In a report by "Aktuaalne kaamera," chair of EAS and KredEx's supervisory board Kristi Tiivas had nothing but praise for outgoing CEO Lauri Lugna.

"From our perspective, Lauri Lugna achieved everything we had expected from him," said Tiivas.

"Now, a year on, in fact a year and three months on, we are on the same page, we have joined up our systems and processes, we have shared values and we have a new structure. We also have a new strategy, which was approved by the council at the end of last year," said Tiivas.

However, to implement that new strategy, the council decided to change the company's leader.

"We felt that we needed new energy and a new leader, and that was the reason why last week the council, very amicably, proposed to Lauri that he resign," Tiivas said. Last January, Lugna told ERR that the aim was to change the legal name of the combined EAS and KredEx agency, which became the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Foundation, to a brand new name by this January at the latest. While the renaming has not yet happened, Tiivas said, it has not prevented EAS and KredEx from working together.

"As usual, you always have to factor in the Tambov constant. Especially when you consider, first, how big an organization we are and, second,  what happened last year on top of what we had been expecting at the end of 2021.The branding process is a work in progress. We are moving forward with it and hopefully there will be news about that soon," Tiivas said.

The council's decision also needed the approval of outgoing Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa). All other board members, including Järvan's father Aare Järvan, will continue to work at the foundation.

Kristjan Järvan said, that the reason the council decided to recall Lugna from the board was due to a difference of visions regarding the company's future strategy.

"The council and members of the board were happy with the position EAS is in today. However, the visions (we have) of how the combined EAS and KredEx agency should move forward are different," Järvan said.

Lauri Lugna did not wish to make any further comments regarding the issue on Monday.

Tiivas is prepared to reveal what goals the new leader is expected to achieve once the position has been filled. The search will begin at the end of April, with a new leader expected to be identified before the summer.

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