the scheme?
Errors and inconsistencies in the published text
- Annex no. 2 covers two years, and Article 11(2) uses it for seven. The title of the annex is „Intensitățile maxime ale ajutoarelor de stat regionale acordate întreprinderilor în perioada 2026-2027”, the maximum intensities of regional state aid granted to undertakings in 2026 and 2027, and the footnote states that for 2028 to 2032 the intensity „se va stabili prin hărțile regionale aprobate de Comisia Europeană pentru această perioadă”, will be set by the regional maps approved by the European Commission for that period. Article 11(2) says, however, that the aid may not exceed „valoarea maximă prevăzută în anexa nr. 2 pentru fiecare regiune de dezvoltare NUTS 3, respectiv județ, pentru perioada 2026-2032”, the maximum value laid down in Annex no. 2 for each NUTS 3 development region, that is county, for the period 2026 to 2032. For five of the seven years in which agreements can be issued, the annex the article points to holds no figures at all. In the same place, „regiune de dezvoltare NUTS 3” mixes two levels: NUTS 3 is the county, while the development region is NUTS 2.
- Article 9(2): the formula uses a symbol it does not define. The text reads „Cmax = (A1 + A2) x B%; E = 2 x A1 x D%; F = Cmax – E; C = E + F”, and the key underneath explains A1, A2, B, Cmax, D, E and F. „C” is not in the key and is used nowhere else in the decision; Article 9(4) calculates the maximum value of the aid as Jmax = Cmax + Imax. On top of that, the formulas as given yield C = E + (Cmax – E), so C is always equal to Cmax and the final operation produces nothing.
- The same formula can produce a negative grant. D is the rate of corporate income tax, that is 16%, so E, the aid in the form of a deduction, works out at 0.32 x A1. For experimental development, Article 10(1)(b) fixes the intensity at 25%, and with the 5% bonus for the regions covered by Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty it reaches 30%. A project whose eligible costs are mainly equipment and intangible assets has Cmax = 0.30 x A1, which is smaller than E, so F = Cmax – E turns negative. The decision provides neither for E to be capped at the level of Cmax, nor for a floor of zero for F.
- Article 10 gives two intensities for component I, and the formula uses only one. The maximum intensity is 50% for industrial research and 25% for experimental development, and Article 8(1)(a) provides that the same component I covers both stages. The formula in Article 9(2), however, applies a single B to the sum A1 + A2, without saying which of the two percentages is taken and how it is split between the stages.
- Article 7(2): maturity level TRL 7 falls into two cases that exclude each other. Point (i) covers maturity „cuprinsă între TRL 3 și TRL 7”, between TRL 3 and TRL 7, and makes both industrial research costs and experimental development costs eligible. Point (ii) covers projects that have „atins TRL 7”, reached TRL 7, and makes „exclusiv”, exclusively, experimental development costs eligible. A project sitting at TRL 7 falls under both, with two different lists of costs.
- The exception in Article 8(2) is not carried over to revocation and to reporting. Article 8(2) exempts from stage 2 of component I the projects covered by Article 7(2)(iii), that is, those already at TRL 8. Article 42(1)(m) nevertheless provides for revocation of the agreement if „întreprinderea nu finalizează etapa 2 a componentei I și nu obține validarea TRL 8”, the undertaking does not complete stage 2 of component I and does not obtain validation of TRL 8, with no exception at all, and Article 40(a) requires every beneficiary to produce a maturity report validating TRL 8 within four months of the completion of component I. A project expressly exempted from stage 2 is thus still open to revocation for not having carried it out.
- Article 2(4) attributes to Article 1(3) of the Regulation exclusions that are not there. Eight categories are listed, from letter a) to letter h), all of them presented as „prevăzute la art. 1 alin. (3) din Regulament”, laid down in Article 1(3) of the Regulation. Article 1(3) of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 has four letters, matching letters a) to d) of the decision. Letters e), g) and h), that is steel, transport and energy, regional schemes targeting a limited number of sectors, and regional operating aid for section K of NACE, reproduce Article 13 of the Regulation, which delimits the field of regional aid. The decision confirms this indirectly itself: paragraph (6) of the same article speaks of „lit. (a), (b) sau (c) din primul paragraf al art. 1 din Regulament”, letters (a), (b) or (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 1 of the Regulation.
