When making her political statement in connection with the submission of the State Budget for 2022 Bill at today’s plenary sitting of the Riigikogu, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that the next year’s state budget was good and would ensure that the Estonian state and people were cared for.

The Prime Minister Kaja Kallas began her remarks by underlining that Russia was waging an energy war against all of Europe and the whole world in a hope that the energy crisis would make the voters and leaders of democracies doubt the need for helping Ukraine. “We can be absolutely sure of one thing – if Ukraine falls, the whole Europe will be in danger,” she said. In Kallas’s words, governance will have to make sure that there is money to ensure our security, to support our population and to help Ukraine. The Prime Minister pointed out that Estonia had been very successful, but we also needed to take into account that, from time to time, there were setbacks in our lives and success. At present, however, the whole world is experiencing a setback and Estonia is in no way apart from this world. “We cannot separate ourselves from the rest of the world and imagine that our troubles would be less if we left the European Union, NATO, or the power exchange for that matter. On the contrary – together we will be able to overcome this current setback. Alone we would be easy prey for our aggressive neighbour,” the Prime Minister said.

“However, let us now talk about money which no one ever has quite enough of. The state budget is our collective money that does not spring magically from holes in the ground or from ATM machines. The Riigikogu and the Government have received a mandate to act responsibly with this money,” the Prime Minister said. She pointed out that the volume of the revenue of the state budget for 2023 would be 16 billion euro, which would be 16 per cent more than in the state budget for 2022 together with the supplementary budget. The volume of expenditure will be 17 billion euro, which will be 18 per cent more than this year. The state will make investments in the amount of 775 million euro, which will be approximately 30 million euro more than this year.

In Kallas’s words, when drafting the state budget for 2023, the Government had been guided by two great priorities: first, that the security of the Estonian state and people would be ensured and, second, that our people would be cared for. “In 2023, our annual defence spending will for the first time exceed one billion euro, which will account for 2.82 percent of GDP. The defence spending for 2023 will be more than 41 per cent higher than the defence spending in 2022,” Kallas explained. She pointed out that the Government’s decision to develop medium-range air defence was very important. “As a small but digitally aware country, we will invest an additional over 30 million euro in cyber security. Russian-orchestrated cyber-attacks on our systems have become significantly more frequent and, in order to stay strong in the cyber war, this sector must be funded consistently,” she said.

“Another important priority in the budget for 2023 is our people’s livelihood in the conditions of the energy war launched by Russia,” the Prime Minister said. She pointed out that 230 million euro had been earmarked for pay rises in the budget for 2023. Across the public sector, the wage bill will increase by five per cent which will take up 60 million euro. “We are planning an additional pay rise for teachers, internal security officers, culture workers and social workers. The average salary of teachers will rise by nearly 400 euro in 2023, exceeding the mark of 2000 euro. The salary of teachers who teach in Estonian in Ida-Viru County will be calculated with a coefficient of 1.5 which should raise their monthly salary to 3000 euro from next autumn. The rescue workers, who have been experiencing an unacceptably large underpayment, will see their salaries rise by 36 per cent next year,” the Prime Minister pointed out. She added that the salaries of social and culture workers as well as police officers would also rise at an advanced pace.

We will also be able to provide certainty in the face of the future to the more vulnerable members of our society. In particular, this concerns the elderly, the low-income people and families with children,” Kallas said. According to her, the average old-age pension will be exempt from income tax from next year. Together with the extraordinary pension rise and indexation, the average old-age pension will increase to 704 euro per month. In addition to this, family allowances for large families will increase by 50 per cent and the child benefits for the first and second child in a family will increase by 30 er cent and the single parent’s allowance will increase by 417 per cent, that is, by more than four times. The family allowances budget will increase by a total of 163 million euro in 2023. “The rise in the basic exemption from income tax to 654 euro per month, due to enter into force from 1 January, will also be of significant help to families,” Kallas said. She added that the long-term care reform, for which 40 million euro had been earmarked in the budget, was also nearing completion. “In addition, we will pay subsidies in an amount of 100 million euro to people to cope with energy prices during the heating season,” Kallas said. The Prime Minister also pointed out the transition to Estonian as the language of instruction in pre-school education, and the higher education funding.

