Estonian agency to compensate war refugees' rental costs to local govts

• Published date: 17 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

Management contracts enabling to cover the housing and translation costs of war refugees as a one-off expense had been sent to all local governments by the Estonian National Social Insurance Board by Tuesday.

This enables local governments to soon start accepting applications for the payment of refugees' rental costs, the National Social Insurance Board said.

"In recent weeks, we've engaged in very intense and constructive cooperation with many local governments and the Association of Estonian Cities and Rural Municipalities to arrive at the best solutions on how to compensate the rental and translation costs accompanying the reception of war refugees. Good feedback from the association and local governments has helped us jointly arrive at flexible solutions with low bureaucracy for both the applicant and local government," Jako Salla, acting director general of the National Social Insurance Board, said.

He added that when local governments have been granted the necessary confirmations by their councils, they can start accepting applications from people in need to compensate for the expenses already incurred as well as for those about to be incurred. The costs can be compensated to both landlords and refugees.

Deputy director of the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities Jan Trei said that the refugee crisis can only be solved efficiently in cooperation between the state and local governments because a large portion of the matters pertaining to refugees staying in Estonia is the responsibility of cities and municipalities.

"A separate management contract is signed by the National Social Insurance Board as a representative of the state and each...