During the largest fire in Slovenia, which raged this summer in the Karst region, several GOIS members donated funds to the Firefighters Association of Slovenia or individual Fire Departments, including the company Guardiaris and Ivo Boscarol. We sincerely thank everyone, and we especially highlight the large donation from Ivo Boscarol, who, by fulfilling his promise, also encouraged other companies and individuals to donate for the public good. We attach his public statement in full.

PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE DONATION TO THE FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION OF SLOVENIA
Dear all,

During the largest fire in the history of independent Slovenia, which raged this year in the Karst region from July 17 to August 1 and covered 3,705 hectares, I publicly promised the firefighters that I would double the funds for paying volunteer firefighters, which the government of the Republic of Slovenia had promised.
The main motives for the donation were to thank them for their efforts, to encourage them to endure the next days in hellish conditions, to motivate volunteers to join them, and to let them know that all Slovenians appreciate what they are doing for the residents and nature of the Karst. The donation was not intended to interfere with or change the existing method and concept of voluntary firefighting in Slovenia into paid interventions, but to contribute to the best of my ability and motivate others to contribute funds for additional motivation to those who, through their efforts, preserved all human lives and all houses in the Karst. An unparalleled success that Slovenians are not sufficiently aware of!
Therefore, they undoubtedly deserved a reward, which is still too small considering their selfless effort. I believe that they will use it in their societies in the most effective way to replace damaged equipment, purchase new equipment, and be even better prepared for future interventions.
Gathering data on the firefighters present took some time, so I apologize to all participants for waiting for the donation, but it was necessary to create a concept and legal basis for the transfer. After receiving the necessary data on participants from the Firefighters Association of Slovenia, the Government, at its 17th regular session under agenda item 8, based on Article 116.a of the Natural and Other Disasters Protection Act (ZVNDN), adopted Decision No. 84500-2/2022/5 to provide financial resources in the amount of 1,470,034.03 EUR through the FAS for participating volunteer fire organizations that participated in extinguishing fires in the Karst area, that is 63 euros per day for each firefighter who worked up to eight hours or 94.5 euros per day for each firefighter who worked more than eight hours a day.
This created the basis for a donation agreement with the recipient, the Firefighters Association of Slovenia, according to which I transferred the funds in the amount of 1,470,034.03 EUR on 24. 10. 2022 and fulfilled my given promise.
According to the contract, the recipient of the donation will distribute the funds among volunteer firefighter organizations based on the criterion defined by the second paragraph of Article 116 a. of the ZVNDN and contract No. 843-51/2022-91-DGZR, which is based on the criterion of volunteer participation in firefighting.
All societies have already received contracts on the amount of funds received, so the donated funds will be distributed among individual volunteer firefighter organizations as soon as they return the signed contracts based on the Table with data on the number of volunteers who participated in the intervention and with the hours worked, which is an integral part of contract No. 843-51/2022-91-DGZR.
The recipient of the donation will manage the donation funds as a good steward until their intended use, ensuring the preservation of the donation’s value, for which Commander Mr. Franci Petek is personally responsible according to the contract.
My daughter and I hope that our donation to public healthcare for the construction of a health center and a multi-purpose intervention center with a helicopter, which will come to life in 2025 in Ajdovščina, will contribute to faster interventions in the wider Primorska region and, with the ability to limit fires in the initial stage, prevent fires of such magnitude as the one in the Karst.

With the contribution to firefighters, my daughter and I have concluded our planned donations of 30 million euros from the sale of Pipistrel. We partially allocated them to Pipistrel employees, as they are most deserving of its thirty-year success story. We donated the other part to various projects of very broad social significance, so that as many people as possible could benefit from them, rather than for individual donations. The wider society helped us in various ways to succeed and stood by our side throughout the duration of the Pipistrel story, and it is right that everyone can benefit from our donations.

We also thank all the media who positively reported the news about our donations and contributed to the fact that now many individuals and organizations are following our example and donating funds for the public good.
Best regards,
Ivo Boscarol
Attachment: proof of payment

fire photo author: Bruno Toič