As reported by ERR News, the estimated earnings to Estonia's state coffers from such a scheme are €30 million.

While the inmates me come from abroad, the prison guards would still be Estonian citizens, the minister stressed.

"We have one of the best correctional systems in the world in Estonia, which means we also have excellent prison guards. They have thoroughly vetted backgrounds, excellent training, and very good equipment. Plus in Tartu, we already have international war criminals, and our people are handling it all very well," Pakosta said, outlining the rationale.

Potential countries of origin include the U.K., Sweden and the Netherlands, Pakosta said, adding that all these countries have reported overcrowding issues.

"The U.K.has been among the countries that have shown very active interest in this," she added.

Pakosta said that the client countries would be "preferably NATO member states."

More broadly, there are only four countries in Europe where there has not been an increased need for prison spaces recently, one of them being Estonia, she added.

Pakosta listed low rates of absconding from prison and recidivism once released as other plus points for Estonia.

In any case, Tartu Prison is "essentially empty" Pakosta said, adding that selling the property or even mothballing it are the alternatives to renting out the space.

Selling is the least profitable of these options, she said, while demolition would also cost a lot.

The scheme, the minister added, would also create around 400 new jobs and would represent a form of outsourcing from the client countries and to Estonia.

Training staff receive may also represent transferable skills, she went on.

Pakosta was keen to stress that the safety of Estonian citizens remained the top priority, and trumped whatever the best price would be. Prisoners eligible for, for instance, day release, would not be included.

In a nutshell, one cell costs around €3,500 per month per prison space, Pakosta added, though in reality social costs, reintegration costs etc. also bump this figure up.

The exact price of the service charged to client countries will depend on the details and conditions of the agreement made with the other country, she added.

"And if we calculate that we could take in about 250-500 prisoners, we are talking about sums of around €30 million," going back to the original estimate.

Several British media outlets have recently reported on prison shortage in the U.K., including tabloid daily The Sun, which wrote Friday that there are currently 88,350 people incarcerated in England and Wales, the highest figure in over a decade despite a fall during the pandemic years.

Pressure on prisons has also come following the recent arrests of rioters in a wave of disturbances in the U.K. which followed a mass stabbing in late July in the northwestern English town of Southport, in which three children were killed.

Many of those rioting have espoused far-right views, with social media playing a role in the spread of disturbances.

In any case, with a temporary measure starting on September 10 put in place by the new Labour government in Britain, an estimated 5,500 convicted criminals are expected to be released from prisons over the next couple of months, precisely to ease the pressure.

The U.K. media also picked up Pakosta's figure of €30 million, or £25.3 million.

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