ECDI Announces Call for Proposals to Find Manufacturers for the Defence Industry Park

The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (ECDI) has announced a call for proposals for companies interested in manufacturing ammunition, munition not containing an explosive substance, munition containing an explosive substance, military explosives, military explosive substance, or their components in the defence industry park to be established in the Ermistu area of Pärnu County. The deadline for proposals is June 15, and production is expected to begin no later than early 2027.

On April 4, 2025, the Ermistu village area in Pärnu County was announced as the preferred location for the defence industry park. The state will build the base infrastructure for the park, while the companies will construct their own production facilities. The second preferred location is in Põhja-Kiviõli.

“The development of the defence industry park is one of the government’s priorities, and to that end, a national designated spatial plan was launched at the beginning of 2024. In parallel, consultations have taken place with defence industry companies who have expressed a desire to start production in the park as soon as possible,” explained Tambet Tõnisson, Head of State Assets Division at ECDI. “Interest has come from both emerging domestic companies and international manufacturers.”

Companies participating in the call for proposals must submit an operational plan that includes detailed information about the product, production volumes, proposed timeline, size of the desired area, infrastructure and resource requirements, net quantity of explosives to be handled, product supply chain, and more.

The detailed conditions of the call for proposals and the necessary documents for submission are published in the Official Announcements (English translation is provided in the documents).

Initial applications must be sent by May 15, 2025, to [email protected]. Final proposals are due by June 15, 2025, after which negotiations with the selected company will begin. The final evaluation criteria, their weightings, scoring ranges, and evaluation methodology will be established by ECDI in the proposal submission invitation no later than July 28, 2025, following negotiations with the applicants. The proposals will be evaluated by a committee appointed by the Director General of ECDI.

“Our goal is to select the companies that will start operating in the defence industry park by the end of this summer, so that we can then proceed to sign the necessary contracts. After that, the companies can begin designing and constructing their production facilities. Production in the first companies should start no later than early 2027,” Tõnisson added.

ECDI will organize an information day for all companies interested in the call for proposals. It will take place on April 17, 2025, at 12:00 at the Nordic Hotel Forum (Viru väljak 3, Tallinn). To participate (also via video), company representatives (up to three people per company) are asked to register at [email protected].

More information about the defense industry park call for proposals and the timeline is available at https://www.kaitseinvesteeringud.ee/en/defence-industry-park/