The Tax and Customs Board (MTA) and the Social Insurance Board (SKA) have already left Põlva, population a little under 5,500, while the Transport Administration (Transpordiamet) is awaiting political approval for its own departure; some courthouses may also leave smaller population centers in southeast Estonia.

Põlva County is the third-smallest of Estonia's counties by population, after Hiiumaa and Lääne County, and has 24,000 residents approximately, plus a population density of around 11 per square kilometer.

It has also been seeing a population decline – of around 15 percent over the past 12 years.

Mayor of Põlva Martti Rõigas (Reform) said despite this, he fails understand why it is always his county that finds itself in the spotlight when it comes to state agencies cutting down service points.

Court proceedings are changing everywhere, yet e-services are used even more in Tallinn than they are in Põlva, or in the other small Põlva County towns of Räpina and Kanepi – even though the state service offices remain in the bigger centers elsewhere.

Rõigas said: "If cuts were made proportionally, everywhere, that would make some sense. If two officials leave Põlva, then 25 or more would need to leave Tallinn. Then it would be comprehensible."

Rõigas said he disagrees with the widespread argument that you can get from Põlva to Võru in twenty minutes and Tartu in half an hour, an access services there – noting that not everyone lives in the town of Põlva itself; it could take up to a day to use public transport to go to and from Tartu, from the most remote areas, he added.

The closure of service points doesn't just affect the consumers of specific services but the entire region and spells job losses, and also runs counter to the calls for more people, particularly younger people, families and professionals, to relocate to more rural areas.

Rõigas also recalled how, in 2017, the state initiated a program to consolidate services in county centers to ensure the state would not leave the region, and to date, four state buildings have been completed, with a fifth supposedly to follow, pending budget considerations.

Changes, both the SKA and the MTA say, include a greater proportion of services provided online

SKA head Maret Maripuu told ERR that those needing face-to-face meetings can take a bus to Võru or Tartu, while

Heli Kullamaa, head of customer service at the MTA, noted that over the past four years, visits to all service offices have fallen by 33 percent, with only tax return season busy – about 2.5 clients on average visited the office outside of that period in recent years.

The coronavirus pandemic also led to a shift to more services being provided online, and in any case Estonia is famed for being an e-state.

Courthouses are also being closed in smaller areas, the Rapla courthouse, the Põlva courthouse, and the Jõgeva courthouse, Pakosta noted

"Cuts must be made in the courts, and if the courts propose that these cuts come from reducing buildings, I will sign off on that," she said.

Supreme Court chief justice Villu Kõve for one supports reviewing the courthouse network. '

A year ago, Kõve told ERR that more and more hearings are being conducted in writing or by video link, meaning the location of courthouses has become less significant.

Meanwhile the Transport Administration has not yet received permission to close offices

Its head, Priit Sauk, recalled how, back in 2017, he proposed reducing the office network. At that time, about 60 percent of the administration's services were available online.

"This idea was not supported by politicians, and we were asked to continue operating in all our service points," Sauk said even as 85 percent of services are available online.

Sauk would however close at least half of the offices nationwide where possible, he said.

Other state agencies still operate in Põlva. For example, the Education and Youth Board (HARNO), the Environmental Board (Keskkonnaamet), the Unemployment Insurance Fund (Töötukassa), and the Land Board (Maa-amet) all have offices there

Varmo Ronk, head of the financial and administrative department at the Agricultural and Food Board (PTA), confirmed that they have no plans to move out of Põlva either.

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