* Estonian state and public institutions' spending on public relations increased 1.5 times compared to 2023 figures.
* The Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS) is a significant spender among these entities.
* In 2023, €4.7 million was paid to 13 public relations companies or groups by the Ministry of Finance's payment application.
* By 2025, this total had grown to €7.3 million, representing a 55 percent growth over two years.
* Akkadian took in €2.9 million in revenue last year, with 80 percent from state institutions.
* The Health Insurance Fund paid Akkadian €400,000 for services.
* Miltton New Nordics had €3.4 million in sales revenue last year, with over half from state institutions, including approximately €1.6 million from EIS.
* EIS has paid nearly €900,000 to PR firms this year alone.
* EIS employs 479 staff, with 39 in marketing and communications roles.
* Kasper Elissaar, head of EIS communications, cited the need to promote Estonia abroad as a place to work, an export partner, and a tourism destination.
* EIS hires Estonian PR firms that hire companies with regional expertise for representation in target countries.

Estonian state and public institutions increased spending on public relations by 1.5 times compared to the 2023 figure. The Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS) is a major spender, having paid millions to PR firms in 2023 for services, including promoting Estonia abroad. Data from the Ministry of Finance's payment application shows that spending on public relations increased from €4.7 million in 2023 to €7.3 million by 2025, representing a 55 percent growth over two years.
Several PR firms were hired by state and public institutions. For instance, the firm Akkadian earned €2.9 million in revenue last year, with 80 percent from state institutions, and the Health Insurance Fund paid the company €400,000 for services. Another company, Miltton New Nordics, generated €3.4 million in sales revenue last year, with over half derived from state institutions, including approximately €1.6 million from EIS.
The EIS itself has paid nearly €900,000 to PR firms in the current year alone and employs 479 staff, 39 of whom are in marketing and communications roles. This activity is linked to the need to promote Estonia internationally as a workplace, an export partner, and a tourism destination. The structure involves EIS hiring Estonian PR firms, which in turn hire specialist companies for regional representation.

The reported growth in state spending on PR reflects an institutionalization of external branding as a core policy objective, suggesting that international positioning is viewed not merely as a soft goal but as a measurable economic and geopolitical imperative. The mechanism through which this manifests—the hiring of specialized local firms by agencies like EIS—suggests a strategic outsourcing of soft power projection. The pattern observed involves the amplification of state-level objectives via private sector mechanisms, creating a feedback loop where public funds finance private expertise for international promotion.
This dynamic raises questions about the distribution of value and accountability. While the objective is framed around increasing competitiveness, the substantial flows into specific firms, such as Akkadian or Miltton New Nordics, require examination regarding how these expenditures translate into tangible outcomes for Estonian economic competitiveness versus the cost borne by public institutions. The focus on spin and promotion implies an underlying assumption that external perception is a direct lever for internal economic growth.
The structure where EIS acts as the initial driver leads to specialized local firms reflects a strategy of leveraging localized knowledge, which can be efficient but also risks obscuring accountability chains when public funds are involved in promoting national narratives abroad. The ongoing necessity for such spending points to an enduring vulnerability: the success of international positioning is perpetually tied to the efficacy and transparency of these commissioned PR efforts. What assumptions about the relationship between state investment, private service delivery, and international perception are being implicitly accepted as natural?