The new ministry, primarily based on the core of the former environment ministry, will have nine deputy undersecretary positions. Of these, five have changed so much in comparison with their predecessor posts that the decision was taken to hold a competitive process in order to find suitable candidates.

Applications have been modest, however, it became clear after the deadline passed on Thursday.

Whereas each vacant position of that grade could expect around a dozen applications, for the most part, the figure this time has been lower, Maria Kütt, head of the Government Office competence center for senior executives, said.

This need not mean that there were concerns about finding suitable applicants, however.

"Based on the written applications it can be stated that all the candidates have seriously thought through their plan, and what they want to implement in these positions," Kütt said

Most posts received two or three serious applications, with the exception of the 11 received for the position of undersecretary for strategy and innovation.

Kütt said that the higher number of applications for this post was unsurprising, given that it was a wholly new position which generated more interest for this reason, whereas the other posts were established to the extent that previous holders – who would then need to apply – would likely be seen as already sufficiently experienced and knowledgeable to be a virtual shoo-in this time around.

In addition, one candidate applied for two different posts.

The Government Office committee is to hold its first selection panel on August 2, which should lead to a short-list and a decision on how to proceed further, Kütt added.

Two top civil servants, Timo Tatar (energy) and Sander Salm (transport) will be retaining the posts they held under the former structure; the remaining seven positions referred to above make up the total nine.

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