Granting, payment, and reporting of the funding

Granting of funding and the associated terms and conditions

Granting, payment, and reporting of the funding

The Vitality Board decides on granting or denial of the funding. Decisions may also be conditional and require, for example, implementing other funding for the project. Decisions may also require budgetary changes. The actual funding payment decisions are made in Business Services.

Payment

The city makes decisions on payment of the funding separately afterwards based on the reporting the recipient of the funding submitted. Funding shall be paid for eligible costs incurred in accordance with the funding rate allocated, but not more than the amount allocated in the funding decision. The rest of the costs will remain the responsibility of the recipient of the funding. Funding will only be paid for the eligible costs incurred during the project and in accordance with the project plan. In exception to the above, any advance will be paid beforehand, if on the payment of the advance is agreed separately. The possible advance is considered as part of the total amount of the aid costs. Any unused funding will be paid back to the fund for inclusion in its assets.

Reporting

The recipient of the funding shall draw up a final report on the implementation and results according to the plan of their project and of the actual costs incurred. In projects where funding has been divided into several parts, interim reports are also submitted. The payment decisions are made based on this reporting. The sequencing of funding, any interim reporting and other details relating to the funding will be agreed on after the funding decision. The recipient will also have a final discussion with the city after the project has been completed.

The final and interim reports are made using the fund’s ready-made reporting templates. Financial reporting is also verified by an external audit, where the auditor reviews the accounting, supporting documents, and working time monitoring, and checks that the costs of the project are correct and that they have been incurred in accordance with the project plan and the fund’s terms and conditions. The final report shall also indicate a potential unused share of the funding that is to be paid back to the fund. The audit is conducted at the end of the project. In connection with the interim reports, it is sufficient to fill in the reporting form.

In projects with several implementers, the main applicant is responsible for compiling the reports of participants in accordance with the fund’s reporting instructions. However, the terms, instructions, and rules of the fund apply to all recipients of funding. The funding is paid to the main applicant, who accounts it for the other participants in accordance with the application and reporting.

Reporting shall be conducted within three months of the closure of the project’s disbursement period or completion of the project, using the fund’s own reporting templates allocated for this use.

For large projects, the funding decision may also require that an external steering group approves the final report with costs before submitting it to the city or an external evaluation.

Indicators of the Green Transition Fund

The effectiveness of the Green Transition Fund is monitored not only through project-specific but also through common indicators. The applicant will set project-specific indicators using the application form and evaluate their implementation in connection with reporting. The fund’s common indicators monitor the overall effectiveness of the fund. Their implementation will be evaluated in the context of the final report.

The fund’s common indicators are as follows and the effectiveness they create is evaluated on a scale of 1–5. Please note! Not all indicators apply to all projects, and this has been considered in the evaluation scale.

Emission reductions

The project reduces the operator’s own carbon footprint.
The project enables other companies/operators to reduce their carbon footprint (carbon handprint for the branch of industry)
The project enables residents/consumers to reduce their carbon footprint (carbon handprint for consumers)
The project will reduce the use of fossil energy.
The project will increase energy efficiency.
The project promotes the circular economy (further exploitation, for example, of materials and products)
The project will reduce scope 1 emissions. *
The project will reduce scope 2 emissions. *
The project will reduce scope 3 emissions. *

Prerequisites for green economy and business

The project will promote the introduction/investment of green technology.
The project creates new business opportunities.
The project creates new green business opportunities (the business idea is based on promoting the green transition).

Other environmental objectives

The project promotes biological diversity.
The project promotes adapting to or preparedness for climate change.
The project increases carbon sinks or storages.

Competitiveness and business growth

The project has created/will create new cooperation between companies.
The project increased multisectoral cooperation (research, companies, and/or the public sector).
The project promotes the creation of new jobs.
The project will increase expertise relating to green transition.
The project has a positive impact on the development of turnover of the operator(s).
The project increases the competitiveness of the operator(s).
The project will increase the competitiveness of other operators.

General

How likely would you have implemented the project without aid from the fund?
Are there plans for further development of the project or for a follow-up project?

* Scope 1: Direct emissions arising directly from the organisation’s own operations, like combustion of fuels or emissions from processes.

* Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the production of purchased electricity, heat, or steam that the organisation uses in its own operation.

* Scope 3: Other indirect emissions arising from the organisation’s operation but over which the organisation does not own or have direct control, like emissions caused by procurement, transport, or waste management.

Other conditions

Initiation and amendments

The project to be funded will begin at the latest within one year of the decision and will be implemented within three years. The last projects to be funded must end by 30 May 2035, so that funding can be reported, processed, and paid for before the fund’s time of expiry.

