ILIC: Agricultural sector will take five years to recover from floods

Velimir Ilic (Photo: Mc.rs)

Floods have given a big blow to the state and it will take the agricultural sector four to five years to recover, said Velimir Ilic, the minister without portfolio responsible for emergency situations.

He added that rescue operations were fights for human lives.

- This is an exceptionally big blow to the budget, as will be seen after the assessment of the damage. It will certainly take the agricultural sector four to five years to recover from this - Ilic told the national broadcasting corporation RTS.

The minister noted that floods washed away crops and destroyed them, adding that people had suffered huge losses.

Ilic said the very bad state of affairs was not due to faulty flood protection systems, but rather to “the abnormally high water levels” that could not be controlled.