The Estonian parliament has the tradition of allocating the so-called Roof Money during the autumn debate of the state budget. Every legislator in the 101-seat Riigikogu has the option of attributing 30 000 euros for a specific purpose, mostly to fund repair works of publicly significant buildings in regions of the country, Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports.
This year, eight MPs have abstained from allocating the funding, seven of them from the ruling Reform Party, which has previously criticised the subsidy programme.
Read also: Latvian parliament passes state budget for 2022; expenditures approved at EUR 12.4 billion
From the total of 2.8 million euros to be spent in Roof Money, about ten percent, 292,000 euros have been allocated to needs linked to religious organizations, meaning primarily Lutheran and Orthodox congregations.
The majority of the five parties represented in the Estonian parliament, the Reform Party, the Centre Party, the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia and Isamaa, have made significant allocations to religious beneficiaries in the Roof Money of 2022. The money will mostly go to renovation works, a pressing issue for many older churches, and also will be spend on operating costs, education and related uses, ERR reports.
Estonian MP’s distribute 2.8 million euros in Roof Money
