Ida-Viru County firms' late JTF application filing could jeopardize jobs
Around 10 companies have missed an application deadline for European Union Just Transition Fund (JTF) money which if things stay as they are threaten around 400 jobs in Ida-Viru County, Estonia's most deprived region.
Teet Kuusmik, head of the regional investment agency (Ida-Viru investeeringute agentuur), told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "These investments which didn't make the grade total about €170 million, of which around €50 million could have been covered by the support."
"In this sense, it would be highly smart to look at the resource fees, which derive from the oil shale sector and mostly go into the state budget, and allocate an additional €50 million to the support measure, so that this €170 million in investments can be brought to Ida-Viru County," Kuusmik went on.
The latest Just Transition Fund support measure totals €153 million for Ida-Viru County. Most of that money has already been allocated, with the remaining decisions to be made later this year.
Among the major investors who qualified, a major magnet factory under construction in Narva is closest to starting production, as construction is nearly finished.
A further 16 firms have been guaranteed support, while 10 applications are still under review.
At the same time, some business leaders have recommended supplementing the JTF funds with resource fees collected from Ida-Viru County, ie. fees relating to the resources exploited there, including oil shale.
Jaanus Purga, who is the government's representative for Ida-Viru County, has stressed that important investments will not be left behind during the Just Transition process and, though it won't prove easy, there is scope for finding additional support funds from within the JTF.
"It is viable to reallocate money from one measure to another, or to shift funds domestically, plus there's also the option of negotiating with the European Commission," Purga said, adding that there will also be leftover funding from other applications.
The situation will be clearer a month from now, he added.
Kuusmik believes that the issue of securing an additional €50 million needs to be resolved quickly, for fear of risking investments not coming to Estonia at all.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
Source: 'Aktuaalne kaamera,' reporter Jüri Nikolayev.
