The measures include the introduction of eased rules for the disbursement of advances, as detailed in the attached official notice published on the NRDI Office’s website. The beneficiaries are also notified over the EPR in the case of research and development projects, and also in email in the case of innovation projects. most important information about the measures introduced by means of the notice are summarised below:
Form of measure
The measure in the notice has been introduced by the NRDI Office as a unilateral amendment (of the funding agreement / funding document).
Scope of measure
The measure in the notice applies to all funding agreements and funding documents which name the NRDI Fund as the source of funding and set the end date of project implementation to a date after 1 March 2020.
Note that the measure in the notice has temporary effect: the amended provision on the disbursement of advances can be applied by 30 September 2020. (Accordingly, the measure applies to reports to be submitted by 30 September 2020, that is, the project stage covered by the report must end by 31 August 2020.)
After the expiry of the above deadline, the original provisions of the funding agreements, funding documents and their annexes governing the disbursement of advances will come back to force.
Disbursement conditions
The detailed conditions of the disbursement of advances are included in the Terms of Performance annexed to the funding agreement or funding document. The Terms of Performance originally provide that, among other conditions, advances may only be disbursed if the NRDI Office has approved the (technical and financial) report. The measure in the notice amends this provision to the effect that during the temporary period it is sufficient to submit the report (and, for innovation projects, the request for advance) for the next advance payment. (Requests for advance must be submitted over the EPTK portal for innovation projects and via email, as a scanned copy, for other projects.)
Please be advised that all other provisions of the funding agreements, funding documents and their annexes that are not affected by the measure introduced with the notice (such as the rules of eligibility for funding or advance payments) remain effective without any change.
Following disbursement of an advance, the NRDI Office will assess the submitted report in line with the funding agreement, funding document and their annexes, and will decide on approval based on the outcome of the assessment. In other words, the disbursement of an advance is no guarantee for the approval of the report.
Budapest, 21 April 2020
National Research, Development and Innovation Office
Source: https://nkfih.gov.hu