Covid-19, Culture, Education and Science, Estonia, Financial Services, Good for Business, Legislation

Support to be paid out through the Ministry of Culture totals close to 1.4 million euros, spokespeople for the ministry said. The measure was drawn up with a special focus on East-Viru County.

"Due to anti-coronavirus measures, cultural life and sport have been suspended in East-Viru County. In order to preserve diversity in culture and sports activities, we must support the covering of indispensable costs in the sector," Minister of Culture Tonis Lukas said.

Support has been earmarked for both organizations receiving operational support from the Ministry of Culture as well as private organizers of cultural and sport events. The aid package also includes support for covering the labor costs of coaches.

The conditions of the aid package are similar to those of the spring crisis measure for culture and sport; detailed conditions will be developed in January, which is also when the calls for applications will be announced. Applications will be processed by the Ministry of Culture, Folk Culture Center, Integration Foundation or the Estonian Foundation of Sport Education and Information.

The Estonian government after a Cabinet discussion also approved the decision to allocate over 1.5 million euros from the government's reserve to support private education as well as private hobby education and activities of young people, with 205,000 euros of the sum going to East-Viru County specifically.

"It is crucial that an option should be preserved for young people to take part in interesting activities contributing to their development. The aim of the support is to mitigate the damages caused by anti-coronavirus restrictions to private schools and providers of private hobby education and activities," Minister of Education and Research Jaak Aab said. "We're paying special attention to East-Viru County, where restrictions have been stronger due to higher rates of infection," he said.

The crisis package will enable to support providers of private education and private hobby education with a one-time payment of 10 euros per student across Estonia and 20 euros per student in East-Viru County. Support will be paid out to education providers on the basis of an electronic application and the number of students registered in the Estonian Education Information System as at Nov. 10. 

Private providers of hobby activities will likewise be supported with a one-time payment of up to 10 euros per participant across Estonia and up to 20 euros per participant in East-Viru County on the basis of an application submitted to the Ministry of Education and Research. Applications can be submitted in January.