“I wish Piret every success in the role,” said Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. “We are having to cope with all the challenges we are facing in a very complicated economic situation where the state’s purse is even lighter than we forecast it would be. In many areas that means large-scale reforms. The Ministry of Rural Affairs is one of them, and will have to manage some major changes: reducing regional inequality, which is to say reviewing the revenue base of local governments; ensuring greater connectivity, or mobility reforms; and the implementation of the Just Transition plan in Ida-Viru County. I am certain that Piret’s previous experience as a minister and in the public sector will help her settle into her new role quickly and overcome these challenges in what are very complex times.”
Piret Hartman is a member of the Estonian Social Democratic Party. She served as Minister of Culture in a previous composition of the government, prior to which she was a deputy secretary general in the ministry. She has also worked as the head of campaigns and overall director of the Social Democrats. She takes up the post of minister having served as the head of the Strategy Unit in the Ministry of Finance. She has two Master’s degrees: one in digital change in entrepreneurship from TalTech and the other in economics and entrepreneurship from the Estonian University of Life Sciences.
Hartman’s predecessor in the role of Minister of Regional Affairs was Madis Kallas, whose time in office ended on 16 April when he resigned from the post of his own volition.
Piret Hartman’s biography: https://valitsus.ee/piret-hartman
Gallery of the minister taking up office: https://www.flickr.com/gp/stenbockimaja/54j3KQSwfh
