Lisbon, Sept. 21, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese government has set up a new credit facility to support wine producers, worth €110 million and offering subsidised interest rates, according to a ministerial order published on Monday in the official government gazette.
The «Cash Flow Facility – Wine Sector II» renews the scheme launched two years ago to support the cash flow of businesses involved in processing grapes into wine, «ensuring the necessary financial resources are available to pay winegrowers for the 2025 and 2026 harvests and to settle or renegotiate debts with credit institutions».
The aim is to contribute to «the economic and social stability of the sector», as stated in the text of the decree.
In a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sea emphasises that the intention is to «ensure liquidity for cooperatives and processing entities to pay for grapes from the 2025 and 2026 harvests and to restructure previous loans».
«The Government's priority is to ensure that producers receive fair payment for their produce in a timely manner, safeguarding agricultural income at a time of increased pressure on the sector», it states.
In September 2024, the Government had launched a subsidised interest rate credit facility for this sector, with the aim of «meeting the cash flow requirements directly associated with payments to suppliers of wine grapes for the 2023 harvest, as well as payments to be made in relation to the 2024 harvest».
The government justifies the renewal of this support on the grounds that «the Portuguese wine sector continues to face significant constraints arising from the slowdown in wine consumption in both domestic and international markets, a situation that has persisted and hampered the disposal of production».
«The imbalance between available supply and actual market demand has put pressure on companies' cash flow, particularly on the processing entities and cooperatives responsible for purchasing produce from winegrowers. In a scenario where many cooperatives are facing financial difficulties, the Government emphasises that paying farmers is the central objective of this scheme,» the ministry stresses.
According to the ministerial order published today, the new credit facility will «provide financial resources for the payment of grapes purchased from members and suppliers during the 2025 and 2026 wine-growing seasons and for the restructuring of existing loans contracted under Ministerial Order No. 221-A/2024/1 of 23 September».
Loans intended for the payment of produce benefit from an interest subsidy of up to 75%; the amount allocated to the restructuring of loans may not exceed 50% of the amount financed under the support scheme.
One of the eligibility criteria is that beneficiaries must not have placed wine from another member state or from third countries on the market during the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 wine years.
The total amount of the ‘Cash Flow Facility – Wine Sector II' is €110 million; should the total amount of credit requested exceed this limit, the value of each application will be reduced in proportion to the excess.
The individual amount of credit to be granted may not exceed the outstanding amount from the 2025 wine-growing season, plus the annual value of grape purchases for wine production, based on the best of the three previous financial years, in order to meet the estimated costs of purchasing grapes for the 2026 season.
To this individual credit amount may be added the sum required to settle or restructure the outstanding principal of existing loans.
The aid to be granted falls under the European Commission's ‘de minimis' scheme; therefore, «it may not exceed, cumulatively over a three-year period, €300,000 per individual undertaking, expressed as gross grant equivalent». Should it exceed this limit, the individual credit amount to be contracted will be reduced.
The credit is granted in the form of a repayable loan by credit institutions or other entities authorised by law which have entered into an agreement with the Institute for the Financing of Agriculture and Fisheries (IFAP), in which a maximum nominal interest rate is set.
In the event of financial default by the borrower in meeting their obligations regarding the repayment of principal or the payment of interest, the public guarantee shall be excluded.
The ministerial order published today further stipulates that loans are granted for a maximum term of three years from the date the contract is signed and are repayable annually in equal instalments of principal, with the first repayment due within a maximum of two years after the date of the contract.
The loan must be used within a maximum of nine months from the date the contract is signed; up to three drawdowns may be made, with the first coinciding with the date the contract is signed.
The deadlines for submitting applications, assessment, decision-making and contract signing are set by IFAP and published on its website.
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