PM says up to EUR 7bn to be invested in post-flood reconstruction

Presenting a supplementary budget for 2023 in parliament, Golob said that the government would draft in the coming weeks a reconstruction bill under which between 6.7 and 7 billion euros would be allocated for this effort in the coming years.

The goal is not only to restore these areas to their previous state, but to rehabilitate to the extent where they will be "significantly more resistant to similar natural disasters", he added.

While EUR 520 million will be provided by means of the supplementation of this year's budget, European funds are expected to be the most important source, totalling around EUR 2 billion, including EUR 400 million in grants from the Solidarity Fund.

Golob added that EUR 750 million would come from additional loans from the EU Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.

The prime minister noted that he had already notified European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about the additional loans on Wednesday, adding that the relevant application would be formally sent to Brussels today.

In addition, the government expects to obtain around EUR 1.1 billion by redistributing the integral budget funds and making savings on the expenditure side, while around EUR 1.3 billion is expected to come from solidarity contributions.

Some EUR 350 million is expected to be directly covered by insurance companies in the form of damages paid out to the affected individuals and companies, Golob added.

He said that "those who have more, also need to contribute more", expressing the conviction that the financial plan is "balanced, feasible and such that it will not interfere with development priorities".

This view was echoed by Finance Minister Klemen Boštjančič as he spoke to the press on the sidelines of the parliamentary session.

He also said the cohesion programme for 2021-2027 will soon be revised as the government intends to obtain quite some funds by reprogramming priorities financed by cohesion funds in this seven-year period.

Additional borrowing will also be an important source of post-flood reconstruction, he said, but added that "there are still many unknowns here".

The state will borrow through the EU's recovery and resilience facility, a decision the government adopted yesterday, while talks on favourable loans have already started with multilateral banks such as the EBRD and the EIB, said Boštjančič.

And if parliament passes an amendment adopted by a relevant committee yesterday, the post-flood reconstruction fund should not get only EUR 150 million annually from the mandatory solidarity contribution, but EUR 5 to 6 million more, according to the finance minister.

Golob meanwhile also told parliament that the government had entrusted post-flood reconstruction to experts. "I hope that politics will withdraw from the reconstruction in all segments, because this is the only way to make it fast and effective."