The government has instructed the Ministry of Finance, one of the four ministries currently housed in the "super-ministry" building on Suur Ameerika in central Tallinn, to make space for the incoming ministries. The latter will be formed around the current environment ministry and rural affairs ministry, both of which will be renamed as well as reorganized and relocated.

The new ministries should be in place at the "super-ministry" building by January 1, 2024.

The development follows the stated aim of the Reform/Eesti 200/SDE coalition as it entered office last month, to streamline ministries and state agencies and to cut down on bureaucracy.

State Secretary Taimar Peterkop said: "The aim of the reorganization of ministries is greater flexibility in state management, to enable the government to effectively solve major societal challenges including the green transition and regional inequalities, as well as to boost cooperation between government agencies."

Peterkop heads up the steering committee which consists of the secretaries general of the affected ministries.

The ministry of climate and living environment will be created based on the existing environment ministry, and housed in the "super-ministry" building, while the current rural affairs ministry will be relocated to the same address and renamed the ministry of regional development (please note the name changes are provisional and may also be subject to tweaking or clarification).

The current Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is to be renamed the Ministry of Economic Affairs and IT, and will remain in the "super-ministry" building.

The other three ministries currently housed at Suur Ameerika 1, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Justice will remain where they are.

No changes will be made to the ministries located at other addresses in Tallinn, namely the Ministry of Culture (Suur-Karja 23), the Ministry of the Interior (Pikk 61), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Islandi väljak 1) and the Ministry of Defense (Sakala 1), while the Ministry of Education and Research will continue to be based in Tartu, at Munga 18.

In addition to the Peterkop-led steering committee noted above, working parties have also been formed to deal with practical issues of the reorganization, including budget, personnel, IT and other matters, while the main movement of workplaces have been mapped.

No workplaces are to be laid off as thing stand, though analysis and review of this is to follow.

 The reorganization of the work of the ministries has already started, with the deadline of year-end for completion.

The soon-to-move rural affairs ministry is currently located on Lai, in Tallinn's Old Town, while the environment ministry will be facing its third move in as many years, having already been relocated from Narva mnt to Paldiski mnt, in early 2022.

The super-ministry was built on the site of the former finance ministry, built in 1978 and demolished in 2016. The adjacent plot is to house the new U.S. Embassy building complex.

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