In total, €175 million will be saved with the negative budget and a framework has been agreed upon, Minister of Finance Mart Võrklaev (Reform) said on Tuesday.

Võrklaev has drafted guidelines for cuts this year and in the coming years, but exactly what is being cut has yet to be announced.

The Ministry of Finance said the document is a work in progress. All that is known is that each ministry must cut its economic and personnel costs by 1.9 percent.

ERR asked ministries how big their cuts are and how they plan to make them. On Wednesday, spokespersons would not disclose specific amounts of money.

Regional Minister: Museums not affected

Minister of Regional Affairs Piret Hartman (SDE) confirmed the 1.9 percent reduction in personnel and economic costs for ministries and their subordinate institutions. She said it is up to each administration how these are implemented.

"Exactly what these actions and cuts will be – we will agree by the end of the week. We will certainly look at our economic expenditure. But the amount of the cut is so large that we will probably also have to go over the so-called content activities where savings can be made today," the said.

Museums under the ministry's authority will not be affected by the cutback plan.

"The aim is also to go for cutbacks in foundations, but at the moment we have no such foundations. We have a few museums, but since the decision is that culture will not be part of this cut, our museums will go under this non-cut for culture," the minister added.

Hartman said, as long-term cuts are expected, the regional ministry must make structural reforms.

"In our area, if we look at the salaries of ministries and sub-ministries, they are at the bottom of the queue, at the bottom in terms of size. If you are going to start saving people from somewhere, you have to think seriously about it," she added.

Additionally, it will need to review its services and activities. "There is no way you can skim off the top," the minister said.

There has also been a discussion with the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA) to see what changes can be made and how bureaucracy can be reduced.

Ministry of the Interior to cut €3 million

"Yesterday, the government agreed that the Ministry of the Interior will contribute a one-off contribution of €3 million to the overall cuts," said Tarmo Miilits, secretary general of the Ministry of the Interior. "As the decision is so recent, the cuts still need to be clarified both in the ministry and in the agencies."

Miilits said, that given today's security situation, there is no way activities that have a big impact on security or people's lives and health can be scrapped.

"So we are likely to take most of the carry-over funds from the cut that we have saved in the past to channel into our own development needs, and which are now on hold," he said.

In addition, the ministry will postpone IT developments, extend technologies' life cycle, and cut personnel costs. "We will cut the ministry's staff costs and significantly reduce the scope for performance-related pay or bonuses for staff across government, which we have previously used to compensate people for extra effort – for example to cover the duties of a colleague who is ill or absent for an extended period of time, or for truly exceptional performance, for example in responding to crises," Miilits said.

As a result of the negative budget, as of June 1, the number of vice-chancellors will be cut from four to three. A currently vacant position will not be filled.

"At the same time, we hope that the reduction of the possibility to pay a performance-related bonus or a bonus will not lead to a drastic departure of experienced people from the sector, but we acknowledge that there is such a risk, but we have to take it in the current state of the state budget," Miilits added.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs cutting money for Ukrainian projects

Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said in the online broadcast "Otse uudistemajast" that the ministry made a big cut last year, reducing the number of staff.

"But above all, what concerns personnel costs, what concerns management costs and also our foundation – the money for the projects allocated to Ukraine will be partially cut," said Tsahkna.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not cut foundations. "We're taking a serious look at how to make it work effectively – it needs a bit of tweaking though," Tsahkna said.

Ministries not disclosing specific amounts

The Ministry of Climate told ERR the issue will be discussed by the government on Thursday. At the moment, all that can be said is that cuts will be based on the methodology drafted by the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance said the coalition approved the cuts framework and now officials are putting together the negative budget draft. "We will talk about the exact content and amounts once the draft is ready and approved," the ministry said.

The Ministry of Education and Research said it would share the information tomorrow.

The Ministry of Culture replied that discussions are ongoing, and it could comment when the draft is ready and approved by the government. This is likely to be next week.

Other ministries did not respond to ERR's inquiry.

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