Slovakia may lose €800m of EU funds if it does not manage to draw from its allocation, interim Premier Ludovit Odor told a news conference. Efficient drawing of EU funds depends to a large extent on recipients, as it is up to them to successfully complete their projects so that the money from EU funds isn’t lost.
Slovakian Vice-premier Livia Vasakova said that drawing the entire allocation isn’t realistic. The report on drawing of the European structural and investment funds 2014-2020 revealed that Slovakia still had €4.29bn of undrawn funds at the end of May. Vasakova noted that part of the undrawn funds amounting to €1.04bn could be used to support solutions to the energy crisis (SAFE), while an additional €315.2m should be redirected to expenditure related to the initial reception of refugees from Ukraine and their integration into society (FAST CARE). Vasakova pointed to the fact that it is impossible to negotiate the extension of the deadline to draw money from the old EU funds with the European Commission, so the money must be used by the end of December 2023, except for the Rural Development Fund, which can be drawn until 2025.
