Flood protection is an ongoing process, which is enshrined directly in the EU Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks. The SAO SR performed an audit focused on planning and implementation processes related to Preventive Measures for Flood Protection (PMFP), which provide flood protection on Slovak rivers and streams. The audited entities were the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, Slovak Water Management Enterprise s.e.(SWME) and selected towns and municipalities.

The most important source of funding for flood protection measures has been EU funding. Within the OP Environment 2007 to 2013, the drawdown reached EUR 317.7 mil, of which EUR 150.1 mil was used for the construction of 127 PMSP. For the programming period 2014 to 2020, it is the most important source of funding for the OP Environmental Quality with a total allocation from the EU and the Slovak Republic for EUR 493.3 mil.  However, the first non-repayable financial contributions approved for the applicants were only in 2018, which caused for the selected projects several years of slippage in implementation.

The SAO SR also found a limited allocation of payments from the Slovak Republic, which were destined for SWME repairs and maintenance of waterways managed by SWME. The difference between the required and provided funds in the given period reached up to EUR 178 mil therefore it was not possible to ensure a proper technical condition for all water structures. Most of the 28 water structures that perform the PMFP function are in a state of emergency, and remediation measures to improve their technical condition will require almost EUR 40 mil.

The SAO SR also found that the order of urgency in PMFP projects, stated in the valid Flood Risk Management Plan, is not consistently applied in practice for various reasons. The SAO SR warns that such an approach could cause a delay in the implementation of measures with a lower priority.

The full text of the press release about this topic in Slovak language is available here. Use the Google icon in the top bar for automatic translation into the desired language.