Estonian state agencies, constitutional institutions and state foundations employ hundreds of communication specialists, while it is common to also commission PR work using public procurements.

The sums spent on such services vary from one ministry to the next, while the total came to approximately €4.6 million last year.

It is difficult to end up with an exact figure as agencies have different ways of calculating expenses, while some have reported spending before VAT, meaning that the public sector's combined PR spending is even greater.

Campaigns in the administrative area of the Ministry of Defense cost €450,000 last year and included promoting reserve service, women in the Defense Forces and the Defense Forces Academy's admissions.

"The administrative area of the Ministry of Defense prioritizes every euro spent yielding as much defensive capacity as possible. Strategic communication, especially in light of the Ukraine war, is a key part of this," said Andra Nõlvak, press representative for the ministry. She added that attracting new people and greater involvement of reservists is paramount in the current security situation, which requires recruitment efforts and raising awareness awareness.

The Ministry of Climate in late 2022 procured a media monitoring study for 2023-2024 worth €40,000.

It also spent €48,692 on various external PR services, including €23,602 on a media monitoring study, €6,336 on hosting services and €4,608 on BNS news.

"Other smaller expenses included paying photographers and designers, renting event equipment, procuring translation services etc.," said the ministry's Head of Communication Kadri Peetersoo.

Kai Simson, in charge of communication at the Transport Administration, which lies in the Ministry of Climate's administrative area, said that their procurements were aimed at the agency's mission of promoting traffic safety in Estonia, adding that relevant tenders make up the lion's share of what the administration spends on PR.

The Transport Administration spent €19,672 on its digital magazine Teejuht, €30,000 on a campaign promoting safe extra-urban speeds in 2024-2026 and €16,500 plus VAT on a campaign for safe winter speeds in 2023-2025.

The agency also bought €14,000 plus VAT worth of advertising space for campaigns on driving under the influence, being distracted behind the wheel, extra-urban speeds, urban speeds and safe speeds in winter.

A cross-platform general population safety awareness campaign on television, radio and online channels between May 2022 and April 2023, handled by Postimees Grupp, cost €149,700 plus VAT.

The campaign was repeated between May 2023 and April 2024 for the exact same sum, handled once again by Postimees Grupp.

The Transport Administration also spent €3,499 plus VAT on a media audit in 2022.

The State Fleet procured €35,043 worth of external communication and marketing services last year, spent on everything from news portal subscriptions to event organization, its Head of Communication Kristel Kask said.

The Environmental Investments Center procured €26,172 worth of communication services, including media monitoring studies, news subscriptions, design work and four newspaper extras promoting circular economy and green solutions.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) has three groups of communication partners. A framework procurement for strategic communication advisory services in the field of equality policy is worth €29,500 plus VAT in 2023-2024.

The other two procurements cover Eesti.ee and the entrepreneurs' digital portal communication activities worth €90,000 plus VAT in 2024-2027 and digital domain communication activities for 2024-2025 for €250,000 plus VAT.

The ministry also pays for the "Strateegia akadeemia" YouTube series and the "Olukorrast digiriigis" podcast. It has spent €13,000 last year and €9,600 this year on the former and will spend €29,900 in 2024 on the latter. Another €7,000 will be spent on the "Statistikaminutid" webinar.

Triin Küttim, head of the the State Forest Management Center's (RMK) communication and marketing department, said that the agency has a three-year framework contract for creative work and advertising spaces, with €121,000 worth of work commissioned last year.

RMK spent €40,000 on its annual campaign where people can go and get themselves a Christmas tree from a state forest, while a similar campaign for sourcing the birch branches used to make sauna whisks from state forests ran €25,000.

The center paid €18,000 for its yearbook, €10,000 for the design work of its Maamess stand and smaller sums for marketing materials.

Next to the framework contract, RMK spent €21,600 to find a communication partner for the agency's new development plan.

The Environmental Board did not procure communication or marketing services from its PR budget last year, but the Environment Agency spent €103,761 on a project to empower circular economy last year.

The Ministry of Social Affairs procured two communication-related services last year. These were a care reform awareness campaign worth €41,350 and the family friendly employer campaign worth €50,270. Both sums are before VAT.

The Health Board spent €78,882 plus VAT on an HPV vaccine campaign and ran three poisoning awareness campaigns for €25,000, €30,540 and €32,659 plus VAT, which were all handled by Akkadian OÜ.

The agency also spent €18,790 on a COVID-19 pandemic study it commissioned from pollster Kantar Emor, in addition to smaller campaigns and other expenses.

The State Agency of Medicines procured a single marketing and PR campaign for less than €2,000, its Communication Director Carmen Katariina Sikk said.

The Health and Welfare Information Systems Center (TEHIK), in the administrative area of the Ministry of Social Affairs, spent €59,999 on recruitment and PR videos as finding IT specialists is becoming increasingly difficult, Grete Kivi, the center's foreign communication head, said.