“The budget deficit left to us by the Government preceding the last peace-time Government has decreased substantially. Next year, the structural budget deficit will be 2.6 per cent, that is, 0.8 percentage points lower than we projected in the last year’s state budget strategy. The improving budget discipline is the financial gunpowder we may need if things develop in a more negative direction than expected,” the Prime Minister emphasised.

In conclusion, Kallas underlined that the Estonian language was a wonderful language. In the Estonian language, the phrase “kokku hoidma” has two different, but in this context very close meanings – “to stick together” and “to save, to economise”. We will have to stick together as well as to live more frugally. The aggressor is aiming to make us all quarrel with each other, both domestically and in the relations between Western countries,” Kallas said. She added that, in her opinion, it was not appropriate to ridicule either sticking together or economising. “Together we are strong and if we use our resources more sustainably, we are less vulnerable.”

Jaanus Karilaid (Centre Party), Rene Kokk (Estonian Conservative People’s Party), Erkki Keldo (Reform Party), Priit Sibul (Isamaa) and Indrek Saar (Social Democratic Party) took the floor on behalf of their factions.

One Bill passed the second reading

The Bill on Amendments to the Energy Sector Organisation Act (656 SE), initiated by the Government, passed the second reading. It is intended to set the target that by 2030 the amount of renewable electricity generated in Estonia would equal the consumption. Up until now, the target was that, by 2030, renewable electricity would have to account for at least 40 per cent of total electrical energy consumption. In order to meet the target, it is planned to conduct additional reverse auctions for renewable electricity in a total amount of at least 1 TWh in 2024–2025. In addition, the implementation of a wind turbine charge and faster processing of the authorisations for the establishment of offshore wind farms should contribute to the achievement of the target. Additional funds have also been allocated for the updating of electricity grids, and opportunities to simplify the connection to the network of new generation capacities are being sought.

During the debate, Rene Kokk, Toomas Jürgenstein, Heiki Hepner, Kalle Grünthal, Peeter Ernits, Erki Savisaar, Henn Põlluaas and Andres Metsoja took the floor.

14 members of the Riigikogu voted for the motion to suspend the second reading of the Bill and 39 voted against. The Bill passed the second reading.

A Bill passed the first reading

The Bill on the Ratification of the Protocol Amending and Extending the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Government of the United States of America for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (649 SE), initiated by the Government, will ratify the Protocol Amending and Extending the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Government of the United States of America for Scientific and Technological Cooperation. The Protocol amended the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Government of the United States of America for Scientific and Technological Cooperation that had entered into force in 2009, and extended it for ten years, and included new cooperation opportunities into the Agreement.

Three Resolutions were passed

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Amendment of the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organizationˮ” (672 OE), submitted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, provides that members of the delegation Ants Laaneots and Andres Metsoja are excluded from the Estonian delegation to the NATO PA delegation and Mihhail Lotman is appointed as a member of the delegation. The Resolution also provides that Mati Raidma is appointed as head of the delegation, and the current head of the delegation Marko Šorin is appointed as a member of the delegation.

51 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Resolution, nobody was against and there were no abstentions.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Amendment of the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe”” (673 OE), submitted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, provides that head of the delegation Mati Raidma is excluded from the Estonian delegation to the OSCE PA, and alternate member of the delegation Sven Sester is appointed as head of the delegation and Margit Sutrop is appointed as an alternate member.

47 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Resolution, nobody was against and there were no abstentions.

The Resolution of the Riigikogu “Amendment of the Resolution of the Riigikogu “Formation of the Estonian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe”” (674 OE), submitted by the Foreign Affairs Committee, provides that Eerik-Niiles Kross is appointed head of the Estonian delegation to PACE, replacing Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski, and Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski is appointed as a member of the delegation. Substitute member Raivo Tamm is excluded from the delegation and Heiki Hepner is appointed as a substitute member. Substitute member of the delegation Indrek Saar is appointed as a member of the delegation, and member Urmas Reitelmann is appointed as a substitute member.

47 members of the Riigikogu voted for the Resolution, nobody was against and there were no abstentions.

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Photos of the sitting

The video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel. (Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Maris Meiessaar
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