At the beginning of the summer, there were still nearly 150 inmates at Tartu Prison who had to be transferred to Viru and Tallinn prisons. Swedish prisoners will soon arrive at the newly renovated facilities where a number of new items have been added to their cells. These include blinds, shelves, headphones and two televisions, which will also allow them to watch Swedish TV channels.

The inmates will also receive tablets for activities such as reading the news, but not for using social media. While prisoners have previously not had access to electricity at night, Swedish inmates will have electricity around the clock. They will also be able to prepare hot drinks while working or studying and tobacco-free nicotine pouches and patches will be permitted.

New furnishings have also been added to the common areas. These include upholstered furniture, while the prison facilities also have a completely new kitchen and new refrigerators.

"Usually, some kind of renovation is carried out every 10 years. In the case of the prison, it has been a little over 20 years. If we consider how much Sweden spends per inmate compared with how much Estonia spends per inmate, there was room for negotiation," Tartu Prison Director Merle Ulst said, adding that the purchase of new equipment was included in Sweden's costs.

A total of 600 inmates will arrive at Tartu Prison over the course of a year, 200 of them by the end of this year. Under current plans, a second prison building, which has stood empty for years, will also be brought into use next year.

"Work has already begun in the building that has been standing empty. We understand that Swedish inmates place a high value on privacy, meaning being alone in a cell. We see that more as an incentive. Since it did not make sense for us to keep two buildings open, some Estonian prisoners shared cells in pairs. Some may have been alone, but most were housed two to a cell," Ulst said.

More than 250 additional employees will be hired at the prison. According to Ulst, there will also be more staff per inmate in the future.

"We are testing the Swedish model, where we will have more staff present in the living units, so they can be more available and thereby also reduce the burden on the courts and other institutions by listening to inmates as soon as an issue arises. I can't say whether things will work the same way in the future. We are testing it and will draw our own conclusions," Ulst said.

For security reasons, the date on which the first Swedish inmates will arrive in Tartu is not being disclosed.

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