The state will direct almost 8.5 million euros from the European Union’s Just Transition Fund (JTF) to the construction of an industrial incubator of nearly 7,000 square meters in the northeastern Estonian border town of Narva.
The incubator is intended for industrial companies that want to start developing their products and services in East-Viru County and need modern rental space for that. The developer of the incubator will be the Ida-Viru Investment Agency Foundation (IVIA), which has long-term experience in the development of industrial areas in East-Viru County.
The support is planned to cover the design, construction and furnishing of the building. The provision of incubation services to entrepreneurs as tenants will contribute to the change of the economic structure of East-Viru County. According to the plan, the industrial incubator should be completed by August 2026.
“The Narva industrial incubator is designed to bring both domestic and foreign industrial investments to East-Viru County. It serves as a springboard for starting production, growing it and trying different solutions. However, the beginning is not easy and setting up a new production is a big expense for an entrepreneur. That’s why it’s good that with the support of the Just Transition Fund, we can build modern production buildings for rent to production companies, which also have the necessary administrative and support premises,” Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo said.
According to the concept of the Narva industrial incubator, companies can operate on leased premises temporarily, for up to five years. This will be regulated by a corresponding price policy. The fifth year is the year for the company to establish its production unit and exit the incubator. Throughout this period, the entrepreneur is offered incubation services, or so-called soft landing support services for faster integration into the economic environment and starting operations under market conditions.
During the incubation period, companies can start production, man teams, adapt to the Estonian economic environment and start operations.
The total area of the building to be built will be nearly 7,000 square meters, accommodating up to 10 production units and up to five business service companies at the same time. The structure of the building will enable to change the internal distribution of premises thanks to movable internal walls, according to the needs of a particular tenant. It will also be possible to expand the rental space if the investor’s production increases.
Both the infrastructure to be built and the accompanying incubation services together will form a whole, supporting the change of the economic structure of East-Viru County, the emergence of new companies, the development of products and services that meet today’s requirements, the involvement of foreign investments and the creation of new jobs in the county.
The industrial incubator will be established from the budget of the East-Viru entrepreneurship support services diversification measure, the total amount of which is 25 million euros, of which five million euros will be directed to the provision of incubation services in East-Viru County in financed incubators, and 20 million euros will be directed to the construction of incubators in Narva and Johvi.
The Just Transition Fund is a funding mechanism set up by the European Union to support the economy, people and environment of regions facing significant socio-economic challenges due to the climate targets. In Estonia, the budget of the JTF is 340 million euros and it targets East-Viru County because of the large role played by the oil shale industry in the region’s economy.
Source: BNS
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