Kallas: Funding for ERR's new TV house waiting on detailed plan
Money was not allocated for the building of ERR's new television studio in next year's budget because the government is waiting for Tallinn to establish a detailed plan, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said on Monday.
Answering a question in the Riigikogu, Kallas said it was not reasonable to set aside the money while no plan is in place.
The detailed plan was approved by Tallinn in August, but must now be formally adopted by the council following a public consultation.
"A prerequisite is the adoption of the detailed plan, which is currently in the public phase. As far as I know, there was a public consultation in early November. The procedure will be handled by Tallinn City Planning Department," Kallas said.
"Once the detailed plan is in place, we can move on to financial planning."
She said this process usually takes a long time.
"I would be very surprised if this were to be dealt with in two months. Normally it takes two years. We have followed the usual process, which is why the money was not allocated," the prime minister said.
The issue will be discussed again next year during autumn budget negotiations. However, if the plan progresses faster, the subject could be raised sooner in the spring.
Last week, Minister of Culture Piret Hartman (SDE) told ERR she had raised the topic during budget negotiations and progress needs to be made. She said the Ministry of Finance agrees.
The new building will be constructed at Gonsiori tänav 21 and Kreutzwaldi tänav 14. The design competition was won by Kadarik Tüür Arhitektid earlier this spring.
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Editor: Barbara Oja, Helen Wright
