Minister wants to move 25 public institutions out of Tallinn

Photo: Ove Maidla / Postimees

Estonia's Public Administration Minister Mihhail Korb has presented a plan to the government, according to which 25 public institutions would be moved away from Tallinn.

In an interview to Postimees a few weeks ago Korb said that according to his vision the institutions would move away from Tallinn with the whole staff, saying that there would be no point in commuting between two places.

The plan would most affect people working in the area of government of the Ministry of Education and Research, as Korb wants to move to Tartu the foundations Innove and Archimedes with 339 employees. At the same time he suggests moving back to Tallinn 232 employees of the ministry, the newspaper reports referring to a memorandum of the government.

According to the plan, the 165 employees of the Academy of Security Sciences would move to northeastern East-Viru County, the 150 employees of the National Social Insurance Board would move to Paide, central Estonia, while Enterprise Estonia would move to northern Estonian town of Rakvere, the state real estate management company RKAS to Johvi in northeastern Estonia, the Road Administration to western Estonian regional capital Parnu, the 144 employees of the National Institute for Health Development to western Estonian town of Haapsalu, and 118 employees of the Land Board to Tartu.

The employee numbers of the rest of the institutions to be moved are below 100. At the same time it can be pointed out that the plan includes moving many foundations, of which at least eight are to be moved out of the capital city Tallinn.

According to calculations made by the Ministry of Finance, the cost of taking one job out of Tallinn would be 25,000 euros, but that sum also depends on whether an employee would be willing to move out of Tallinn or whether a new employee would have to be hired.

Korb told Postimees last week that in reality the plan includes laying off many people. "Some people will move with the institution, but previous experience shows that such people don't exceed 25 percent," he said.

The minister also said that moving the jobs has a big regional political impact and that is also one of the main reasonings behind the plan which has been sent to the ministries. As a result of the administrative reform and the county government reform, the number of jobs in counties will decrease by 700. Therefore, moving public institutions out of the capital city is considered one of the solutions for fighting against provincialization.

In the coming weeks a new version of the plan is to reach the Cabinet and it is reported that several big changes have been made to it.

The government has been hiding the plan of Korb, a member of the Center Party, because all the details are not clear yet and nobody wants to cause panic in any institution.