August 8 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's government now estimates at several billions of euro the damage caused by the floods that ravaged the country last week, prime minister Robert Golob said.
"We will have to do everything, scrape wherever we can, if we want to repair this damage in an effective way. We will have to reshuffle," Golob said in a video file posted on the website of public broadcaster RTV on Monday.
The government will complete the preparation of the 2024 draft state budget by September and will secure 100 million euro ($110 million) that will be needed for the most urgent interventions to mitigate the effects of the natural disaster, Golob said.
"In the meantime, we will try very hard to get as much help as possible from abroad, so that it will be easier for us to put everything together," he noted.
Heavy machinery and prefabricated bridges are what is most needed in Slovenia at the moment, and the country is getting them through European mechanisms, Golob added.
On Sunday, Slovenia requested assistance from the EU and NATO to cope with the consequences of the natural disaster.
On August 5, Golob said Slovenia faced the biggest natural disaster in its history after devastating floods caused by torrential rains killed three people and destroyed roads, bridges and houses on August 4 and 5. The total damage has been estimated at about 500 million euro back then.
($ = 0.9096 euro)