Retailers can offer stores with a sales area of at least 150 m² until mid-October. Offers from Harju County, Lääne County, and Central Estonia are particularly welcome.
"The stockpiling agency has acquired the generators and has largely done its part. Now it is the task of retailers, local governments, and communities to help ensure that it is possible to buy food and other essential goods in every region of Estonia during a crisis. While previously we were looking for stores in specific areas, with this tender, any store that meets the requirements can be offered, regardless of its location," said Priit Ploompuu, Member of the Management Board of the Estonian Stockpiling Agency.
A crisis store is a store equipped with a backup generator that can continue operating during an extensive power outage. In the event of a crisis, the store must be open for at least five hours a day and ensure the sale of essential goods. If possible, pharmacies and ATMs located in the same building must also remain operational.
The project is based on cooperation between the state and businesses. ESPA provides the stores with powerful generators and organizes their maintenance, while retailers adapt their electrical systems and plan the store's crisis-time operations in detail.
According to Ploompuu, the success of the network also depends on the activity of local governments and communities. "If there is no crisis store in the area yet, local governments and local people can encourage store owners to participate in the project. This increases the resilience and crisis preparedness of the entire region."
For security reasons, the entire network of crisis stores is not publicly mapped. However, based on information shared by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture, the locations of the crisis stores being established are known to local governments, who can and must forward this information to their residents. The goal is for local people to know their nearest crisis store, while making it as difficult as possible for an enemy to intentionally disrupt the entire network.
The crisis store network is being established across Estonia, taking into account both the population and geographical distribution of the regions, so that essential goods are as accessible as possible to people in a crisis situation.
