This represented a €40.8 million rise (9.5 percent) on the amount of state aid provided to Estonian businesses in 2024.

State aid must be subject to European Commission approval above a certain level; smaller sums, called de minimis aid, do not need the approval of the Commission. The €472.6 million includes both types, with the bulk of this, at €381.5 million, being state aid, including crisis state aid (totaling €4.1 million).

EIS distributed nearly 27 percent of the total aid, at €82.48 million, followed by the Ministry of Culture (€78.64 million), and grid distributor Elering (€73.31 million). The Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA) was also a significant funnel of aid.
Grants accounted for 91 percent of the total amount of state aid, while the remaining 9 percent was provided through tax breaks.

Estonia submitted seven state aid notifications for permission to the European Commission last year. In one of these, the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture sought approval for extraordinary investment support in combating foot-and-mouth disease.

De minimis aid totaled €91.1 million, mostly as grants, while just over 2 percent was issued in the form of guarantees.

State aid in the EU is defined as any assistance directed at certain businesses or the production of specific goods which can give the recipient an advantage and which may distort competition.

De minimis aid is capped at €300,000 per company over a rolling three-year period and is not considered significant enough to distort market competition or trade, and so does not require Commission approval.

The 27 EU member states granted a combined total of €168.23 billion in state aid last year, exclusive of rail and banking subsidies and aid.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!