More than 3,600 poor people benefited from the six-month campaign, she said.

"I am very proud that we proved that companies, municipalities and the state can work together voluntarily and in good faith to help those in need," Kopač Mrak said.

Companies wrote off the biggest chunk of the debt - nearly EUR 1.26m. Municipalities wrote off a total of EUR 555,000 in debt, the Labour Ministry almost EUR 80,000 and the Financial Administration EUR 4,000.

Many companies did not want to disclose the figures. Among those who did, the highest number was stated by NLB bank (EUR 228.000), followed by the Kranj-based Domplan real estate manager (88,000) and Komunalno podjetje Velenje utility services provider (EUR 71,000).

Among municipalities, the two biggest cities fared highest. Ljubljana wrote off EUR 130,000, while Maribor followed with EUR 71,000.

On average, the write-off amount was between EUR 500 and EUR 600 per person, the minister said, adding that the debt write-off was a measure, which could be repeated, but it was in no way a systemic solution.

More than 7,700 people requested debt write-off during the course of the campaign, while over 3,600 were approved.

The figures are much lower than the estimates under which 170,000 people could benefit from the measure. Kopač Mrak said that the number of requests was low due to several reasons, including the fact that not all municipalities took part in the campaign.