1. Disclosure of Information

The Estonian Cultural Endowment ensures access to public information by:

  • making information publicly available;

  • responding to requests for information.

2. General Information on the Activities of the Cultural Endowment Published on Its Website
Information on Applications

The following information concerning applications is published on the Cultural Endowment’s website:

  • the name of the field-specific foundation, regional expert group and/or programme to which the application was submitted;

  • the applicant’s full name;

  • the first and last name of the individual who submitted the application on behalf of a legal entity;

  • the purpose for which funding is requested;

  • the amount of funding requested;

  • the application round in which the application was submitted;

  • the status of the application (submitted or awaiting a decision), together with additional information on whether funding has been awarded or the application has been declined.

Information on Funding Allocations

The following information concerning funding allocations is published on the Cultural Endowment’s website:

  • the name of the field-specific foundation, regional expert group and/or programme that made the allocation;

  • the full name of the recipient of the allocation, whether in the form of a grant, scholarship, award or remuneration for creative work;

  • the purpose for which the funding is allocated;

  • the amount allocated;

  • the general terms and conditions of the agreement;

  • the application round in which the allocation was made;

  • the status of the agreement (signed – signed by the Director of the Cultural Endowment; in force – signed by both parties);

  • the deadline for submitting the report required under the agreement;

  • the date on which the report was received.

Rules, Guidelines and Other Information Governing the Activities and Internal Procedures of the Cultural Endowment

The following legislation, rules, guidelines and supplementary information are publicly available:

  • the Estonian Cultural Endowment Act (Kultuurkapitali seadus, KultKS);

  • the procedure for awarding investment grants for the construction and renovation of nationally important cultural buildings;

  • the procedure for processing applications and recovering grants, applicable across the Cultural Endowment;

  • the procedure entitled “Principles for Applying for and Granting State Aid and De Minimis Aid at the Cultural Endowment”;

  • the procedure entitled “Basis for Awarding Scholarships and Application Conditions for Supporting Lecturers in the Fields of Arts and Folk Culture”;

  • the procedures governing the allocation of funds by field-specific foundations and regional expert groups;

  • the statutes governing the Cultural Endowment’s programmes;

  • the procedure governing the allocation of funds by the Cultural Endowment’s Supervisory Board;

  • lists of award recipients, organised by year, field-specific foundation and regional expert group;

  • lists of recipients of the “Ela ja sära” scholarship, organised by year and field;

  • lists of recipients of lifetime achievement support, organised by the Supervisory Board and field-specific foundation;

  • the first and last names, telephone numbers and email addresses of the Cultural Endowment’s employees;

  • the members of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Cultural Endowment;

  • the members of the expert committees of field-specific foundations, regional expert groups and programmes, together with the persons or organisations that nominated them;

  • the Cultural Endowment’s approved budgets, annual financial statements and activity reports;

  • the ranking of projects for the construction and renovation of nationally important cultural buildings, as determined by resolutions of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) since 13 September 2021;

  • the procedure governing the use of the Cultural Endowment’s logo;

  • the procedure governing donations to the Cultural Endowment;

  • the Cultural Endowment’s correspondence register.

3. Documents Subject to Access Restrictions

The following documents are subject to access restrictions and are not published on the website or disclosed to third parties:

  • The full application or proposal submitted by an applicant, whether as part of an application package or by other means, where it may contain sensitive personal data, business secrets and/or information that could prejudice the commercial or other legitimate interests of the applicant or persons involved in the project, including by distorting competition or conferring an unjustified advantage on another person or project. Such information may be disclosed only with the prior written consent of the applicant or their authorised representative.

  • The agreement concluded with the recipient of an allocation.

  • An application to amend the agreement and any annex to the agreement.

  • The full report on the use of the allocated funds, submitted by the recipient as part of a reporting package or by other means, where it may contain sensitive personal data, business secrets and/or other confidential information. Such information may be disclosed only with the prior written consent of the person who submitted the report or their authorised representative.

  • Documents designated by the Cultural Endowment for internal use only.

Access to information subject to access restrictions shall be granted only in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in the Personal Data Protection Act and the Public Information Act.

An access restriction shall be lifted when the grounds for imposing it cease to exist. Where the document or medium permits, a notation indicating that the access restriction has been lifted shall be added to the document.

A restriction on access to information intended for internal use shall apply from the date on which the document is prepared or received, for as long as necessary, but for no longer than five years. If the grounds for imposing the restriction continue to exist, the Director of the Cultural Endowment may extend the restriction for a further period of up to five years.

4. Documents Available upon Request for Information
Extracts from Meeting Minutes

As a general rule, the Cultural Endowment does not disclose the “Comments” column in extracts from meeting minutes, as the comments may contain expert assessments of an application or an individual applicant, for example, the reasons for rejecting an application. In the Cultural Endowment’s view, such information is not intended for disclosure to third parties.

Information contained in the minutes of the Cultural Endowment’s funding allocation meetings is made publicly available after each application round on the Cultural Endowment’s website, www.kulka.ee, under “Public Information”, in the subsections “Allocations by Application Round” and “Allocations”. The information is also available in the online edition of the newspaper Postimees.

Information on Assistance with Medicine Costs

The provision of assistance with medicine costs is governed by the Estonian Cultural Endowment Act. The conditions for awarding such assistance are set out in the procedures governing the allocation of funds by the field-specific foundations.

Assistance with medicine costs is awarded exclusively to individuals. In accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act and the Public Information Act, the Cultural Endowment provides information on the number and amounts of such allocations. At the requester’s choice, this information may be provided either for an application round as a whole (for example, the first application round of 2025) or by field-specific foundation and application round (for example, a specified field-specific foundation and the first application round of 2025). The names of individual recipients are not disclosed.