Estonia's Defence Minister Resigns in €70m EU-Funded Procurement Scandal for Ukraine Involving Indian Firm
Pevkur said he must accept responsibility after auditors criticized the shell purchase and questions grew over companies with no prior weapons sales.
- Estonia Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur resigned on Saturday, accepting political responsibility for the ministry following mounting scrutiny over a €70 million ammunition procurement intended for Ukraine.
- The government used European Union funds to purchase artillery shells from an Indian-owned supplier that had no previous track record of producing such weapons, triggering widespread criticism over contract management and due diligence.
- Estonia's National Audit Office identified €59.8 million in advance payments to the largest problematic supplier and raised concerns over the Estonian Centre for Defence Investments, exposing wider weaknesses in contract management and delivery checks.
- Disputing Estonia's account, Datasel asserts it delivered significant quantities of ammunition, while the European nation contests the contracts before the European Court of Arbitration in Strasbourg amid risk of returning European Union funding.
- Parliament is examining corruption risks within the defence sector, while Estonia faces the challenge of fixing procurement failures without weakening its ability to rapidly support Ukraine with military equipment.
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The Indian company Datasel has supplied Estonia with defective shells intended for shipment to Ukraine, the newspaper Eesti Ekspress writes, citing the former head of the country's Defense Investment Center, Elmar Waher
The Indian company Datasel has supplied Estonia with defective shells intended for shipment to Ukraine, the Eesti Express newspaper writes, citing the former head of the country's Defense Investment Center, Elmar Waher.The purchase was funded from the...
The Ukraine Money Pit - LewRockwell
—– Writes Martin Armstrong: Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has resigned after a €70 million ammunition deal intended to supply Ukraine blew up into a procurement scandal. Estonia agreed to purchase artillery shells from Datasel, an Italian-registered company owned by India’s Neco Defense Munitions, despite the companies having no established history of selling artillery shells. Millions were paid in advance, deliveries ran into problems…
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