Efforts will also be made to standardize snow removal in public areas, which can be carried out to varied extents in different neighborhoods of the capital.

Earlier messages from the new SDE-Reform-Isamaa-Eesti 200 Tallinn coalition implied city authorities would take full responsibility for clearing the sidewalks of snow, a job until now the responsibility of private property owners.

However, it has now been clarified that this winter, the city will be able to take over the maintenance of a quarter of the sidewalks that have been the responsibility of private owners until now.

A City of Tallinn supplementary budget for the upcoming winter has allocated an additional €2.1 million to improve sidewalk cleaning.

The initial focus will be on clearing sidewalks in the Kesklinn (city center) and Põhja Tallinn (North Tallinn) districts.

Appearing on ETV's morning show "Terevisioon" on Thursday, Pere said: "We are primarily talking about the city center and North Tallinn since these areas see the highest pedestrian traffic."

Key zones such as those around bus stops and schools will continue to be cleared by the city in all districts, it is reported, while the final decision on which areas of sidewalk the city will take on will be made in August, Pere, who is responsible for public utilities, added.

The city had concluded 10 different contracts in respect of road and street maintenance, including for areas such as Kadriorg Park, but now these are being audited, a process which will include consolidating responsibilities into one plan – previously divided between the environmental and utilities department and the eight Tallinn sub-districts.

The city is now primarily focused on overseeing the fulfillment of these contracts, Pere said, and internal audit reports have already revealed how snow removal has been handled in some districts.

Interpretations differ from service provider to service provider on, for instance, the volume of snow that should be removed in the course of cleaning.

The city is also trying to renegotiate to a certain extent some of the contracts with its partners to a certain extent though, Pere said, many of these contracts are "extensive," leaving little room for major changes.

In winter, snow removal from sidewalks in Tallinn is generally the responsibility of a property owner, be the property residential or commercial. This work is not always carried out, even as in theory property owners can be fined for non-compliance.

Snow removal from the streets and roads themselves is the responsibility of the city authorities.

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