EstoniaRiigi Teataja
Estonia opens AKIS vouchers: up to 90% support, 3,000 euros a year
New ministerial regulation nr 56 sets the terms for AKIS knowledge-transfer vouchers under CAP intervention 0.1: up to 90 percent support, who qualifies, what it pays for, and how PRIA applications and payments work.
By Taxxa AI OyPublished 15 September 2026
Estonia's regional and agricultural minister has set the conditions for AKIS vouchers (osak), targeted knowledge-transfer support for farm, forest, rural and food businesses under intervention 0.1 "Teadmussiirde- ja innovatsioonisüsteemi (AKIS) arendamise toetus" of the CAP Strategic Plan for 2023–2027. Regulation nr 56, adopted on 10 September 2026Riigiteataja, governs how the vouchers are granted and used.
The voucher pays for expert input: technology and innovation consultancy for product, service, process or production development; metrology, standardisation, accreditation and certification consultancy; further training including micro-qualifications; study trips and days, including foreign trade fairs with training not funded by other CAP interventions; business-model consultancy; intellectual-property protection consultancy; and data-driven management capacity. Each activity must meet the beneficiary's development need and add value beyond standard AKIS services, across crops, livestock, food, cooperation, environment, digitalisation and new technologies. Website and e-shop creation, routine software work, in-house process development, feasibility and market studies, and advice on the provider's own products are excluded.
The voucher covers up to 90 percent of eligible costs incurredRiigiteataja, capped at 3,000 euros per beneficiary per calendar year
Riigiteataja; a representative organisation may file a joint application for several beneficiaries, each assessed and funded separately, with a 15,000-euro annual ceiling for groups of five or more. The beneficiary's own contribution is at least 10 percent. Vouchers granted as state aid on the General Block Exemption route carry a 50-percent rate. Aid outside Article 42 TFEU is de minimis or state aid for the beneficiary, under Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, Article 48 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2472 and Articles 18 and 31 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2014. Nothing may start and no binding commitment taken before the day after filing.
Beneficiaries are entrepreneurs whose main activity is crop and animal production and related services (EMTAK 2025 division A 01, except hunting 017), silviculture (021), gathering of wild products except wood (023), food manufacturing (C 10, except fish processing 102) or beverage manufacturing (C 11), operating at least one year with turnover of at least 4,000 euros. They must owe less than 100 euros in national tax debt or have it scheduled, face no liquidation or bankruptcy, have repaid recoverable public support and hold no standing conviction for the listed financial, fraud and corruption offences. The service is delivered by the AKIS support beneficiary: an independent training, research, advisory or knowledge-transfer body, university, vocational school, positively evaluated research institution, patent attorney or accreditation body, or an engineering, programming or science-research firm with turnover above 50,000 euros; providers must avoid conflicts of interest and may not sit on the advisory-provider list under regional minister regulation nr 113.
The beneficiary applies to the Põllumajanduse Registrite ja Informatsiooni Amet (PRIA) electronically on the provider's behalf. The Maaelu Teadmuskeskus (METK) scores each application 0 or 1 on five criteria — fit and added value, a convincing competitiveness case, distinctness from confirmed AKIS plans, justification for not using a listed adviser, and realistic, cost-effective delivery — all of which must score 1. If eligible requests exceed the budget, the earliest filed win. PRIA decides within 30 working days and announces openings and suspensions in Ametlikud Teadaanded and on its website. Activities must be completed within one year of approval and no later than 30 June 2029Riigiteataja; the provider claims payment within 30 working days of full delivery, and PRIA pays within 30 working days of receiving proper documents.
Legal basis: Euroopa Liidu ühise põllumajanduspoliitika rakendamise seadus § 2 lõige 2, § 7 lõige 2 and § 12 lõige 3, and Articles 9 and 78 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115.
File the AKIS voucher application with PRIA before starting the activity, keeping the 3,000-euro annual cap, the 10-percent own contribution and the 30 June 2029 completion deadline in view.