The third payment request includes the fourth grant instalment and the second loan instalment.  The total amount of the request is €280 million gross or €257.7 million net (pro rata taking into account the September 2021 advance payment), of which €141.6 million are grants and €116.1 million are loans.

The competent ministries consider that all eight milestones set as a condition for the third payment request have been met, namely:

• The entry into force of the ban on the use of fossil fuels for heating new buildings;
• The awarding of contracts for projects to stimulate investment to improve productivity and competitiveness;
• Proposed amendments to pension legislation submitted for consultation;
• Completion of the selection of investment projects for the greening of the education infrastructure – two milestones (one within the grant instalment and the other within the loan instalment);
• The operational Public Procurement Academy;
• The entry into force of the Act Regulating Alternative Fuels Infrastructure and Promoting the Transition to Alternative Fuels in Transport;
• The awarding of the contract for the construction of new institutional care facilities.

Satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones will be verified by the European Commission, which will determine the amount of payment of the request on this basis.

To implement the investments and reforms set out in the RRP, Slovenia has access to €1.61 billion in grants and €1.07 billion in loans from the Recovery and Resilience Facility until the end of 2026. To date, the European Commission has disbursed €841 million, of which €531 million are grants and €310 million are loans. From the start of the RRP implementation in 2021 to date, the State has disbursed €480 million to the final beneficiaries for the project activities already implemented, mainly for the projects to provide public rental housing and to increase the capacity of railway infrastructure.

A number of projects are being implemented throughout Slovenia, either selected in one of the many invitations to tender for project selection or directly approved. Some projects have already been completed. Examples of recently implemented project activities:

• Two apartment blocks with 91 new rental apartments in the Nova Dolinska neighbourhood in Koper and 88 new non-profit rental apartments in Zelena jama in Ljubljana;
• The Ministry of Education distributed 36 robotic arms as part of the project "Digitalisation of Education at Primary and Secondary School Levels and at the Level of Adult Education). Additionally, in collaboration with the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia, they installed 204 fibre-optic connections to improve the internet connectivity of educational institutions, as part of the project "Installation of Fibre-Optic Connectivity for Research and Educational Institutions";
• Contracts were signed for the comprehensive renovation and conversion of Prešeren's home into a modern museum complex and for the renovation of the Črnomelj Cultural Centre;
• A number of projects aimed at the digitalisation of the economy have been completed.

For more information on the implementation of the RRP, please visit the website noo.gov.si. Examples of RRP projects can also be found on the interactive map of the EC.

* The procedure for evaluating Member States' requests is the following: In accordance with the legislative framework for the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the European Commission pre-evaluates compliance with the milestones and goals indicated in the request within a period of two months. If it deems that the milestones and goals have been satisfactorily met, it submits a preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee whose opinion is taken into account in the final assessment of the request, whereupon the requested amount is disbursed. The process of evaluating Member States' requests may also take longer if, in the process of verifying the satisfactory achievement of the milestones and goals, the EC should require additional clarifications or expect additional activities that are necessary for the satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and goals by the Member States, which should comply with such additional requirements within six months. A Member State that meets all Commission requirements receives the requested amount in full.