Nõgene seeks €300,000 for presidential advisers’ salaries

Paavo Nõgene, head of Estonia’s President’s Office, is seeking an extra €300,000 in the 2027 state budget to pay advisers already hired by President Ülle Madise, ERR reported, citing Eesti Ekspress.

Nõgene wrote to the Riigikogu’s Finance Committee on Monday, asking it to support an amendment increasing the office’s budget by €300,000. He said the advisers had to be hired even though their salaries were not included in next year’s budget when they signed their contracts.

Finance Committee chair Annely Akkermann said the committee aimed to treat all constitutional institutions equally. She said the President’s Office was not in a more difficult or exceptional position than other institutions.

Some of Madise’s advisers are paid more than their counterparts under former President Alar Karis. Security adviser Rainer Saks has a basic salary of €6,500, compared with €3,900 for Karis’s security adviser, Madis Roll, who worked full time.

Nõgene’s basic monthly salary is €8,000, up from €6,000 for his predecessor, Krista Zibo. The President’s Office said several advisers also have larger workloads, equivalent to those of a ministry secretary general or deputy secretary general.