A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday to mark the official opening of an explosives plant at the new Ämari defense industry park.
The mini-park is situated at the Ämari Air Base, west of Tallinn, and the first tenants to open are Estonian firm Nitrotol, who will be the first company to produce munitions inside an independent Estonia for close to 100 years.
Nitrotol has been producing military explosives, including mines, since 2019, but Estonian law at the time barred this from being completed on Estonian soil, and filling in the explosives had to be done in other countries.
Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform) called the plant’s opening a “major step forward.”
“We have become a country that produces ammunition. In the case of Nitrotol, this is the first company to produce and export military materials and munitions in nearly 100 years. By establishing such production facilities, we are concentrating resources and expertise in Estonia so that, if necessary, we can supply ourselves even in a crisis,” said Pevkur.
Read more: ERR.EE
