RIGA, May 11 (LETA) - The local government of Riga City has disbursed nearly EUR 3 million in benefits to Ukrainian war refugees, Irena Kondrate, head of the city's welfare department, told members of the city council's social affairs committee Wednesday.

Kondrate noted that so far the central government has not repaid even a cent of this amount to the city and that if the promised compensation is not provided, Riga may run out of money for benefits by the end of the year. 

Kondrate also said that Riga's social system was also short of human resources. Since February 26 when the first refugees from Ukraine arrived in the city, employees of the Riga social service have been involved in providing assistance to the refugees. At present, in addition to their usual job duties, 70 social workers are providing assistance to the refugees, working at the refugee center in three shifts. So far, assistance of various kinds have been provided to nearly 5,000 people, Kondrate said. 

The head of the welfare department said that if not for the war, it would still be possible to cope with the crisis, but now the department is working on a plan B in case it cannot receive financing for hiring more staff and some services have to be discontinued.