The World Bank and Estonia

Estonia first became a member of the World Bank Group in 1992, shortly after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. The following year Estonia took out its first loan with the Bank, and in less than two decades later became a member, and donor, to IDA – the World Bank’s fund for the poorest.  Today, Estonia is a member of the five institutions that form the World Bank Group and works together with the World Bank and other member governments to finance projects, design policies, and deliver programs to eradicate poverty on a liveable planet.

The World Bank Paris office works to promote consensus around the international development agenda and build a platform for collaboration between the World Bank Group and European countries. It does this by promoting better understanding of the World Bank Group’s mission and activities and by building relationships with key stakeholders such as government, legislators, civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, and the media.

The World Bank’s Nordic Baltic desk will support outreach activities in collaboration with Estonian partners, such as organizing and supporting conferences, seminars, and other events on development-related topics. The desk serves as an entry point for groups in Estonia wishing to contact World Bank staff across the world or to access the plethora of information the Bank publishes, and with the media team it responds to media queries. It also seeks to increase opportunities for collaboration between Estonia and the World Bank Group through co-financing, trust funds, and joint analytical work in sectors and regions of mutual interest.

Governor

H.E. Mr Mart Võrklaev, Minister of Finance, represents Estonia on the World Bank Board of Governors, the Bank’s senior decision-making body. The governors, usually Ministers of Finance or Development, meet twice a year. They have the power to admit and suspend members of the World Bank Group, increase or decrease the authorized capital stock, determine the distribution of the net income of the Bank, and decide on the World Bank Group’s overall strategic direction. Mr. Marten Ross Deputy Secretary General, serves as Alternate Governor.

Executive Director

The Governor Delegates responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day business of Estonia’s interests at the Bank to the Executive Director (ED) for Estonia. EDs reside in Washington and normally meet twice a week to decide on borrowing and financial questions, projects, and policies that impact World Bank Group general operations. Estonia’s ED also represents Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. Sigrun Rawet (Sweden) is the ED representing the Nordic-Baltic constituency on the 25-member World Bank Board of Executive Directors, and Trine Lunde (Norway) is the Alternate Executive Director.

Shares and Voting Power

The World Bank Group has a weighted system of voting. All members of the Bank receive votes consisting of share votes (one vote for each share of the Bank's capital stock held by the member) plus basic votes (calculated so that the sum of all basic votes is equal to 5.55% of the sum of basic votes and share votes for all members). The voting power distribution differs from agency to agency within the World Bank Group.

For the latest voting status, please visit the Voting Powers page.