The payments of the first round of first aid continue, following the completion of the submission of applications on January 12, 2024 and the relevant cross-checks made by the staff of the general secretariat of Natural Disaster Recovery and State Aid of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. Thus, today, new first aid payments were made to those affected by the floods that occurred in September 2023 in Thessaly, but also in other affected areas.

In particular, today Friday, 795,725 euros were paid to 239 natural persons to deal with basic living needs and simple repair work and/or the replacement of household goods in areas affected by the floods of September. These are payments that resulted from the cross-checks made by the officers of the General Secretariat for Natural Disaster Recovery and State Aid in the applications submitted to the first aid platform, arogi.gov.gr.

Cumulatively, as announced by the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, to date, as part of the first round of first aid, 147.7 million euros have been paid to 43,512 households, businesses, agricultural holdings and livestock units affected by the unprecedented flooding phenomenon which affected Thessaly, but also other areas.

The cross-checking process of the applications submitted, in the context of the first cycle, on the platform of first aid, arogi.gov.gr, continues and new submissions will follow in the coming days.

You hurt businesses

The payment of the advance against the grant to the affected businesses as part of the state aid from the floods that occurred in September in Thessaly continued today. This is an advance corresponding to 50% of the intended State aid grant to the affected companies and is the highest level of advance granted under State aid.

In particular, as the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection states in its announcement, on Friday, 7,717,592 euros were paid to 602 affected businesses, including agricultural holdings, in the Regional Units of Larissa, Trikala, Magnesia and Karditsa. Thus, cumulatively, until now, 1,453 businesses and farmers who have been affected by the unprecedented flooding phenomenon in all four Regional Units of Thessaly have received 20,044,832 euros as an advance of 50% of the grant in the context of the state aid.

It should be noted that, according to the relevant recommendation of the Governmental Committee for State Aid, the grant amounts to 70% of the estimated damage, as it results from the work of the State Aid Committees. The largest percentage determined to date for a grant after a natural disaster, as the ministry points out in its announcement. The grant concerns damage to business assets, in particular damage to mechanical equipment, raw materials, goods and damaged vehicles of the business.

Thus, following the first aid, the companies receive 50% of the grant through the advance payment, with the rest to be paid after the completion of the control of the disbursement documents that will be submitted to the general secretariat of Natural Disaster Recovery and State Aid.

The advance payments of 50% of the state aid both to businesses and to agricultural holdings will continue depending on the flow of data and the course of completion of the work of the State Aid Committees of the Region of Thessaly.