The Environment Ministry presented on Tuesday its activities related to the floods that hit parts of Slovenia in September last year, highlighting a draft damage repair programme which is expected to be adopted by the government next week.
Podobnik explained that the three-year programme was now subject to interministerial coordination and that the amount of funds available was still open.
While the final estimation of the damages caused by the torrential rain and floods on 18 September stands at EUR 223.7m, Podobnik only revealed today that EUR 1.25m had been earmarked for restoration works in the old part of Zelezniki (NW), the town hit hardest by the floods, and EUR 2.53m for the reconstruction of the Franja WWII partisan hospital near Cerkno.
A part of the funds for the programme is to be secured this year, and the rest in the coming three years. Podobnik proposes four sources of funding, with the bulk coming from the state budget. The remaining sources are the EU Solidarity Fund, which has promised EUR 8.25m, municipal budgets, and loans from European investment banks.
Explaining that EUR 17m has been spent on damage relief so far, the minister said in reference to the amount of funds envisaged for the programme that "any amount coming near this-year's figure would be realistic and good".
The situation in Zelezniki six months after the floods that claimed six lives is meanwhile slowly improving, the town's Mihael Prevc told STA.
He noted that those having to struggle most are the farmers, who had so far received no state aid even though their land would need years to recover.
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