Government softens proposed UKK Institute funding cut

The UKK Institute will receive €800,000 in state funding in 2027, instead of the €200,000 proposed by Social Affairs and Health Minister Wille Rydman, Yle reports.

The Tampere-based UKK Institute is a private research and expert centre working in health and physical activity. It is maintained by the Urho Kekkonen Fitness Foundation.

The institute’s finance and administration director, Juha Mustonen, said the decision was disappointing but manageable.

“We can live with it. Of course, measures are needed to cover the shortfall. It is not good news, but compared with the starting point, we are satisfied,” Mustonen said.

The government’s decision on Tuesday significantly reduced the cut proposed by Rydman. Mustonen said the dispute over funding could also strengthen the institute’s position in the future.

“The value of the UKK Institute’s work may now have been established on a firmer footing, and its importance may be recognised more broadly within the government,” he said.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health had already reduced the institute’s funding for the current year. The original allocation was €918,000, but the ministry announced in April that it would provide €826,200. The institute has appealed that 10 per cent cut to the administrative court.

Rydman says funding should be abolished

Rydman told Yle by text message that he considered it positive that the institute’s funding had been reduced.

“In reality, the institute’s separate funding should be reduced to zero and the law concerning it should be repealed. It should be placed on an equal footing with other similar organisations and apply for grants,” Rydman wrote.

Rydman said the government parties had not allowed a larger cut. He described this as an example of how difficult it was for most parties to make savings, even in areas he considered obvious targets.

“No one goes for a run because the UKK Institute says exercise is healthy. Even if the entire institute were abolished, it would not be visible in Finns’ everyday lives in any way,” Rydman said.

The institute employs about 30 permanent staff, and its expenses consist mainly of salaries. In addition to state funding, it needs about €2 million in other funding.

Mustonen said the institute’s main role was not to get Finns directly to exercise or live more healthily. Instead, it works through professionals and wellbeing services counties by providing information on appropriate measures and factors that could improve people’s quality of life.

Mustonen said he wondered whether the institute would face a similar funding dispute next year, but estimated that funding would remain at roughly the level now decided.