Salm says Datasel contract followed 10 months of groundwork

Former Estonian Ministry of Defence secretary general Kusti Salm said the contract with Datasel was preceded by 10 months of preparation, ERR reported. He also said the defence minister bears political responsibility for decisions on procuring ammunition for Ukraine.

Salm said supporting Ukraine militarily had been important for Estonia and that the relevant decisions had been made by politicians. Officials at the Centre for Defence Investment, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Chancellery had carried out those decisions, he said.

He said the risks involved in finding ammunition for Ukraine were so high that purchasing such supplies with Estonia’s own money would have been ruled out.

“One risk has now materialised. The people who successfully did their jobs in dozens or hundreds of other cases are now being lined up one by one and, essentially, portrayed as criminals before the Estonian people,” Salm said.

According to Salm, no one other than the defence minister could be held responsible for such decisions because only the minister had a public mandate to spend 2.4 billion euros a year. The secretary general’s role, he said, was to implement the minister’s decisions.

“As for these specific transactions, I was involved in them and I take full responsibility for the proposals, just as I take responsibility for the things that were done at the time and some that were not done,” Salm said.

He said the process leading to the Datasel contract took 10 months, despite the urgency. Officials travelled to Italy and India during the process.

Salm said large ammunition producers were charging several times more than usual and that manufacturing the ammunition would have taken years. Ukraine also had many Soviet-origin weapons, for which Russia was seeking compatible ammunition. Such ammunition was available from countries including India, Pakistan and North African states, he said.

Asked whether the standards for monitoring the process had deliberately been lowered, Salm said this had not been a general agreement but a detailed order from then-defence minister Hanno Pevkur because the risks were known.

“My task was to prepare the processes and ensure that the Centre for Defence Investment carried out its duties,” Salm said.

He said the contact with Datasel had come through Pevkur. Salm also stressed that Pevkur had directed the ammunition procurement process for Ukraine in detail and had been closely involved in it.