After being assigned the position in the incoming new coalition government, the Social Democratic Party (SDE) announced Sunday that it would be appointing Vladimir Svet as Estonia’s next minister of infrastructure.
The SDE board, which convened Sunday, decided to nominate party chair Lauri Läänemets as minister of the interior, Riina Sikkut as minister of health, Piret Hartman as minister of regional affairs and agriculture and, under the Ministry of Climate, Tallinn ex-deputy mayor Vladimir Svet as minister of infrastructure.
Svet likewise quit the Center Party and joined the SDE on Sunday.
Läänemets noted that in his new position as infrastructure minister, Svet will be able to utilize his extensive experience in local government administration, which includes all transport-related matters, but also advocating for housing policy, an issue important to the Social Democrats.
According to Svet, who served as deputy mayor of Tallinn from 2021 through this spring, being nominated as the Social Democrats’ candidate for minister of infrastructure is a major responsibility, but also aligns well with many of the issues he dealt with as deputy mayor of the Estonian capital.
“I thank the SDE board for their trust,” he said. “I entered politics to improve life in Estonia. In recent years, I was involved in Tallinn in utilities, transport and mobility matters. As a government minister, I can continue to lead these areas nationwide, while also considering developments in Tallinn – the most significant of which are closely linked to state investments.”
Svet added that since many people have left the Center Party, which in turn has begun to affect the party’s ideological image, the Social Democratic Party now better represents his views.
“Important for me as a left-centrist are solidarity, justice and openness, and I feel like I can now stand up for these values better within the Social Democratic Party,” he explained. “It was apparently just a matter of time before I would have distanced myself from the party. Personally I thought I’d be moving more toward the private sector, but a few days ago, the Social Democrats’ chair proposed that I take up office as minister of infrastructure.”
In addition to his work in the Tallinn city government, Vladimir Svet has also served as city district elder of both the City Center and Lasnamäe districts of Tallinn. He holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Tartu (TÜ).
Svet was a member of the Center Party from January 2011 through April 2016, and again from March 2018 until July 21, 2024.