Estonia opens large-scale investment incentive
Estonia launches a €160M investment incentive today, offering up to €20M reimbursement for major investments. Bring your next project to one of Europe’s most supportive ecosystems.
As announced in 2024, the Estonian government and Enterprise Estonia have officially launched a new incentive for large-scale investments.
Enterprise Estonia has opened the application round for large-scale investment support. The incentive, created by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, aims to accelerate projects with investment volumes exceeding €100M.
According to Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo, the support measure will help bring at least €1B in new investments into the Estonian economy in the coming years.
“Estonia’s value proposition for attracting large investments was missing exactly this kind of flexible and quickly implementable government measure that other countries already offer to companies,” said Keldo. “In the current turbulent geopolitical situation, alongside increasing defence spending, we need to make additional efforts to be an attractive location for investments. While the large investment measure serves as a positive signal to foreign investors that the state welcomes them, we also value the investment of existing capital for expansion and development.”
Joonas Vänto, Director of Invest Estonia, described this as a historic step by the state. “The government is showing real leadership: this substantial support takes things to a completely new level, giving a strong boost to Estonia’s economic growth. In our communications with investors, we see that this 10 or 15 per cent support could become a crucial argument that gives companies the confidence to invest in Estonia instead of another country,” said Vänto. The measure is aimed at both supporting large investments by Estonian companies and attracting new FDI.
He added, “This is a support measure from which the state can only win—through taxes, created jobs, and the growth of Estonian industry, we can invest our way out of the economic downturn. The risks for the state are very low because by the time the subsidies are paid out, at least the same amount will likely have already been collected in tax revenue for the state budget.”
The measure aims to encourage investments of at least €100M into Estonia. The total volume of the measure is €160M split over four years, with individual investment support being 10% in Harju County and 15% in other counties, or a maximum of €20M. Each subsidised investment must create at least 30 new jobs with an average total salary exceeding the sector’s average wage. Support will be paid to companies after the investment has been made.
While the application period opened today and runs until August 11, preliminary consulting began a few weeks ago and will continue until July 11. This consulting aims to help companies submit as accurate and high-quality applications as possible, which is a prerequisite for receiving support. As a limiting restriction, companies applying for support or business entities from the same group cannot have state or local government participation exceeding 49 per cent.
More detailed information about the support and the pre-consultation registration form can be found on the Enterprise Estonia website. The development of the large-scale investment support measure was approved by the government’s economic cabinet last September and is part of the government’s 2025 economic growth plan.
Previously, the government has doubled its commitment to the Defence Industry Fund, increasing it to €10oM.
Ready to make the most of it? Read more about the investment incentive and start your application.
Photo: Rasmus Jurkatam