Estonian minister: Creating jobs in East-Viru County one of government's priorities

TALLINN - Estonian Minister of Public Administration Jaak Aab met on Tuesday with members of Johvi rural municipality government and local entrepreneurs to discuss the region's opportunities for development, the minister said that creating jobs in East-Viru County is one of the government's priorities.

Since 2014, East-Viru County has been allocated over 50 million euros in regional support. The endeavors supported include the construction and development of industrial sites and tourism objects, as well as starting a center of competence on oil shale and developing regional entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Finance said.

"Our aim has been to support the creation of new jobs in various fields and sectors. With the investments made, we have created the prerequisites for East-Viru County's more comprehensive development," Aab said.

"Over 100 plots of land have been developed on the industrial sites of East-Viru County, many of which have been sold. On several of them, business activities have also been launched. Over 500 jobs have been created in the local industries, which indicates that we are moving in the right direction," the minister said. "As a logical follow-up, a support measure for industrial enterprises has been launched as part of the East-Viru County program, which aims to support investments required for starting operations. That way, we can help industries expand their activities," he added.

According to the Finance Ministry's assessment, even more support is needed for creating new jobs in the region due to possible lay-offs in the energy sector. For that reason, the budget of the East-Viru program was increased by 1.6 million euros. The total volume of the region's program for 2019-2023 is 20.2 million euros.

On his visit to East-Viru County, the minister met with representatives of MKJ Baltic OU ja OU Liisbet Invest to discuss employment, raising capital and the state's support measures. 

At a meeting with members of the Johvi rural municipality government, demographic and migration issues were discussed as well as public and local investments and possible new developments in the rural municipality's administration.