Madis Jääger started working as a Director General of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) on 4 January after having successfully passed a public competition for the position.
„It is always agreeable when a proven and capable top executive from the private sector enters the service of the state. Madis was the most suitable person for the position because of his background as an auditor and CFO, and who has many years of CEO experience in the management of large multinational group. In the coming years, the development of simple and convenient public services must be continued to make paying taxes as convenient and simple as possible for the taxpayer. At the same time, effective supervision must be in place," said Minister of Finance Martin Helme.
„Today’s Tax and Customs Board is a modern professional organization that needs to keep up with the changing times in order to achieve its goals," said Madis Jääger. He added that he has formulated three big goals for himself when taking up the new position: "It is important to improve the Estonian people's understanding of the need to pay taxes and thereby increase everyone's willingness to pay taxes. We have to set clear goals and keep the tax and customs officers motivated in order to ensure the high level of public services provided by the ETCB so that they are in line with digital age standards."
In 2010-2018, Madis Jääger led Olympic Entertainment Group, which is one of Estonia’s most successful publicly listed companies. From 2001 to 2010, Jääger worked at the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, he is also a sworn auditor and a member of the Estonian Auditors' Association. Jääger has a bachelor's degree cum laude in international business administration from the Estonian Business School and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Tartu.
The secretary of state announced a public competition for the director-general of the Tax and Customs Board in September. A total of 14 applications were submitted to the competition.
The Director General is appointed by the Minister of Finance for a term of five years.