Europe RE: Flood damage to Serbia from EUR 1.5 to 2 billion

Europe RE: Flood damage to Serbia from EUR 1.5 to 2 billion

"Europe RE" Director General Heinz Christian Vollenweider and Director of Energoprojekt Garant insurance company Mirjana Bogicevic presented Swiss Visual Pro flood and Earthquake Insurance Policy to a household from Obrenovac at a regional conference in Belgrade, thus marking the beginning of 'Europe RE" operation on the Serbian market.

The ceremony was attended by Serbian, Macedonian, Republika Srpska, the World Bank, insurance companies and others.

"Europe RE" has offered a unique and functional model of public-private partnership between the governments of the shareholder companies, the renowned global institutions and the private sector in order to strengthen the risk reduction mećanisms, it was stated at the conference.

Nenad Miljailovic, Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that Serbia had so far issued 13,800 decisions to aid the persons affected in the May floods in the amount of RSD 3.3 billion, and the average aid amounts at about EUR 2,000.

’’Owing to the start of the "Europe RE" operation, the government will be able to withdraw from the damage assessment process and leave it to experts’’, he said.

"We have come to realize the importance of this type of reinsurance in the worst possible way," the Secretary said.
Hansjurg Appenzeller, " Europe RE" Chairman of the Board of Directors said that floods have inflicted a damage of eight billion euros in the last 60 years, while only the May floods caused a damage between EUR 1.5 and two billion.

"Europe RE" is supported by the World Bank, EU, UN, the Swiss State Secretariate of Economic Affairs (SECO) and others.