Budget, Estonia, Financial Services, Society

The Estonian government decided on Thursday to make available to former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves the perquisites sought by him under law, which include compensation of reasonable expenses related to the upkeep of the Arma farm as his place of residence.

Roivas said at the government press conference that the government set no upper limit for the costs. A detailed decision of what are "reasonable expenses" has to be made by the Office of the President, he said.

"I believe that these costs will be in the same range [as those of President Arnold Ruutel], yet the exact numbers depend on the decision of the Office of the President," Roivas said.

"First, the point of this law [The President of the Republic Official Perquisites Act] is that the Estonian state will treat its former presidents in a dignified manner," Roivas said. "Second, the point of this law is that it must be possible for the president to have both living quarters and a work office at his disposal after leaving office. When he has these quarters, like president Ilves has in the Arma farm as his home, necessary costs will be covered."

"Since it cannot be presumed that the president possesses a work office, to the work office the formulation of the law 'to have at his or her disposal' shall apply," the premier said.

Roivas said the size of the costs related to Arnold Ruutel is approximately 150,000 euros a year, which includes expenses for a car, personnel, the work office, and travel. Expenses related to real estate make up about 20,000 euros of it.

"We [the government] have been told that the amount will be approximately the same also with president Ilves," he said.

The prime minister said that as a citizen he hopes that the expenses for the trips to made by Ilves will be bigger than those contained in the budget of Ruutel.

"When president Ilves, who is valued highly as a speaker, travels the world speaking about the security policy of Estonia, about Estonia's successes in the e-domain, this means a lot for Estonia," Roivas said. "If his budget for offical travel has to be increased for it, I would be glad to do it," he added.