Last Sunday the Narva City Council passed a no‑confidence motion against Mayor Katri Raik and chose Toots as her replacement. 

Did the transfer of power go smoothly? 

It could be watched live. Naturally the new council chair, who led a meeting for the first time, was upset. There were some hiccups in how the meeting was conducted, but all of that is forgivable because people's nerves were stretched to the limit. Today it is already history. 

The new coalition's majority is extremely narrow. How do you plan to make sure none of the 16 council members currently on your side are lured away? How likely is that? 

A group of 16 managed to stay together in the opposition for four and a half months in a situation where three or four members were enticed every day with all kinds of offers. They stayed together on principle, believing a different working style was needed. I think that now, when we hold power ourselves, I see no reason why anyone would leave. There is a lot of unfinished work, and we will move forward from here. 

You will certainly need very strong and loyal deputy mayors. Can you already say who they might be? 

We agreed to announce the names after the city government is confirmed on Saturday. At 10 a.m. Saturday there will be a short council meeting to confirm the government, and on Monday I will set the work order and assign responsibilities. I can say this much: there will be two deputy mayors, maybe a third in the future. (The draft Narva council decision reveals that the new deputy mayors will be Oleg Karpikov and Eduard Parts -ed.)

Narva power struggle has been unprecedented in Estonia and has lasted a long time. Has your side actually offered anything to council members? 

No, one council member simply came over to us, and that happened already in February. We look to the future, and I hope we now have a calm working environment. When I walk around Narva, many people wish us success and want that calm to continue. 

Do you currently live in Narva? 

I live in Narva, yes. On weekends I am at home in Tartu, but during the week I live in Narva. Weekends vary, and you know that a mayor's job is 24/7. If needed, you must be present. So yes, I live in Narva. 

When you walk around Narva and look around, what do you see as the biggest problems that need to be solved? 

Yesterday I had the chance to speak with the head of the European Union representation in Estonia, and we will meet on August 12 to bring new funding to Narva. Under Katri Raik no new projects were started; she finished the projects we began. 

A few things have been delayed a bit, but construction of a new hotel in downtown Narva will definitely begin. I spoke with the owners yesterday, and it will have 132 rooms. Today Narva's four hotels together have only 152 rooms. Capacity will double, but it is still a drop in the ocean. It is very hard to bring people to Narva to enjoy the views and learn about history when we have nowhere to accommodate them. 

Second, we are about to finish furnishing 12 social housing buildings that have already been constructed. They were built under Raik, and designed under us. Now they only need furniture. I think we will open them around October. 

We have several major projects. A big concern is the music school, which is certainly the oldest on Estonian territory, built in the tsarist era. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary last year. Estonia is younger, and this school building needs a replacement. The current building is practically at risk of collapse. 

There really are many problems that need immediate action. 

From Tallinn's perspective, Narva residents' main problem seems to be high heating prices?

I say the main problem is unemployment. Our unemployment rate fluctuates between 12.8 and over 13 percent, while Estonia's average is around six to seven percent. Thirty‑one percent of our residents are pensioners, and most of those who work earn only minimum wage. The living environment is extremely harsh, and the biggest problem is jobs and unemployment. 

Young people leave, even though we have opportunities to work in industry. We also have the opposite effect: many factories and companies use labor not only from Tartu and Tallinn but also from other European Union countries because of a shortage of specialists. We must start addressing this. 

Of course high heating prices are also a problem, but that issue is now being resolved. When I first became mayor, in October 2023 I immediately proposed building a 21‑kilometer pipeline. Steam released from energy production can be pumped to the city and used for heating. The price depends on the cost of the pipeline, and heating prices will drop by nearly half. We must make sure the pipeline is ready for next year's heating season. 

Another major problem is that electricity prices rose on July 1. This slows our production capacity — factories are starting to consider whether it is worth developing and expanding production in Narva at all because of high electricity prices. These are today's problems. 

For many people in Estonia, running Narva seems surrounded by a kind of mystique. If we call you in half a year, will you still be Narva's mayor? 

Unfortunately that is how it is, but if we look at the situation in Narva today, things are not better elsewhere — first Tallinn, and now again Pärnu. That is politics.

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