IULIA BLAGA

BUCHAREST: The Romanian Government approved a state aid scheme offering a 35% cash rebate on qualified expenditure for international productions shooting in Romania. There is a total cap of 50 m EUR per year to fund the scheme. The multiannual scheme approved on 13 June 2018 runs until the end of 2020.

In addition to the 35% cash rebate on qualified expenditure, productions explicitly promoting Romania, with a minimum local spend of 20% of the total budget of the production, can also apply for a rebate of 10%. In effect, a production that meets all these requirements could claim a rebate of up to 45%.

The minimum limit of qualified expenses is 100,000 EUR. The scheme is open to feature films, medium and short fiction films, TV series, direct-to-video, internet and any other support films, documentaries and animated films. The rebate cannot exceed 10 m EUR per project (or per season, for TV series).

The scheme will work on first come first served basis and will require the international production to have a production services or coproduction contract with a Romanian production company.

The scheme, for which Castel Film Studios has lobbied intensely lately, will apply to the National Commission for Prognosis, which has ten days after the publication of the Government decision in the official journal of Romania Monitorul Oficial to approve the guidelines together with the cultural eligibility test.

The exact date when the scheme will begin has not been announced, but sources told FNE that it is expected to be fully functional by the end of July 2018.

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