Ministry of Internal Affairs procedure for provision of regional investment grants changes

Press release no. 3

At the beginning of 2007 a new procedure for applying for, providing and using regional investment grants from gambling tax came into effect. The biggest changes in the new procedure include a rise in the upper limit of the amount that can be applied for and a reduction in personal contribution. Grants will also start to be distributed in two rounds instead of the three that have been employed to date.

According to Anne Lindma, an adviser with the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Regional Development Department and the deputy chairman of the Regional Investment Grant Provision Programme Committee, these changes should be good news for applicants. “Considering the rapid rise in building costs and taking on board the needs of applicants and the options that are open to them, the committee decided to raise the upper limit of the amount that can be applied for from 350,000 kroons to 500,000 kroons and to reduce self-financing or cofinancing from 20 percent to 15 percent,” Lindma explained.

The new programme also sees changes to the format of the grant application form, submission deadlines and number of rounds. In place of the three rounds that were previously used, there will now be two rounds per year, and the new deadlines are 15 February and 15 September.

As before, grants can be sought for building, renovation and repair work on buildings or structures so as to improve the availability and quality of public services. The target groups for the grants are children, the elderly and the disabled. Applicants may be non-profit organisations, foundations, local government units and state agencies administering government bodies.

The 2007 national budget will provide a forecast 46.355 million kroons to the Ministry of the Interior for its regional investment grant programme, of which between 15 and 16 million is likely to be allocated during the first round and another 26 to 27 million during the second round.

In order to obtain grants in the first round of 2007, applications must be submitted to the local government in whose area the investment site is located by 15 February 2007.

The programme’s new procedure was enacted by the Government of the Republic on 09.11.2006 by regulation no. 233, which you can view on the Ministry of the Interior website at http://www.siseministeerium.ee/9670?id=14980. Application forms and other information about the programme are also available on the website.