Datasel proposes joint task force with Estonia to resolve ammunition dispute

Indian company Datasel has proposed creating a joint task force with Estonian authorities to resolve disagreements over ammunition deliveries, ERR reported. The company says it remains ready to supply the contracted quantity and meet the required quality standards.

In a proposal sent to the Estonian government, the Ministry of Defence and the State Defence Investment Centre, Datasel said it wanted to resolve the situation constructively and fulfil the contract in full.

“Datasel’s position is firm: we want to and are ready to fulfil the contract. Our goal is not to prolong the current dispute, but to present practical steps that protect Estonia’s interests, address technical and contractual issues, and help meet the conditions of the defence procurement,” the company said in the letter.

Datasel said it had already taken on significant financial commitments and organised supply chains to fulfil the contract. It said substantial resources had been used for raw materials, components, production and other procurement activities needed to complete the deliveries.

The company said it could immediately fulfil its contractual obligations once a financing framework was agreed. It is prepared to establish a schedule with Estonian authorities and ensure transparency in production, inspections and delivery.

Estonian authorities have said that the ammunition Datasel has delivered so far was substandard. Datasel said it was ready to ensure that the ammunition met Estonia’s required quality standards.

“Datasel’s goal is not only to deliver the agreed quantity, but to do so through a controlled process that gives Estonia confidence in the products supplied,” the company said.

Datasel also said it was willing to cooperate with the relevant Estonian authorities on quality control, inspections and testing before the remaining deliveries were made.

In its letter, Datasel proposed that representatives of the Estonian government and the State Defence Investment Centre begin dialogue immediately. The parties should first agree on what to do with the ammunition already delivered and commission an independent technical assessment of it.

They should also jointly agree on the remaining deliveries, as well as on procedures for inspecting, testing and accepting the ammunition and handling the related documentation.

Datasel further proposed that both sides work towards resolving their contractual and legal disagreements. To that end, it suggested establishing a joint task force to address technical, contractual, financial and logistical details and prepare a roadmap and timetable for further action.

The company said that although it would not withdraw its positions in the ongoing legal dispute, the disagreements should not prevent the parties from seeking a mutually acceptable solution through dialogue.

The Prosecutor’s Office said last week that information made public about transactions between the State Defence Investment Centre and Datasel provided grounds to open criminal proceedings. The investigation will be conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Estonia wanted to purchase shells for Ukraine, and in 2024 the State Defence Investment Centre signed an approximately 70 million euro ammunition contract with Datasel S.R.L., a company linked to Indian businessmen. The centre paid millions of euros in advance, but it later emerged that the company had never previously sold a single shell. Instead of military supplies, it provided repeated promises, and the dispute has now reached court.

The procurement was not financed by Estonian taxpayers but through the European Peace Facility, a European-level funding mechanism linked in part to frozen Russian assets.