Prime Minister Golob: 'We will do everything in our power to ensure that you can return to normal life as soon as possible'

Prime Minister Robert Golob visited the affected areas to assess the situation on the ground | Author Uprava za zaščito in reševanje

The Prime Minister first inspected the damage to low- and high-voltage power lines. "On the ground, I saw the devastation to the network caused by heavy snow. Some of the problems cannot be resolved quickly. However, together with the Civil Protection and other services, we will endeavour to deliver generators wherever possible so that electricity and drinking water can be restored to people as soon as possible," he said.

Following the meeting with representatives of Elektro Maribor, the Civil Protection and other rescue services, the Prime Minister made a statement to the media. He said that, regrettably, there will be an increasing number of natural disasters in the future due to extreme weather conditions, which is why the country has been building a resilience system for some time. "A resilience system also means that, as soon as such disasters occur, the entire country responds," he added.

Prime Minister Golob went on to say that residents will not be left to cope alone in these difficult circumstances. "I wish to emphasise that neither the residents of Styria nor those supplied by Elektro Maribor will be left to cope alone. On the contrary, the State has already activated its strategic reserves, initially by deploying generators and, if necessary, subsequently by taking measures in other areas as well," he said, emphasising that this is a phenomenon of very wide proportions and that the consequences cannot be remedied immediately.

The Prime Minister went on to thank all the workers and teams of Elektro Maribor. "It is essential that the teams at Elektro Maribor are given the space to restore the electricity network to full operation as swiftly as possible. At the same time, any requirements for generators during this interim period must be communicated and coordinated through the Civil Protection," he stressed.

He called on representatives of local authorities to channel their priority requests for generators through the Civil Protection in the coming days. "Only in this way can we ensure that generators and electricity are delivered to those who need them most," he explained.

The Prime Minister also commended the effective cooperation among the various actors involved in addressing the consequences of the severe weather. "By deploying teams and equipment from across the country, we are showing that, as the Republic of Slovenia and as a society, we are prepared to stand in solidarity with anyone who needs our assistance. We must never forget anyone, regardless of where in Slovenia they live or whether the disaster that has affected them is natural or man-made," he said.

The Prime Minister underlined that no one affected by the natural disaster will be left to cope alone. "My message is clear: we will not overlook you, and we will not forget you. We will do everything in our power to ensure that your electricity, water and heating are restored as soon as possible and that you can return to normal life," concluded Prime Minister Robert Golob.

Tatjana Vogrinec Burgar, President of the Management Board of Elektro Maribor, told the media that 50 power engineering teams are currently deployed in the field, working to repair faults on the network. "Around 500 of our colleagues and others are on the ground, working to find solutions so that the network can be restored to full operation as soon as possible," she said. She thanked the Civil Protection, the voluntary fire brigades, the Ministry of Defence, the State and all other services for their support. "We have allocated responsibilities accordingly, and I assure you that each of us is doing our utmost, working in a coordinated manner, to ensure that residents regain access to electricity as soon as possible," she emphasised.

Srečko Šestan, the Republic of Slovenia Civil Protection Commander, explained that in the case of such a widespread outage, it is not possible to resolve all the issues immediately. Generators will therefore be deployed in line with established priorities, first to vulnerable groups and institutions. "Despite the extraordinary efforts of Elektro Maribor and all the other services, it is not possible to resolve all the problems within a day or two," he said, appealing to the public for patience.

The Prime Minister will also visit the Haloze area, where the situation is among the most severe in terms of the volume of snowfall and access to the electricity network and to homes.