Kalju Koha (born 16 August 1956,

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

) is an Estonian politician and civil servant, most notable for voting for the

Estonian restoration of Independence Estonian Restoration of Independence, legally defined as the Restoration of the Republic of Estonia, was proclaimed on 20 August 1991. On that day at 23:02 local time, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia, in agreement with the E ...

. He graduated in 1974 from Tartu 7th Secondary School and in 1979 with a degree in electrical engineering from the

Estonian University of Life Sciences The Estonian University of Life Sciences ( Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) is a public university located in Tartu, Estonia. Its roots trace back to 1802 when the Chair of Agriculture was founded in the University of Tartu. EMÜ is the fo ...

. Koha worked as an electrical engineer at the Avangard collective farm from 1979 to 1986, and as its main engineer from 1986 to 1990. From

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

to 1992, he was a member of the Supreme Soviet of Estonia, where he was a member of the Economic Affairs Committee. He voted for the Estonian restoration of independence. He was a member of the

Popular Front of Estonia The Popular Front of Estonia (; 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 the late 1980s and earl ...

. He was also a member of the Constitutional Assembly. From 1992 to 1993, Koha was the governor of

Tartu County Tartu County ( or ''Tartumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County. The area of Tartu County is , which covers 6.9% of the territory of E ...

, and from 1994 to 2000, the Auditor General of the

National Audit Office of Estonia The National Audit Office of Estonia () is an independent institution in Estonia, which is responsible for exercising economic control in order to assure the parliament and the public that public assets are used legally and effectively. History F ...

, and the head of the Southern Estonian Department. Since 2000, he has been the head of

Eesti Energia Eesti Energia AS is a public limited energy company in Estonia with its headquarters in Tallinn. It is the world's biggest oil shale to energy company. The company was founded in 1939. As of 2014, it operates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Fi ...

's AS Distribution Network in Tartu. He was a member of the

Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia (, abbreviated EKP; in Russian: Коммунистическая партия Эстонии) was a regional branch of the CPSU, Soviet communist party (CPSU) which in 1920–1940 operated illegally in Estonia an ...

from 1984 to 1990; He was a founding member of the Estonian Land-Centre Party in 1990.

Awards

* 2002: 5th Class of the Estonian Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 23 February 2002) * 2006: 3rd Class of the Estonian Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 23 February 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koha, Kalju 1956 births Living people Politicians from Tartu Voters of the Estonian restoration of Independence Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 3rd Class Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 5th Class Estonian University of Life Sciences alumni 20th-century Estonian politicians 21st-century Estonian politicians