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The Estonian Defense Ministry found, as a result of an analysis, that the most suitable location for the production of ammunition in Estonia is an area near the village of Ermistu in Pärnu County, southwestern Estonia.
«The national designated spatial plan has reached a stage where, as a result of a comparative analysis, we have chosen the most suitable location for the establishment of the defense industry park,» said Indrek Sirp, special adviser for defense industry development at the Defense Ministry.
«It best meets the goal of the defense industry park, is sufficiently large at 204 hectares, and its suitability was confirmed by the impact assessment carried out as part of the preparation of the national designated spatial plan. The defense industry park will promote both the local economy and national defense more broadly due to better security of supply,» the adviser said in a press release.
The second preferred area is North Kiviõli in northeastern Estonia. The second area was chosen in case all suitable companies identified during the selection process do not fit into a single area, Sirp explained.
The Defense Ministry will next propose to the government to make a preliminary site selection decision for the national designated spatial plan procedure, focusing on the Ermistu and North Kiviõli areas.
A total of five locations were considered. In addition to Ermistu and North Kiviõli, the analysis included one more site in Pärnu County, as well as locations in Piirsalu in Lääne County and Aidu in East-Viru.
«The analysis showed that while the other shortlisted sites do not fully meet the requirements for a defense industry park, ammunition production could still be developed with certain concessions in Aidu and Piirsalu. These areas will be kept in reserve for now,» said Sirp.
The second site in Pärnu County was excluded from further consideration due to the most unfavorable impact assessment results.
«In the course of the strategic environmental impact assessment, the environmental impacts of the industrial park were assessed and compared for all pre-selection areas. The negative impacts on the environment would be the hardest to mitigate in the areas of Pärnu 2 and Piirsalu. We recommended not to build an industrial park in these areas in the prescribed volume. The environmental impact is the lowest in the pre-selection areas of North Kiviõli and Aidu. In the case of the Ermistu area in Pärnu County, there are environmental impacts, but significant negative impacts can be avoided by implementing mitigating measures,» said Jaak Järvekülg, consultant at the company Hendrikson DGE.
The government will build a basic infrastructure for a defense industry park in the Ermistu area, for which 50 million euros has been earmarked. Production buildings will be built by the companies that will start operating in the industrial park. An international selective tender will be launched next week to select the companies interested in munition production in the defense industry park.
Public meetings to present the site preference will take place on April 9 at 6 p.m. at the Tõstamaa community hall and on April 10 at 6 p.m. at the Kiviõli community hall. The time of the Piirsalu meeting will be specified