The government supported Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur’s proposal to initiate a special state plan for the establishment of a defense industrial park and a strategic assessment of environmental impacts in three municipalities.
„The production of ammunition in Europe is on the rise, but the needs are still greater than the production capacities. For our part, we are ready to create all the prerequisites for the production of ammunition to be possible in Estonia as well,†said Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.
The country plans to build a defense production park of up to 100 hectares, which must meet the possibilities of building an ammunition factory and handling explosives. The country’s special planning and strategic environmental impact assessment will be initiated in four locations located in three municipalities, specifically in the territory of Lääne-Nigula municipality, Lüganus municipality and Pärnu city of Audru and Tõstamaa sub-district.
„We want to promote the production of firearms, ammunition and ammunition in Estonia. One of the hindering factors is the time-consuming and expensive spatial planning process for suitable production land for entrepreneurs. With the help of the industrial park, we as a country can create a favorable environment for this. The production itself must take place on the basis of a market economy and be export-oriented,“ added Pevkur.
The purpose of the state special plan is to plan a defense production park for the production of ammunition, munitions, explosives and explosives and the infrastructure necessary for its operation. The plan plans the exact location of the industrial park and the conditions for designing and building the industrial park’s basic infrastructure and production facilities.
„At the moment, there are four locations to choose from, the most suitable of which will be found with the state’s special planning. A special state plan is necessary, because the park has an important spatial impact, there is a great national interest in its creation, and we have to find a suitable location at the county level,†explained Indrek Sirp, special advisor for defense industry development at the Ministry of Defense.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense is investigating the possibilities and feasibility of explosives production.
„The production of explosives is essentially a chemical industry and therefore requires more resources than the production of ammunition, for example water and energy. We analyzed the feasibility of explosive production in Estonia. The state’s special planning gives the opportunity to find a location for an explosives factory as well,†said Sirp.
“The goal is to find one location for the defense production park within the four planning areas, but as a result of the pre-selection of the location, the plan can be established for different production units of the production park, for example explosives production and ammunition production, also in different locations,” added Sirp.
In order to clarify and minimize the impact of the activities of the industrial park and the companies operating there, a strategic assessment of the environmental impact is carried out at the same time as the plan is prepared, along with other relevant economic, cultural, social and natural environment impact assessments.
The production park is planned keeping in mind the requirements of ammunition production. The state develops the necessary basic infrastructure, companies can build their own production buildings. The park enables the production of small, medium and large-caliber ammunition.
The goal of the Ministry of Defense is to implement the plan in 1.5 years. The first production could take place after 2.5 years.
2024-02-15 08:52:18
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