OREANDA-NEWS. March 22, 2011. Despite the damage to Japan's infrastructure caused by the catastrophic earthquake, Estonia's procurement of electric cars and chargers from Mitsubishi should continue as planned, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

"There has been no change in plans," the ministry's spokesman Kalev Vapper told uudised.err.ee, saying he hopes the situation in Japan will stabilize soon.

Vapper said the charging point network will hopefully be in place by the end of 2012.

On March 3, the government confirmed a deal with Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi for receiving 507 i-MiEV electric cars in exchange for carbon dioxide credits. The cars are to arrive in December, and will be given to state social workers. The deal also allocates funding from Mitsubishi to build 250 vehicle recharging points in larger towns and along the main highways.