Estonia is boosting its defenses following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sectoral spending has been set above 5 percent of GDP – one of the highest in NATO – for the next several years.

Speaking on ERR's Wednesday "Otse uudistemajast" broadcast, Vaher called the ammunition depots project a national priority, adding it will provide plenty of work for local construction companies in the near future.

"The main effort today is still to complete a sufficient number of ammunition storage facilities, because more ammunition is arriving. This is one of the priorities that the commander of the Defense Forces has clearly set out in his directive. Ammunition must be stored under very specific conditions, both for Estonia's own Defense Forces and for our allies. Our role is actually to ensure that our allies have storage facilities available, because allies will only come here if the necessary conditions are in place," he told the show.

"Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the total number or locations of the ammunition storage facilities, because that is part of our defense capability. But we are building hundreds more, and there are already quite a lot of existing ones, so Estonian builders and construction companies will certainly have plenty of work in the near future," Vaher said.

Due to the strategic nature of the facilities, the highest possible standards have been set for construction quality and security. As a result, the cost of the projects runs into the tens of millions of euros.

"We are certainly building to a standard that has been tested by the United States. Our allies, the British, our own Defense Forces, and our own combat engineers have carried out explosions and tests to determine what could happen inside with various explosive charges. That is also what makes these facilities very expensive," Vaher said.

The agency is competing with the whole construction market. "From Rail Baltica being built in Estonia to the eastern border and general construction activity," he listed.

The planning and construction of the new storage facilities are not based solely on theoretical standards; developments on the battlefield in Ukraine are also taken very seriously.

Continuous information exchange with colleagues who have real wartime experience helps Estonia make better and safer decisions, Vaher said.

"We have to take that information into account, and it is critically important that we work together with Ukraine, first of all, by thinking about what we can do and helping them. And, frankly, today we listen very closely to our Ukrainian colleagues about how they do things, how they think and how they build, because they have real wartime experience," the director said.

The new ammunition storage facilities are only one part of the agency's portfolio of 500 facilities under management and construction across Estonia.

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