Pohlak says that the many construction cranes currently visible in central Tallinn represent only the tip of the iceberg, and the decisions to build those buildings were often made long ago.

At the same time, major infrastructure projects are underway in Estonia: 45 kilometers of 2+2 road are being built on the Tallinn–Pärnu highway, and part of the Tallinn–Tartu highway is also out to tender.

Construction of Rail Baltic is ongoing as well, though it is not very visible to ordinary people in the cityscape. Based on current knowledge, Estonia will complete its entire section up to Ikla on the Latvian border, and the pace will be very fast until 2030. "There are very large volumes of concrete, earthworks and other materials," Pohlak said.

According to him, Nordecon is also building several national defense facilities deep in the forests, where the work volumes are quite large.

Pohlak says the economy is currently highly volatile, yet construction companies are required to adhere to fixed prices. "Someone made the comparison that if Eesti Pank says it cannot produce very precise forecasts, then construction companies, when submitting bids, must be able to foresee everything and factor it into their price."

In the private sector, Nordecon is currently building two hotels — one in Viljandi and the other on the shore of Lake Peipus. "Both entrepreneurs have taken a big risk, and we are happy to build."

But when it comes to apartment construction, current volumes are incomparably smaller than before the COVID pandemic.

Developing commercial real estate is also difficult at the moment. "You have to believe you will have clients, or in the case of an office building, you must know who you are building it for. You have to secure an anchor tenant. Entrepreneur Urmas Sõõrumaa signed a contract with SEB Bank, which is a very large anchor, and thanks to that the major Talsinki Quarter project went ahead. It is a very large private investment in central Tallinn, but without the SEB contract, that plot would be silent today," Pohlak noted.

The state is improving infrastructure, but practically no new large state building projects are coming, Pohlak said. The only known project is the Siuru Cultural Center in Tartu. There are some schools and kindergartens, but from the builder's perspective these are relatively small.

Pohlak recalled that in spring 2022, at the start of the war in Ukraine, a materials shortage emerged reminiscent of Soviet times. "I was on the client side then, walking around the site. One wall was insulated with one type of mineral wool, another with a different type, and a third with a third type. If you asked the main contractor why, they used whatever they could get at that moment. If nothing was available, work stopped. The price of rebar doubled or tripled overnight."

According to Pohlak, the building sector adapted to the situation, but now there are new problems. The situation in the Strait of Hormuz pushes oil and gas prices up and down. Many construction materials — and transport — are tied to oil and gas prices.

Pohlak noted that if all Ukrainian construction workers were to leave Estonia, the impact would be catastrophic. "Without foreign labor it would be very difficult, because there are not enough workers. And they are very capable."

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