Svet said that the issue of a new building has been on the agenda since he took office as minister.

"The initial context for me as a minister was related to budget cuts at the Transport Administration and the need to optimize resources. Upon looking deeper into the issue, it became clear that, in Tallinn and its surrounding areas, the Transport Administration operates in a total of six different office spaces. These spaces have emerged at different times and have historically been associated with various agencies," Svet said.

He recalled that the Transport Administration was formed from the merger of the Road Administration, the Maritime Administration and the Civil Aviation Administration, and as a result, office spaces from those institutions were retained. According to Svet, the agency currently occupies 12,000 square meters of office space.

"It is clear that there is a great opportunity here to optimize, reduce energy costs and offer people in Tallinn and the wider northern Estonia area a significantly more convenient and accessible service than what is currently available," Svet stated.

"I believe we need to find a new location for the Transport Administration in or around Tallinn that ensures crisis resilience, has efficient energy use and is more accessible to various customer groups," he added.

He emphasized that, given the specific nature of the Transport Administration as a unified institution and the functions it performs, he believes it would be reasonable to construct an entirely new building for the agency.

Svet noted that two of the six office spaces currently in use would have their lease agreements terminated, while four properties would be sold to fund the construction of the new building. "This would allow us to more or less transfer these costs directly toward the development of the new building," Svet explained.

According to him, the new building should be easily accessible by various modes of transport and should be located in a place where driving tests could begin.

"At the moment, the most likely scenario seems to be that such a location could be in the Lasnamäe district. There are several potential undeveloped plots there, some of which belong to the city and others to the state," Svet said.

He did not specify the exact cost of the construction, but preliminary estimates suggest the building could cost between €14 million and €20 million. The estimated value of the Transport Administration's current properties ranges from €12 million to €17 million. Svet plans to present a proposal to the government on how to proceed by the end of the year.

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