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Friday, 26.04.2024, 18:37
Estonian minister wants EUR 300 monthly support paid to youth working in East-Viru County
Minister of Public Administration Jaak
Aab, who presented the program at the Cabinet sitting told the newspaper
that all young people who have a certificate of a vocational education
institution or higher education institution and come to East-Viru County to
work -- either in a state institution or private company -- would be paid a
monthly stipend of 300 euros by the state. "This is the plan, this is my
proposal. I sincerely hope that it will also be confirmed," Aab said.
He added that the details of paying the support will have to reviewed and
agreed upon in the government. "But young people should receive such a
support in at least ten years. This involves hundreds of young people - not
only those who live here now, but also those who are coming from elsewhere to
work here," he said, adding that the aim of this measure is for young
people to stay in East-Viru County.
Aab said that East-Viru County is not the only region in Estonia where the
outflow of young people is a big problem. "I am also concerned by
Southeast Estonia. We must think about regional policy in those regions where
the most people are leaving from," he said.
In addition to the support for young people, Aab also proposed paying
investment support to businesses that create jobs in East-Viru County. He said
that sum of the one-off subsidy to small or medium businesses should be between
100,000 and 400,000 euros. "It is no secret that we are diligently
creating industrial parks and the state has invested money in them, but
businesses should also come to the parks now," the minister said. He
said that this kind of subsidy is required to alleviate the problems of
East-Viru businesses in receiving loans from banks.
Aab said that the government is deliberating giving a state loan guarantee
to business investments made in other regions. "We would also give out
investment support in East-Viru County -- to concrete projects, with
application rounds -- to those who create new or expand existing businesses
here, which result in the creation of new jobs. Whether they are in industrial
parks or elsewhere," he said.
Ministers at the Cabinet meeting last week did not come to an agreement
regarding the East-Viru County program due to disagreement. The government
formed a work group to solve the conflicts that had arisen in relation to the
program. Members of the work group include of Minister of Public Administration
Jaak Aab, Minister of Justice Urmas
Reinsalu and Minister of Health and Labor Jevgeni Ossinovski.
The government has planned 5 million euros from the state budget of next
year for activities of the East-Viru County program. The sum should increase to
10 million euros from 2019.
The three-strong work group of ministers is also planning to develop a
long-term and stable financing model for the East-Viru County program. There
has been talk previously of directing the pollutions charges paid by oil shale
businesses to the program, but the Ministry of the Environment has been against
that idea. Aab said that they are also deliberating the intended use of the
resource fees of oil shale paid to the state budget. He said that the work
group is planning to take their proposals to the government in a month.