Drought damage estimated at €1.5bn

Prime Minister and Head of the Emergency Response Team Ivica Dacic stated Friday (7 September 2012) that the damage caused by summer drought was currently estimated at approximately €1.5 billion, announcing that RSD 10 million would be directed to the agricultural sector following the upcoming budget revision, it was announced on the Serbian government's website.

At a session of the Emergency Response Team attended by all team members, Dacic stressed that the drought-inflicted damage was going to cost much more than the introduction of an irrigation system.

Given that the situation is as it is, our plans must include the write-off of farmers' debts and measures to regulate the situation in the market and prevent a jump in the prices of food through interventions from commodity reserves, he observed.

We will do all we can to neutralize the consequences of the drought, but we must also learn from this and build irrigation systems, bearing in mind that we could have constructed the finest irrigation system in this part of Europe for €1.5 billion, Dacic noted.

Assistant Minister of the Interior and Head of the Sector for Emergency Situations Predrag Maric submitted a report on the current status in terms of fires in the period July–August 2012 and stressed that the damage caused by the fires in July and August amounted to around €30 million, while the total damage in 2012 to date stood at €50 million.