Adjustments will be made to the fittings and fixtures budget if needed, Öövel added.

The site on Tõnismäe, the library's traditional home, has been undergoing renovation work since 2021, and is due to reopen its doors in May 2027.

The job had already gone 100 percent over budget.

Speaking to "Terevisioon" Monday, Öövel said: "The entire team is anxious about how to get everything ready on time."

"While the initial dream was to open a couple of months earlier, various nuances related to funding disbursement caused delays," he went on.

"In other words, we need to conduct all the necessary procurement to furnish the entire building. This process, combined with the moving and procurement, will take a bit more time."

Initially allocated €53.2 million under the 2022-2025 state budget strategy, the National Library reconstruction costs have risen to €105 million, but Öövel asserted that the €17.7 million set aside for completion and furnishings would suffice without requiring additional state funds.

Öövel emphasized the distinction between the rigidly regulated construction budget and the more flexible furnishing phase, noting that a 5-10 percent price increase could be managed by slightly reducing purchases.

"But with the current knowledge, this amount of funding will be sufficient. We have also decided, given the overall challenging national situation, not to request additional funds but to find a solution within this budget," he went on.

In September, the government allocated €17.7 million to complete the National Library of Estonia's Tõnismäe building, with construction set to finish by September 2025, followed by a lengthy furnishing and moving process to relocate Estonian cultural heritage from temporary storage.

One of the temporary locations used by the National Library has been the former Danske Bank headquarters on Narva maantee in Tallinn. This will close in November 2025, a year and a half before the Tõnismäe building opens.

The lease on the library's temporary home on Narva mnt is due to expire in 2025, the original deadline for the renovation work.

As a result, Öövel noted, reader services will continue at the Solaris mall in central Tallinn and at a location in Suur-Sõjamäe, in the southeastern approaches to the city, in a somewhat modified form, until the library can finally move back into the Tõnismäe site.

Work on the iconic late Soviet-era building started in 1985 and was not completed until 1993, by which time Estonia had been an independent country for a couple of years.

The National Library is one of several identified objects of national cultural value, meaning the refurbishment funding came mostly from the National Cultural Endowment fund (Kultuurikapital).

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