Prison rental agreement with Sweden lands hefty bonuses for Estonian officials
The Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs has decided to grant a one-time performance bonus to officials who contributed to the negotiation process of the prison rental agreement between Estonia and Sweden.
By order of Secretary General Tiina Uudeberg, the largest performance bonus — €7,000 — was awarded to Rait Kuuse, deputy secretary general for prisons at the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs.
Tiina Unuks, adviser in the ministry's prisons department, received a bonus of €6,500, while Martin Ziehr, adviser in the criminal law and procedure division, was awarded €5,000.
Five additional individuals received €1,500 each and three others were granted €500 each.
On June 18, Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa-Ly Pakosta (Eesti 200) and Swedish Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer signed a bilateral prison rental agreement. The five-year contract allows Sweden to temporarily use prison infrastructure in Estonia as a solution to the severe overcrowding in its correctional system. Under the agreement, Sweden will have access to 400 cells to accommodate up to 600 inmates.
Sweden is obligated to pay Estonia €30.6 million annually for 300 cell spaces, with an additional monthly fee of €8,500 for each extra prisoner. Beginning in 2027, the fee will be indexed at an annual rate of 3.5 percent.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
