Leiria, Portugal, Feb. 27, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mission Structure for the Reconstruction of the Central Region of the Country estimates that between 35,000 and 40,000 companies have suffered damage due to bad weather in the most affected area, its coordinator, Paulo Fernandes, told the Lusa news agency.
“We believe that we may be talking about between 35,000 and 40,000 affected companies” out of the total number of companies in the most affected area, which is around 54,000 to 55,000, said Paulo Fernandes.
For the coordinator of the Mission Structure, created in the wake of the Kristin depression, which left a trail of destruction on 28 January, “it is, in fact, a huge number.”
Of that number, “there are already at least 30,000” that have taken action (25,000 insurance claims and 4,000 credit lines), said Paulo Fernandes, emphasising that these are not only companies in the industrial or service sectors, but also agricultural companies, with data pointing to 5,000 in the primary sector.
The coordinator clarified that €1.1 billion is, for now, the amount being requested by companies, more than €1 billion for cash flow credit lines (around 4,000 companies) and around €80 million for investment credit lines.
When asked about the possibility of companies not being able to survive the impact of bad weather, given that credit lines represent debt, the coordinator referred to the IFIC — Financial Instrument for Innovation and Competitiveness, created with unspent funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), announced by the Minister of Economy.
“The IFIC, which comes from the reprogramming of the PRR, currently has a line of €150 million that is non-repayable, which can leverage around €400 million, with reference rates of 30% non-repayable to 50% non-repayable, and will be released next week,” he explained.
For Paulo Fernandes, this is a “very relevant measure” combined with the credit lines, one of which involves “the transformation of 10% into a non-repayable subsidy.”
“With this measure [IFIC], we are obviously beginning to have much more comprehensive responses,” he argued.
Regarding a possible increase in unemployment, the coordinator replied that there are “more than 300 requests for layoffs” (suspension of employment contracts) relating to just over 3,000 workers, while also pointing out the existence of incentives to maintain jobs and exemptions from social security contributions (10,000 requests).
The coordinator of the Mission Structure acknowledged that the demand for this series of measures “may prevent a systemic economic depression in the region.”
"At this precise moment, it is too early to say that we are out of what could be systemic damage to the region (...). We need to understand how the large companies, around which satellite companies often gravitate, are holding up, because they are very important here in our region, and then we also need to look at the capillarity of small businesses and small services to see how they are managing to withstand this blow of reduced turnover, which they are obviously experiencing," he said.
When asked whether an increase in litigation against insurance companies is anticipated, the coordinator said the Mission Structure is more concerned that “insurance companies do their job as quickly as possible in the face of an unprecedented situation” in the country, with 140,000 policies having been activated.
“That is the issue that concerns us, because about 10% of those 140,000 policies have been followed up so far, are already, in a way, closed, some even already paid to the beneficiaries,” he explained.
Maintaining an estimate of losses between €5,000 and €6,000 million, Paulo Fernandes noted that “next week will be very important,” starting on Tuesday, when it will be possible to “access the overwhelming majority of the municipalities' damage reports.”
SR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
