A total of €288 million had been planned for road maintenance next year, but the new plan announced as part of the 2027 state budget will see €14 million less spent in this area, Leis went on.

Besides Rail Baltica, are there any other investments that are being postponed?

Yes, as on the one hand defense spending has increased and on the other hand there is the budget deficit and the target of minus 4 percent had to be met, so practically everyone has to make savings somewhere, and all the ministries did so as well.

Including, of course, the Ministry of Climate, as our volume of investment is the largest after the Ministry of Defense, and our road investments are the largest. Under the current plan, if we had budgeted €288 million for all road maintenance next year, then under the current plan it will be €274 million, meaning roughly €14 million less.

However, that is a very small difference compared with how much has been invested in roads over the past two years and will also be invested in the coming years – Estonia has never invested this much before. If you look at the big picture and the situation as a whole, things are normal.

Could you please also give some kind of figure for how many of those investments are being postponed?

Not yet, because we have only just finalized the state budget on the government side. It will now also go to the Riigikogu, so at the moment we do not yet have any kind of list or precise plan of what to postpone. All of these projects are such that they will not be canceled in the future, but postponed. Whether by a few months or a year, they will not be canceled. In the big picture, this is not a problem.

The construction of some roads is being postponed and you do not yet have a specific plan, but perhaps you can name some other projects whose construction is being postponed?

I cannot name any at the moment, but we are reviewing all the areas within the Ministry of Climate to see what needs to be brought forward or, conversely, what can be postponed. To a large extent, this also depends on the availability of external funding. It is often the case that some funding can be obtained earlier and some later.

Road construction is a good example, where last year 45 kilometers of two-plus-two road construction got under way on the Pärnu highway largely because, for the first time in several years, we were able to use such a large amount of external funding. In the coming years, how we are able to use European funding will certainly also be a determining factor.

A bigger change will come from 2028, when the new EU budgetary period starts. Then, across Europe as a whole, there will be twice as much funding for infrastructure projects as in the current period. From Estonia's perspective, the future looks bright specifically in terms of funding these major projects.

One thing I would highlight is that there had been questions for a while about continuing the reconstruction of apartment buildings. We announced the last round last year – I think it was at the end of the year – so there was a gap of almost a year. It is now set out in the state budget that there will be €80 million for apartment building reconstruction in each of the next two years. This is a very necessary support measure both for the sector and for the public.

If some larger projects are now being postponed, when can they be expected? Of course, at the moment it is difficult for me to understand which projects these are if nothing more specific can be named.

I would put it in black and white: The Transport Administration will start putting together the road maintenance plan once the Riigikogu has approved the budget, and then it will also become clearer which roads will be postponed or brought forward. For example, a supplementary budget is currently being considered by the Riigikogu, and we received an additional €11 million for roads for this year.

The situation changes more quickly than over the course of a year – indeed, we received an additional €11 million for this year, which is an extra bonus. That could be directed towards the reconstruction of projects that had already been designed and could be carried out quickly.

I am saying this because, overall, road funding is still significantly higher by the amount of the motor vehicle tax than it was in 2024 and 2025. In terms of the sector as a whole, the situation is good.

Could you nevertheless name at least one road or project whose completion is being postponed, so the reader can understand what to expect?

Urban roads are not normally covered by the state budget.

These are intercity roads, then.

Yes. I would not venture name one off the top of my head at the moment, as those 2+2 [lane] road construction projects are the biggest and they are ongoing; they will already be completed in 2027, and some in 2028. No, I will not name any off the top of my head at the moment, as the cut is not significant enough right now that I should immediately say anything on that, or rather, we are only now beginning to analyse what the most sensible solutions are – what goes ahead or what gets postponed.

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