If the project to be funded has not started within 12 months of the funding decision, the decision will lapse, and any money paid from the fund shall be paid back.

No amendments to the application and project may be applied for after it has started unless the applicant wishes to suspend funding. When funding is granted, it is understood that the project is a trial, but the applicant/recipient of the funding shall nevertheless commit to conducting the project for which the application is submitted to. If it appears that the project cannot be implemented according to the plan, the recipient of the funding shall contact the Economic Developer immediately.

Recovery

When applying for funding and launching a project that has received a positive funding decision, the applicant/applicants commits to comply with the decision, application, and guidelines that outline the fund’s rules, terms and condition, and policies. If the recipient of the funding has not implemented the project plan in accordance with the funding decision and/or complied with the other terms, rules, and instructions of the fund and the funding decision, the aid granted will be recovered in part or in full. Funding that is contrary to EU State aid rules may be recovered from the recipient of the aid.

The responsibility for the correct use of the project’s spending always lies with the entity to whom the funding has been granted. Misuse of the aid is prohibited. The recipient of the aid bears the risk of repayment of the funding if the project is interrupted, is not implemented as intended, or does not meet the requirements of the funding.

The aid paid incorrectly or without justification will be recovered, if:

the conditions for granting or paying the aid have not been met
the conditions of the aid have not been complied with
the recipient of the aid has provided incorrect or incomplete information that has materially affected the granting or payment of the aid, or
the recipient of the aid prevents the inspection from being conducted.

Where the aid has been granted jointly to more than one recipient, all recipients are jointly and severally responsible for paying the aid to be recovered.

To the amount to be recovered shall be paid the annual interest on late payment referred to in Section 4(1) of the Interest Act. The interest shall be calculated based on the time starting 60 days from the date of the recovery decision and ending at the time of the claim or, if the claim is deducted from the subsequent instalment, at the time of the deduction.

Recovery of aid paid incorrectly or without justification or interest on it may be waived in whole or in part if the full recovery would be particularly unreasonable, taking into account the circumstances and activities of the recipient of the aid as a whole.

Recovery of the aid is decided by the aid grantor. The recovery decision shall be taken without undue delay after the authority was informed of the grounds for the recovery and within 10 years of the payment of the aid, or the last instalment thereof.

De minimis aid

The funding is granted in the form of de minimis aid. The aid is granted in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/2831 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid.

The applicant for funding and the recipient declares that it or any other company within the same group has not received de minimis aid that has not been notified to the City of Porvoo. The recipient commits to compensate for any damage caused to the City of Porvoo by any unnotified aid.

Procurement

The recipient of the funding shall organise a competitive tendering for the procurements relating to the project in accordance with the Act on Public Procurement and Concession Contracts if the Act requires tendering for procurement.

Sanctions

The European Union and the United Nations have imposed sanctions in their legislation and/or via the decisions of their institutions. The applicant for funding and the recipient declares that the following entities are not subject to EU or UN sanctions:

the applicant company, a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the applicant company, or a person exercising representative, managerial, or regulatory authority
a natural or legal person who owns the applicant company directly or indirectly
a subcontractor involved in the delivery of the products or services, a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of those subcontractors, or a person exercising representative, managerial, or regulatory authority, or a natural or legal person who owns the subcontractor company directly or indirectly.

The applicant or recipient of the funding is required to provide the city with information on their owners and other beneficiaries and subcontractors on request. In addition, the applicant or recipient of the funding shall notify the city without delay if the payments related to the project may directly or indirectly end up on an entity subject to sanctions.

The applicant for funding and the recipient declares that it is not subject to any above-mentioned sanctions.

Disclaimer

The granting of funding does not assume any responsibility to the City of Porvoo, including an external advisory board designated for the Green Transition Fund, any responsibility for any harm caused by the implementation, final results, or activities of the funded operation. The recipient of the funding accepts that the City of Porvoo is not responsible for any damage, losses, or adverse effects that may arise as a result of the funded measures.

It is the responsibility of the recipient of the funding to ensure that the funding is used in an agreed and lawful manner, and that the funded measures comply with all relevant regulations and standards. The City of Porvoo is not responsible for the impact of the funded measures or results on third parties, the environment, or society, and the granting of funding in itself does not guarantee the success, safety, or risk-free operations.

Right of inspection

The City of Porvoo has the right to conduct inspections of aid applicants and recipients to verify and monitor the requirements of the aid. The party conducting the inspection has the right to inspect the accounts of the aid applicant, and other conditions for granting and paying the aid to the extent required by the supervisory task.

The authority carrying out supervision or inspection has the right to record a voice or image in accordance with a manner that does not compromise the rights of persons, or the protection of private life and other privacy as provided for in the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act.

Granting, payment, and reporting of the funding

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