The Agency for Rural Investment Financing (AFIR) announces that it is taking a new step to support Romanian farmers who want to access European funds by implementing the UiPath (NYSE: PATH) business process automation platform, a leading company in enterprise automation technology.

With the help of automation, AFIR simplifies the process of obtaining the necessary documents and authorizations for the funding application file by farmers. This initiative has a direct impact on how farmers access financing for investments through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (FEADR), providing them with considerably reduced processing time for funding applications and, consequently, lower costs for obtaining and submitting the necessary authorizations and permits.

"Agriculture is a strategic priority and occupies a very important place in Romania's economy. To support Romanian farmers, we focus on supporting the development of agriculture and rural areas by providing funding and support for projects that contribute to economic growth, job creation, and improving the quality of life in local communities.

Technology has always been at the forefront of transformation and progress, and in this case, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based automation plays an extremely important role in accelerating and streamlining key processes for farmers," said George CHIRIȚĂ, General Director of AFIR.

For this purpose, AFIR uses the software solutions offered by UiPath for automating bureaucratic and time-consuming processes. Automation allows for direct requests for documents from public institutions. It also supports the extraction of information from applicants and beneficiaries of FEADR from institutions with which the Agency has signed collaboration protocols.

Thus, based on the Unique Identification Code (CUI) and/or the Personal Numeric Code (CNP), AFIR has so far imported into the information system from the National Trade Registry Office (ONRC) approximately 10,000 certificates, stored in the Document Management System built using Microsoft SharePoint, in the folder corresponding to each investment project. Additionally, AFIR retrieves from the Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) system PATRIMVEN a series of documents related to our beneficiaries such as fiscal certification certificates, fiscal records, annual and semi-annual balance sheets, and historical balance sheets.

Furthermore, at the level of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, software solutions offered by UiPath have been implemented for automating repetitive procedures, such as obtaining data provided by the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration (ANCPI).

"AI-based automation is a driver of progress and has the potential to revolutionize and accelerate the transition to digital agriculture. By facilitating faster and more cost-effective access for Romanian farmers to European funds, AFIR provides necessary assistance to this category, leading to increased performance in agriculture and creating the conditions for a better future for Romania's agricultural sector. We are pleased with the close partnership with AFIR and the immediate impact of the results obtained together," said Daniel DINES, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of UiPath.

Automation will ensure the extraction of the criminal record:

"At present, AFIR uses a new functionality - a robot that downloads from E-invoice, or from the Ministry of Finance's website, invoices representing all services purchased by AFIR. Additionally, automation ensures their subsequent transformation into PDF format to be verified and entered into the accounting system by the relevant department of the Agency.

Moreover, the Agency uses a robot to download from ROCRIS, based on CNP/CUI, the criminal record extract for individuals and legal entities, and then uploads them into SharePoint, in the file corresponding to each project it manages," stated Daniel IFRIM, IT director of the Agency.

For 23 years, AFIR has managed non-reimbursable European funds granted to Romania for financing investments in agriculture and rural development, as well as for making payments to farmers, processors, entrepreneurs, and local public authorities, over the course of 3 financial exercises: SAPARD (2000-2006), the National Rural Development Program 2007-2013, and PNDR 2014-2020. Starting this year, AFIR is implementing the Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (PS 2027), through which farmers can benefit from allocated funds totaling 5.87 billion euros for investment projects in agriculture and rural development.

"Once again, we are in the honorable position of being among the first or even the first institution to manage European funds and to have implemented software robots in procedural flows starting in 2020, with the clear aim of further depoliticizing and digitizing administrative action. Developing state-of-the-art solutions to further enhance the Agency's performance is an ongoing effort aimed at administrative efficiency, eliminating repetitive processes, and increasing the level of transparency and objectivity in the use of European funds," added George CHIRIȚĂ.

AFIR is the first institution to fully digitize the implementation process of projects financed with European funds granted through FEADR. AFIR's procedural framework is based on online mechanisms, flows, and systems with the best cost-effectiveness and time-performance ratio, developed together with IT partners.