Iskül says Estonia’s industrial policy lacks clarity

Estonia’s industrial policy is not fully clear, but promises by some politicians to halt the green transition would be disastrous for industries that have invested billions, Riho Iskül, head of building materials producer Kunda Heidelberg Materials, told ERR’s Vikerraadio. He said the state sometimes intervenes in the market economy through legislation.

The company’s Kunda plant produces cement, its largest-volume product, as well as limestone construction aggregate. It also imports granite aggregate from Scandinavia and has begun producing small quantities of secondary cement materials, which can reduce cement’s carbon footprint. Iskül expects these materials to become more prominent in the company’s product range over the next five years.

The plant employs 63 people, down from a peak of 1,800 during the Soviet era, when much of Kunda’s work was linked to the factory. Iskül said machinery has reduced the need for workers, while the company has narrowed its focus and no longer handles maintenance or transport itself.

Most employees are from Kunda, with some from Rakvere. The workforce is ageing, and the company trains its machine operators and other specialist staff on site because it cannot find ready-trained workers through schools, he said.

Consumers in Estonia rarely buy bags of cement, Iskül said, as they more often order ready-mixed concrete. Kunda no longer packs cement itself; Saint-Gobain’s Weber unit does so. When the plant last packed cement, bagged products made up about one per cent of its output, compared with roughly 40 per cent in Lithuania, according to Iskül.