The European Commission (EC) has assessed that Slovenia has satisfactorily met all eight milestones conditioning its third payment request, which it submitted to Brussels in June this year. To meet the milestones, the government submitted a proposed pension legislation for public consultation, the Act Regulating Alternative Fuels Infrastructure and Promoting the Transition to Alternative Fuels in Transport was enacted, projects for the construction of energy-efficient buildings for educational institutions were selected and contracts were awarded for the construction of new institutional care facilities, among others.

Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič underlined that the news had come at the right time. "This summer, we have entered the last two years of the plan. A number of reform measures have been implemented. Significant progress has also been made on key major reforms. The European Commission, when considering the third payment request, also welcomed, among other things, the first milestone on pension reform – the submission of a substantively relevant pension reform proposal for public consultation. We are on the right track. The last two years of the Plan’s implementation have been particularly intense. The inflow of funds to carry out the planned investments will therefore certainly be a welcome boost for further work. We need to be aware that behind every milestone and target there is a lot of work, consultation and coordination with stakeholders, both at national and European levels. The efforts of staff in ministries and the Recovery and Resilience Office to deliver the planned reforms and investments on time are remarkable. Our common objective remains the same – to make the most of the available resources," the Minister underlined.

The EC will send its preliminary assessment to the Economic and Financial Committee for its opinion. The EC will then make a final assessment and issue a decision formally authorising the disbursement of the fourth tranche of grants of EUR 141.6 million and the second tranche of loans of EUR 116.1 million of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the largest part of the NextGenerationEU financial package for the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the receipt of funds under the third payment request, Slovenia will see a 41% inflow of available funds, or EUR 1.1 billion, of which EUR 673 million will be grants and EUR 426 million loans. A total of 64 milestones and targets will be formally met, or 31% of the total of 205 milestones and targets.

The State has already paid over EUR 535 million to final recipients for the project activities carried out. A number of digital and green transition activities have been implemented. More than 1000 projects have been completed, are under implementation or are about to be implemented.

More information on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan can be found at noo.gov.si.