34 candidates seek position of Ida-Viru County Special Representative
Thirty-four people applied for the post of the government's special representative for Ida-Viru County. The representative will be appointed in October, Minister of Regional Affairs Madis Kallas (Eesti 200) said.
"A total of 34 applications were received, so there was quite an active participation," Kallas told ERR on Monday. "The committee will begin analyzing them by the end of the week. Then, we will decide how interviews and the following stages will be organized," he added.
Kallas said he is optimistic that a special representative will be chosen by October. "[The deadline for the appointment of the Special Representative] has been postponed for a while now. I'd guess that the average time frame for interviews like this is two to three weeks, but it's already been discussed that we are getting it in October, and that is OK," the minister said.
Kallas said that the special representative will not be selected by the Top Civil Service Excellence Center of the Government Office, but rather by the ministries of regional affairs and agriculture, as the post in question is not a typical top manager such as a permanent secretary or undersecretary, but rather a ministry's attendant.
The special representative will report directly to the minister, and their position will be close to to those of the undersecretary and department heads, Kallas said. "They will be one the many officials who will be focusing on Ida-Viru County," he added.
The representative will not have its own team, but rather it will be formed from ministry officials, the minister said. "Perhaps someone will support them in terms of communication and county issues in Ida-Viru. For example, our regional director for Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru will initially assist them," Kallas explained. "We agreed not to appoint an additional team at this time, given that we are in a cost-cutting mode, and that new duties will be undertaken with the cooperation of our ministry and other ministries," he added.
According to the coalition agreement between the Reform Party, Eesti 200 and the Social Democratic Party, the government will appoint "a government representative for Ida-Viru County to better manage the challenges related to the county".
The government's special representative in Ida-Viru County is a senior civil servant at the level of undersecretary, with a salary of between €4,500 and €5,000, who reports to the minister of regional affairs.
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Editor: Mait Ots, Kristina Kersa
