On August 9, Emel Etem, Minister of State Policy for Disasters and Accidents, told Darik radio that the State would provide emergency financial resources for construction materials for municipalities that were affected by the recent floods. Etem asked the mayors of these municipalities to rapidly prepare all the necessary documents and send them to the Ministry, so that funds can be provided as soon as possible.

Etem blamed municipalities for inefficiency when it came to applying for state funds in disaster situations. She said that requests for financial aid have not yet been received for the previous floods, probably referring to those in June. Unless mayors send applications the commission cannot provide funds, Etem said. According to her delayed applications for compensations in such emergency situations give the impression that the State is not helping the affected population.

Commissions have been formed to establish the level of damages in the affected regions. The results will be known within a month.

The amount of financial aid which will be provided to each affected household will be the minimum required for living, Etem said.

Expenses for construction materials, as well as for construction work, will be provided by the State reserve for unexpected and emergency expenses, said Lyudmil Vurbanov, an inspector from the Ministry.

The mayor of Tsar Kaloyan and Dimitar Tadarukov, the head of the Agricultural Fund, were scheduled to sign a contract on August 17 so that the town could receive financial aid through the SAPARD programme.

Two experts from the SAPARD agency went to Tsar Kaloyan to help the municipality prepare the document to use to apply for financial aid, through the pre-accession SAPARD programme, to help reconstruct the town’s infrastructure. Up to 100 000 leva is available through SAPARD.