TEHIK also has a €16,200 media monitoring contract with the Baltic Media Monitoring Group and a €15,000 contract with Geenius Meedia for the IT podcast "Kriitiline intsident," which it shares with the Ministry of the Interior's IT and Development Center (SMIT).

The Estonian Institute for Health Development (TAI) spent a total of around €700,000 on marketing and campaigns in 2023.

TAI's PR manager Valdo Jahilo said that the agency has reduced its external marketing and communication budget by 20 percent, making all of its info and awareness materials available online instead of in print form.

He said that the lion's share of the external marketing budget is spent on public health awareness campaigns and studies as to their effectiveness.

The Social Insurance Board (SKA) spent a little over €286,000 on marketing and communication services. Its communication adviser Kristina Kukk said that 66 percent of the sum or €190,000 came from various foreign financing projects.

"The single greatest expense was the production of the "Koduteel" series in cooperation with ERR. We also procured podcasts and television programs from different media houses to the tune of around €11,000," she said.

She said that SKA also procured six social campaigns last year for a total of €123,000. The topics covered were family mediation, foster care, sexual harassment and a victim hotline.

Kaja Sepp, head of the Ministry of the Interior's communication department, said that the ministry did not procure outside PR or marketing services in 2023, while agencies in its administrative area did.

SMIT helped pay for the "Kriitiline intsident" podcast for which it entered into a procurement contract worth €15,000 plus VAT last year.

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) ran a campaign to recruit assistant police officers for €29,791 and participated in the Transport Administration's campaign for keeping a drunk friend from driving to the tune of €3,549.

The Alarm Center spent €15,078 plus VAT on recruitment campaigns and recognizing children who had placed excellent 112 calls.

The Rescue Board spent €436,000 on external communication services.

Crisis communication trainings for local governments cost €26,000, with representatives from 40 local governments schooled. The board spent €150,000 on two information campaigns on what to do in a crisis. Presenting and raising awareness for the "OleValmis!" application cost €230,000, while €20,000-30,000 was spent on fire, water and gas safety awareness campaigns.

The Ministry of Justice paid €17,880 plus VAT for media monitoring last year, which also covers the needs of agencies in its administrative area.

The Prison Service organized a recruitment campaign for the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences' Prison Service College worth €22,000 plus VAT.

Estonia's nine courts spent €12,195 between them on a project to promote the judicial profession among young people last year, while their budget has €6,000 for ten podcast episodes for this year.

The Data Protection Inspectorate (AKI) produced eight podcast episodes on the goings-on in its field for €2,100 plus VAT. It also spent a little under €5,000 on a yearbook.

The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and the agencies under its wing spent €386,867 plus VAT on marketing and communication. The ministry provided no further details on individual agencies' projects and spending.

The Ministry of Finance procured communication services for the Just Transition process in Ida-Viru County for €128,910 and spent €76,757 on the "Südamega tehtud Eurotegu" project competition. Both tenders were financed using European Social Fund resources. The ministry spent its own money on a new communication strategy and paid €11,286. The Ministry of Finance also paid €14,892 for Station media monitoring services.

The Money Laundering Data Bureau spent €9,875 on design work but has not organized any communication-related public procurements.

The Tax and Customs Board (MTA) did not hold public tenders but commissioned two campaigns, one on the dangers of payment under the table for €14,600 and the other on the obligation to declare income and pay tax on platform work worth €19,765.

The State Shared Service Center (RTK) carried out one communication-related public procurement to find a marketing communication partner. It paid €76,757 as well as €12,600 for an awards ceremony.

A campaign that did not require a public procurement on raising Ida-Viru County residents' awareness on the availability of European support cost €11,790, while the RTK also paid €8,000 for ten episodes of "Elamusi täis Eesti" covering projects completed using EU subsidies. Madle Mereste, head of RTK's communication department, emphasized that all projects were funded using EU structure fund money.

The State Shared Service Center also spent €6,000 on Station media monitoring.

Statistics Estonia commissioned a video showcasing the difference between average and median salary, which cost €5,143. It also paid the Baltic Media Monitoring Group its annual due of €7,572.

The Ministry of Education and Research did not procure campaigns last year, while the Estonian Qualifications Authority in the ministry's administrative area spent €9,480 on videos presenting the results of OSKA studies and €40,000 on a Europass and European Qualifications Network promotional video.

The Estonian Language Institute procured €29,700 worth of communication services to showcase strategic activities and promote its wider messages.

The Education and Youth Board (Harno) spent €357,000 on the production and marketing of the "Noor meister" television series.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spent just €993 plus VAT on translations, press releases and speeches last year, while it paid €18,345 plus VAT for press conference broadcasts. The ministry has also procured photography and videography services for €12,840 plus VAT as part of a relevant framework contract.

Finding a design partner for new embassy visual materials and events cost the ministry €32,694 plus value added tax.

Events held at business hubs in Seoul and Singapore set the foreign ministry back €62,342, which was spent on promoting the hubs themselves, Estonia and Estonian business environment, said Liisa Toots, head of the ministry's media relations bureau.

The Ministry of Culture said it did not procure external marketing, communication or PR services last year.

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