The amount of support per project will range from €50,000 to €200,000 and the program will be financed with money from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The budget of the support scheme for the 2014-2020 period is five million euros, to which the applicants' own contributions will be added as well, spokespeople for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications said.

"We like to think of Estonia as a maritime nation and this is what our almost 3,800-kilometer coastline and seafaring traditions indicate as well," Palo said in a press release. "At the same time, our network of small ports is not worthy of a maritime nation. The existing small ports and infrastructure are unfortunately not sufficient for increasing the attractiveness of our coastal areas for maritime tourists."

In the program to develop the country's network of small ports under the previous EU Structural Fund period from 2007-2013, there was one call for proposals and a total of €3 million was distributed to bring 19 ports into conformity with valid requirements for a guest port.