Tiit Vähi (born 10 January 1947) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n politician who was

Prime Minister of Estonia The Prime Minister of Estonia ( Estonian: ''peaminister'') is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed by ...

from 1995 to 1997. He was also

acting Prime Minister An acting prime minister is a cabinet member (often in Westminster system countries) who is serving in the role of prime minister, whilst the individual who normally holds the position is unable to do so. The role is often performed by the deputy ...

for several months during 1992 under the

transitional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

Life and career

Born in Kaagjärve Parish, Estonia, Vähi graduated from the

Tallinn Technical University Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; et, Tallinna Tehnikaülikool) is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administrati ...

with a degree in engineering. From the time of his graduation until 1992, he served in several top managerial post with the Valga Trucking Company. During the Estonian national independence movement, Vähi was among the organisers of the

Estonian Popular Front The Popular Front of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvarinne; RR), introduced to the public by the Estonian politician Edgar Savisaar under the short-lived name Popular Front for the Support of Perestroika, was a political organisation in Estonia in ...

, and led its regional committee in

Valga County Valga County ( et, Valga maakond or ''Valgamaa'') is a first-level administrative unit and one of 15 counties of Estonia. It comprises the former area of Valga District. The present-day county was created on 1 January 1990. The capital and larg ...

. In 1989, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Communications, a post that he held until January 1992. During his tenure as Transport Minister, he forged close ties with the transport ministries of the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

and improved relations with the other two

Baltic States The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

on transport related issues. He transferred control of Estonia's airports, railways and sea ports, under the control Moscow, to the Estonian authorities. Shortly after Estonia's return to independence in 1991, Vähi was appointed as the Government's special representative to north-eastern Estonia, a region inhabited by a majority of ethnic

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

. On 29 January 1992, Vähi became the second post-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Prime Minister of Estonia, succeeding

Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Centre Party. He served as the acting Prime Minister of Estonia, Minister of the Interior, Minister ...

. During this first stint as Prime Minister, he embarked upon a vast programme to transform the country's economy from its being centrally controlled into a more

free market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ar ...

. His government also introduced the Estonian currency, the Kroon, in June 1992. He also founded the Estonian Privatisation Agency, which embarked on the privatisation of government-owned assets to the private sector. As agreed when he assumed the post Prime Minister in the transition government, Vähi did not participate in the parliamentary elections on 20 September 1992. In 1993, he was elected Chairman of the

Estonian Coalition Party Estonian Coalition Party ( et, Eesti Koonderakond) was an Estonian centre-right liberal political party. Founded in 1991 by Tiit Vähi, it disbanded in 2002. The party was an observing member of Liberal International Liberal International (L ...

. The parliamentary elections of March 1995 gave victory to the KMÜ coalition, comprising the

and the

People's Union of Estonia The People's Union of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvaliit) was a political party in Estonia. Its last leader was Margo Miljand. In the 2003 parliamentary election, the party collected 64,463 votes, which made 13.0% share of all votes and 13 mand ...

Parties. As leader of the Estonian Coalition Party, Vähi was asked by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Lennart Meri Lennart Georg Meri (; 29 March 1929 – 14 March 2006) was an Estonian politician, writer, and film director. He served as the second president of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was among the leaders of the movement to restore Estonian independ ...

to form a government. Appointed Prime Minister for the second time in his career, he formed a coalition government of the KMÜ and the Estonian Centre Party, which was sworn in on 17 April 1995. His second term as Prime Minister was quite rocky. On 11 October 1995 several ministers resigned from the cabinet, causing the

Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party ( et, Eesti Keskerakond, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Jüri Ratas. The party was founded on 12 Oc ...

to withdraw from the government coalition. On 7 November 1995, Vähi reformed the government, this time with the help of the

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party ( et, Eesti Reformierakond) is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kaja Kallas since 2018. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" ( et, Oravapartei). It was founded in 1994 by Si ...

. This collaboration lasted less than a year; on 20 November 1996, six ministers, including then-

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Siim Kallas Siim Kallas (; born 2 October 1948) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia, and former European Commissioner. He served as the European Commissioner for Transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European Commi ...

, resigned, causing a collapse of the collaboration between the Coalition Party and the Reform Party. On 1 December 1996, Vähi once again reformed the government; however, this time, he only used members of his own party, thus greatly reducing its ability to retain power. On 7 February 1995, Vähi survived a

no-confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

vote, 46–45. Feeling pressure from within his own party, he resigned on 25 February 1997. Three days later, on 27 February, President Lennart Meri named

Mart Siimann Mart Siimann (born 21 September 1946) was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1997 to 1999, representing the liberal/centrist Estonian Coalition Party.

as the new Prime Minister. By 2001, the Estonian Coalition Party, the party that Vähi had helped to form, and which presided over the Estonian government from 1995 to 1999, disbanded. He is currently a member of the free-market liberal Reform Party but is not active in politics and has concentrated on his career as a businessman. He has expressed opinion that Estonia needs to improve relations with Russia.Vähi: Venemaa vastane sõjatõrvik kahjustab äri
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vahi, Tiit 1947 births Living people Estonian businesspeople Prime Ministers of Estonia Tallinn University of Technology alumni People from Valga, Estonia Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class People of the Singing Revolution 20th-century Estonian politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999