Municipalities have reported over EUR 2.7 billion in damage caused by the August floods. The data has been sent by 173 municipalities in the country that experienced flooding and is not yet final.

The municipalities were asked to do an inventory of damage to public service infrastructure facilities of local importance, residential buildings and property that they own, damage to forest roads, and direct damage to land, buildings and infrastructure.

The Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said almost half of the assessed damage related to watercourses (more than €1.3 billion), followed by facilities (more than €500 million), with damage to more than 12,000 buildings having been reported.

The amount of the damage reported by municipalities does not include damage to businesses or the immediate costs of the emergency clean-up.

The Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration will forward the collected data to regional commissions for review and final assessment.

The total damage assessment is required for an application for funds from the EU Solidarity Fund. In order to obtain EU aid, Slovenia must apply within 12 weeks after the floods that took place at the beginning of August.

Under the recently passed legislative changes, municipalities are eligible for advance payments of up to 40% of the preliminary damage assessment. The government announced last week that EUR 222 million would be allocated for this purpose.