Defence investment centre prepares lawsuits against two more companies
Thursday 3rd September 2026 on 18:45 in
Estonia
Estonia’s State Defence Investment Centre is preparing to take two more companies to court over contracts worth slightly more than 10 million euros, ERR reported. The centre is already suing an Indian company in Estonia and Strasbourg over a separate failed delivery.
Estonia recently emerged as having paid a total of 70 million euros for shells intended for Ukraine that the country has not received. The issue was discussed by the Riigikogu’s special anti-corruption committee.
Former Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the two additional companies had contracts with the centre worth slightly more than 10 million euros in total. He declined to name them, saying the State Defence Investment Centre was still handling the matter and that a solution might yet be found.
However, centre director Elmar Vaher said negotiations with the two companies had failed and preparations were under way to take them to court. He said the problems had also led to several changes at the centre during his seven months in office.
“In my view, the State Defence Investment Centre as an institution and as a system was simply not ready for such an increase in the defence budget,” Vaher said. He added that the centre had built a team capable of handling larger procurement volumes and reorganised its decision-making chain so that every decision would not end up on the director’s desk.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the Defence Ministry was also preparing a full inventory of the defence sector’s stocks and assets, including their locations, condition and usability. Vaher will also review all contracts held by the centre and the obligations they could create for the state. The defence minister and chief of the Defence Forces will begin providing the ministry with an update each month, Michal said.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart, head of the Riigikogu’s special anti-corruption committee, said she did not believe the Defence Ministry and the State Defence Investment Centre were taking the issue seriously enough. She questioned the assessment and communication of risks and said frequent changes in the centre’s leadership had caused responsibility to become dispersed.