- Article 5(2)(a) forgets half the budget. The maximum budget of 5.313 billion lei is broken down into commitment appropriations, in letter a), „pentru acordarea de ajutoare de stat regionale”, for the granting of regional state aid, and budget appropriations for payment, in letter b). The table immediately below, however, splits the same sum into 2.656 billion lei for regional aid and 2.657 billion lei for research and development projects. The commitment appropriations for the 2.657 billion lei allocated to research and development are nowhere mentioned in the text.
Editorial analysis
The problem the scheme solves is real and old: in Romania, public money for research stopped at the prototype, while money for production called for a technology that was already finished. The company moving from the laboratory to the factory was left on its own at precisely the most expensive point. TechUp România ties the two stages into a single financing agreement, and the figures hold together: 5.313 billion lei spread over seven years of awards, 2026 to 2032, give exactly the average annual budget of 759 million lei in Article 5(3), and at the exchange rate of 5.06 lei per euro fixed in the decision they produce the 1.05 billion euros announced. This is not an improvised scheme.
What is missing is the calculation. The formula in Article 9(2), the only place in the decision where it is settled how much a company actually receives, contains an undefined symbol, an operation that cancels itself out, and a case, easy enough to meet in practice, in which the result is a negative grant. A company that wants to know before filing whether the project adds up cannot do the sum with the published text in front of it. In the same way, the annex with the regional intensities covers 2026 and 2027, while agreements are issued until 2032: for five years out of seven, the percentage that multiplies everything else is left to be set later, by a European map that had not even been adopted on the date of publication.
The second tension is between what the scheme says it wants and how it shares the money out. Article 3(xx) defines category A precisely as the undertaking that has no resources for its own contribution and attracts capital from venture funds, which is the profile of a technology start-up. Article 5(6) then reserves up to 70% of the annual commitment appropriations for category B, the companies able to finance their own contribution. Category A is left, in the worst case, with 30% of the annual allocation, and Article 16 asks of it the same minimum own contribution of 25% as of anybody else. The start-up is recognised in the definitions, but thins out in the allocation.
The performance threshold at the far end is also worth a look. Article 39(7) requires the average turnover over the last three years of the maintenance period to be at least 30% of the average estimated in the business plan, and Article 42(4)(a) ties proportional recovery to the same threshold. In other words, a company that delivers a third of what it promised is in the clear and keeps the aid in full. For a scheme built on individually assessed business plans, that is a threshold which filters very little.
What should be changed
- Annex no. 2 should be completed for 2028 to 2032, or Article 11(2) should say what applies in the meantime. As things stand, a company awarded an agreement in 2029 cannot learn from the decision what intensity it is entitled to. The minimum fix is an express reference to the map in force on the date of the award, drafted as in Article 4(1).
- The calculation formula should be republished with every term defined and with a floor of zero for the grant. In concrete terms: E should not be able to exceed Cmax, F should not be able to go negative, the symbol C should be removed or defined, and the intensity B should be stated separately for industrial research and for experimental development, as in Article 10(1).
- Article 40(a) and Article 42(1)(m) should take over the exception in Article 8(2). A project entering at TRL 8, expressly exempted from stage 2, cannot be required to produce validation of TRL 8 as the outcome of that stage, and cannot be revoked for not having gone through it.
- The applicant guide should publish the list of issuers accepted for technological maturity reports, with fees and turnaround times. Article 43 provides for a protocol between the Ministry of Finance and the National Authority for Research within 30 days, but the company needs the report before it files. Without a public list and a maximum time for issuing the report, the first document in the file becomes the least predictable one.
- The threshold of 30% of the business plan should be raised or replaced by a sliding scale. Recovery that is triggered only below a third of the estimated turnover does nothing to discourage inflated plans at the filing stage. A scale in bands, with partial recovery starting at 70% of the estimate, would tie the aid more closely to the result.
- The budget committed and the budget left should be published monthly, not only the date of exhaustion. Article 44(1) requires the ministry to announce the date on which registration is suspended and the date on which the budget runs out. A company that spends months preparing a file needs to see in good time how much is left, broken down by the two types of aid and by the share reserved for category B.
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 699 of 24 August 2026 32 pages PDF, 202 KB the act starts on page 9
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.