Background information

Heavy rains between 4 and 6 August 2023 caused devastating floods that claimed several lives, destroyed homes, and swept away roads and infrastructure. Floods and landslides made many sites unreachable, and settlements cut off from access to water, gas and electricity. Half of Slovenian municipalities (or 17,203 square kilometres) were severely hit, particularly the Gorenjska, Štajerska, and Koroška regions. The government's swift response was targeted at providing temporary housing, repairing damage, rebuilding wrecked production areas, and keeping people employed. The Amended Natural Disaster Recovery Act (ZOPNN-F, issued on 10 August 2023) and the Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023 (ZIUOPZP from 1 September 2023) provided several instruments for the post-flood economic reconstruction.

Content of measure

Besides job-protection programmes, the government implemented a few other policies to assist the economy in its post-flood reconstruction:

• Pre-payments for cleaning and repairs at a 10% total damage rate: beneficiaries must report on the use of funds within 12 months of receipt of support.
• In contracts for the supply of goods, service provision, or the execution of works concluded by private-law entities with public institutions, contractual penalties for delay do not apply. Contractually agreed deadlines are extended by six months (exceptions are equipment necessary for the post-flood reconstruction and projects co-financed by the 2014-2020 financial perspective as their deadline ends on 31 December 2023).
• Debtors who received a loan from the public fund may request a loan deferment for a maximum of 12 months if impacted by the August 2023 floods.

Depending on the availability of financial resources, the Natural Disaster Recovery Act enables the preparation of the Economic Recovery Programme, under which impacted businesses may get up to 60% assistance if insured. Otherwise, the reimbursement is up to 50%. The insurance payment will be deducted when calculating the grant.

Use of measure

As a result of the August 2023 flooding, 1117 companies were affected. The damage is €381 million worth, with machinery and equipment accounting for 44% of the total. The state helped 708 companies by making pre-payments for cleaning and repairs at a 10% total damage rate. The overall cost of pre-payments was €32 million.

Until 14 January 2024, 957 companies and self-employed received state aid worth €35,341,035

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Other businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

Employers’ organisations, members of the Economic and Social Council (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – GZS, Slovenian Chamber of Commerce – TZS, Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia – OZS, Association of Employers Slovenia – ZDS, Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia – ZDOPS) have blocked negotiations since 20 July 2023. The emergency law was thus prepared without prior negotiation with the social partners

Views and reactions

No information available.

Sources

• 20 July 2023: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia – GZS, Slovenian Chamber of Commerce – TZS, Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia – OZS, Association of Employers Slovenia – ZDS, Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia – ZDOPS, Letter to the Prime Minister Robert Golob and the president of the ESS Jakob Počivalše (www.ess.si)
• 10 August 2023: Natural Disaster Recovery Act (Zakon o odpravi posledic naravnih nesreč, ZOPNN-F (www.pisrs.si)
• 01 September 2023: Act Determining Intervention Measures for Recovery from the Floods and Landslides of August 2023 (Zakon o interventnih ukrepih za odpravo posledic poplav in zemeljskih plazov iz avgusta 2023, ZIUOPZP (www.pisrs.si)