Estonians – for the resignation of the prime minister because of her husband's “Russian business”: what is known about the scandal

Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas and her husband Arvo Hallik/ERR

The head of the Estonian government got into a scandal. Her husband has a stake in a company that transported goods to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Most of the citizens of this country polled supported the resignation of Prime Minister Kai Kallas.

Russians have long been toxic to the world. They are trying not to deal with them in the world, especially after a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Each case of cooperation with Russia attracts public attention. Estonian media write about the scandal with Kaya Kallas. Channel 24.

What's the matter

The transport company Stark Logistics, partially owned by Estonian Prime Minister Arvo Hallik's man, continued to transport goods to Russia during the full-scale invasion. This was reported by the broadcasting company ERR on August 23.

Stark Logistics CEO Kristjan Kraag said that almost nothing is being transported to Russia – but they have not stopped them completely. Allegedly they are moving stock balances – a product that is not subject to EU sanctions.

We have only one Estonian client whom we help fulfill his preliminary valid and legal international contracts with Russia, and that is AS Metaprint. We do not create new relationships with customers for delivery to Russia, the company noted.

Metaprint is one of the largest European manufacturers of steel aerosol containers. Founded in 1995, the Estonian company has factories in Tallinn and Pärnu, as well as in the Netherlands and Russia.

Martti Lemendyk, CEO of Metaprint and majority shareholder of Stark Logistics, told ERR that since the invasion of Ukraine, the company has received about 30 million euros in sales in Russia. According to him, a complex strategy was implemented so that the Russians would not stop paying loans to the Estonian company.

We, together with Stark Logistics, agreed that all trucks would return empty, without services for potential Russian clients,” says Lemendik.

Be that as it may, they still received income from the Russians during the war.

And here is Kaya Kallas

She lent 350 thousand euro of the company Novaria Consult, which deals with financial instruments. The sole shareholder of the company is Arvo Hallik, while Novaria Consult OÜ itself owns 24.8% of Stark Logistics AS and 30% of Stark Warehousing OÜ.

The Estonian Prime Minister commented on the scandal on the afternoon of August 23, saying that her husband has no business -customers among Russian enterprises.

My husband has a stake in a logistics firm. He explained that the company is helping to terminate the production activities in Russia of one of its clients in accordance with laws and sanctions. Increasingly detailed questions need to be asked of these companies,” she said.

Interestingly, she used to say emphatically that there should be no business dealings between Russian and Estonian state-owned enterprises.

“I remain of the opinion that all trade and business with Russia should be stopped while the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues,” Kaya Kallas stressed.

On Thursday, August 24, Kaya Kallas stated that she had learned about the dubious activities of a man only on Monday, but she has nothing to hide. He says: there is no detailed idea about the business activity of a man. Stark Logistics will end its operations in September.

The Prime Minister of Estonia claims that the loan was provided by Novaria Consult, “and this is a completely different company.” She also noted that she sees no reason for the resignation and wants to know what exactly she is accused of. According to her, neither she nor her husband “did anything wrong”.

How the events unfolded

Estonian President Alar Karis said that as head of government Kaja Kallas should explain what is happening to the public.

Jurgen Ligi, vice head of the Reform Party, to which Kallas belongs, called the situation uncomfortable. He is “not delighted” with the reactions of the prime minister. The Center Party will begin negotiations to call for a vote of no confidence in Kai Kallas.

On August 25, two Estonian newspapers came out calling for Kallas to resign. According to opinion polls, more than half of the people believe that the prime minister should leave the post. Among the supporters of the Reform Party, this number is 17%, among the opposition – more than 80%.

Kaya Kallas' husband Arvo Hallik announced that he was selling all his shares in Stark Logistics and was leaving the company.

On August 25, it became known that they wanted to see Kaya Kallas at a meeting of a special committee next Tuesday at ten. This will be an emergency meeting of the special committee on state budget control and the special committee on combating corruption. The prime minister herself, the CEO of the Tax and Customs Board Raigo Uukivi, the CEO of Metaprint AS Martti Lemendik, the CEO of Stark Logistics AS Kristjan Kraag and a representative of the State Audit Service will be there.