Serbia PM: Damage Caused by Floods to Exceed 0.6% of GDP

Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the floods have caused damage worth 0.64% of GDP.

Speaking Thursday in Belgrade at a meeting of international donors, he argued that the sector of energy and agriculture had been hardest hit, adding that the damage estimate could even reach EUR 1 B.

He noted that Serbia would need international assistance for its economic recovery.

Vucic made clear that a total of 31 879 citizens had been forced to flee their homes due to the floods, 1763 facilities had been either destroyed or damaged, and 2260 facilities inundated, not including Obrenovac, which suffered the biggest damage.

Vucic said that a total of 39 municipalities were recovering from the devastation caused by the floods, adding that 30 bridges on categorized roads had been torn down and 50 had been damaged, plus around 200 bridges on municipal and non-categorized roads which had been damaged or destroyed.

He drew attention to the damage incurred to Corridor 10, near Dimitrovgrad and the Bulgarian border, stressing that it would take over EUR 10 M to repair.

Vucic, as cited by the in-Serbia news portal, made clear that the Belgrade-Bar railway was in need of extensive renovation.

Serbia's Prime Minister informed that 75,000-83,000 ha of arable land had been flooded.

He also pointed out that the floods had caused Serbia to buy electricity worth EUR 0.5 – 1 B a day due to the damage to the power supply system.

Serbia declared a state of emergency on May 15 after suffering the heaviest rainfall in over 120 years.

The torrential rains brought a death toll of 27 in Serbia, 17 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 2 in Croatia. The floods destroyed a large number of houses and cut off power and...