"A discussion regarding the project's PPP transaction at a government cabinet meeting is on the agenda for June in order to make decisions connected the preparation and announcement of public procurements for the test project in question," Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas (Center) said in a written response to an interpellation by MPs on Friday.

Aas noted that the first section of road as chosen by the government last December is a 21-kilometer section of Tallinn-Pärnu Highway between Libatse and Are, which will be expanded into a four-lane (2+2) highway.

According to the minister, preliminary designwork and an environmental impact assessment are underway for the section of road in question, after which the necessary plots of land will be acquired. This stage of the process is expected to be completed in 2022.

Nonetheless, the government has not yet reached a decision regarding the preparation and announcement of a PPP procurement, he added.

Should the government decide to move forward with the project using the PPP model, a public procurement will be conducted for a design-build-finance-maintain contract.

Repayments on the cost of construction of the section of road would begin after the section of road is taken into use and taking into consideration that it will presumably not be possible to cover PPP contractual payments using EU Cohesion Policy funds, Aas said.

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