While the contract has not yet been awarded via tender following the scrapping of an earlier agreement, Pere's statement had come seemingly out of the blue.

However, on Tuesday and following discussions with Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE), Pere seemed to do an about turn, telling daily Postimees that the design of the planned hospital – which if operational would serve a much larger catchment area than Tallinn alone – would go ahead.

Deputy Mayor Pere, who holds the for the environment and utilities portfolio, told Postimees he had discussed with the mayor how to proceed with the planned hospital design.

"The city will now propose that the Estonian Association of Architects (EAL) assist in evaluating the design bids. The work will go ahead," Pere said.

Pere told the newspaper that both Tallinn itself and Estonia's healthcare system more broadly requires a new hospital facility.

"I am doubtful whether we are doing the right thing, but there is no crisis, nor any veto," Pere added. "In any case, we are proceeding with the design."

Pere had on Monday told ERR that the procurement process had not consulted with the EAL, and had not taken into account the wishes of doctors either.

He said that the City of Tallinn was building a colossus with feet of clay.

In that interview, Pere noted that the city was now in a situation where it had wasted money and abandoned the original designer after ordering the cheapest possible solution rather than the optimal one.

He proposed canceling the tender announced last Friday and conducting an audit of design and other needs, involving the EAL and medical professionals, a process which he suggested would take two to three months.

"If we commit to half a billion euros, then spending around five million euros, which is 0.1 percent of that sum, to organize a tender again is reasonable. But if we order the cheapest possible solution, we will start having to patch up or add to this building, built on feet of clay, within the first or second year," the deputy mayor said Monday.

"My proposal is to resolve that situation now, by canceling the procurement announced on Friday and taking a two- to three-month pause. During this time, the Estonian architects association, in cooperation with doctors, will be conducting an audit and analysis of what we need to commission, and whether a completely new building project is necessary," Pere went on at the time.

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