Estonia lowers major investment support threshold by €30 million
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is lowering the minimum investment threshold for large-scale investment support available to businesses from €100 million to €70 million.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) announced it is lowering the minimum investment threshold for large-scale investment support available to businesses. The minimum qualifying investment will fall from €100 million to €70 million, while the threshold for priority development projects will be reduced to €35 million and to €20 million for defense industry projects.
One significant change is the addition of the food industry to the list of priority development projects. The ministry said the food sector is strategically important for the country, including from the perspective of ensuring food security and that the government therefore wants to encourage large-scale investments in food production.
Priority development projects also include the manufacturing of net-zero technologies, the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries and the transformation of production processes, the extraction, processing, refining, recycling or substitution of critical and strategic raw materials, strategic digital technologies, deep technologies and biotechnology.
Along with the lower investment requirement, the minimum number of new jobs required will also be reduced from 30 to 20. The ministry said the change will not reduce the measure's cost-effectiveness because the average value of the jobs created will increase proportionally to the amount of aid provided.
Support rates will remain unchanged, with businesses in Harju County eligible for up to 10 percent of a project's value and those in other counties eligible for up to 15 percent. The maximum grant per investment project remains €20 million.
"Large-scale investments do not come to us automatically. We are competing with neighboring countries, so we must create conditions that give companies the confidence to choose Estonia as the location for their next factory, development center or production line. Lowering these thresholds will allow more investors, including those in the defense industry, to carry out their investment plans here," Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo (Reform) said.
The large-scale investment support scheme is part of the government's economic growth plan. The grants, administered by the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency, are intended to attract new investment to Estonia, create higher value-added jobs and strengthen the competitiveness of the country's industrial sector.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Marcus Turovski
