The magnet factory in Narva, which has become a symbol of the Just Transition Fund, is up and running and companies in Ida-Viru County's business parks are expected to create up to 2,000 new jobs in the coming years.

Still, looking back, some things could have been handled better. The timeline for using the funds was tight, investment decisions were made in haste and several major projects never made it past the planning stage, said Teet Kuusmik, head of the Ida-Viru Investment Agency.

"We should have given businesses more time to delve into the issues — maybe we became too impatient. At one point, the program was essentially full and then it turned out that some projects weren't yet ready for the investment phase. If we had allowed ourselves longer deadlines, maybe we would have achieved better quality and less scrambling," Kuusmik explained.

Viru Keemia Grupp (VKG), Estonia's flagship oil shale company, doesn't credit the Just Transition Fund for the Narva magnet factory, saying it would have been built anyway.

According to VKG CEO Ahti Asmann, the fund's use of money should be reviewed in retrospect to determine whether the funds were truly spent on the right things. He said a meaningful measure of success would be the extent to which the fund supported value-adding enterprises.

"I think there should be a review in every area to assess whether the Just Transition Fund actually achieved what it set out to do — did it bring in significant investments with its support? I don't have the sense that this really happened," Asmann said. "The money has gone to various projects, but whether it's fulfilling its original purpose — that hasn't been proven to me yet."

Tourism developers in Ida-Viru County, on the other hand, are very pleased with the fund. The biggest success so far is the addition of four new hotels offering nearly 400 beds.

"Tourism has every reason to be happy — we're about to see a major boost. Tourism-related projects account for nearly €100 million under the Just Transition initiative when including co-financing. So, this will have a very strong impact on our tourism destination," said Ida-Viru tourism coordinator Kadri Alonen.

Many of the Just Transition projects that received support are expected to enter the construction phase this year.

The Just Transition Fund (JTF) is a European Union financing mechanism aimed at supporting the economy, people and environment in regions most affected by the EU's 2030 energy and climate goals and its 2050 climate neutrality target. Since the green transition involves shifting away from fossil fuels like oil shale, Ida-Viru County, where the phase-out will result in job losses and economic challenges, is the primary target area for the JTF in Estonia. The fund supports the creation of new jobs and the development of businesses, retraining and upskilling of workers, investments by small and medium-sized enterprises, economic diversification in fossil fuel-dependent areas and research, development and innovation.

Estonia is set to receive €340 million from the fund or about €353 million including technical assistance. Compared to other EU countries, Estonia will receive the highest amount of Just Transition funding per capita for its designated target region.

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