Czech arms maker warned government about Indian ammunition supplier

ERR reported, citing Delfi, that a representative of Czech ammunition producer STV Group has described Indian company Datasel as a “textbook example” of fraud. STV Group says it was also deceived by Datasel and lost both ammunition and an advance payment worth millions of euros.

STV Group representative Dominik Drda said the company was closely following the scandal in Estonia because Datasel advertises STV’s products on its website. He said STV had also been misled by the Indian company.

“They lie all the time and use every opportunity, however small, to avoid fulfilling their contractual obligations,” Drda told Delfi.

In 2024, STV ordered ammunition from Datasel but later discovered that the Indian company was an intermediary operating behind the facade of a manufacturer. Datasel delivered only 10% of the agreed goods and kept STV’s advance payment. STV Group is preparing to take Datasel to court to recover the money and resolve the dispute.

Because the Czech government was procuring weapons for Ukraine as part of an international initiative, STV warned it about Datasel’s unreliability.

“We advised them not to let Datasel deceive them and not to sign any contracts with them. Fortunately, they listened to us,” Drda said.

Estonia wanted to buy artillery shells for Ukraine and paid the Indian company a total of 70 million euros in advance, even though Datasel had never previously sold a shell. Instead of military equipment, Estonia received repeated promises, and the dispute is now before the courts.

In August 2024, the State Defence Investment Centre, known by its Estonian initials RKIK, signed its first sales contract with Datasel and sent an initial payment of 15 million euros. The money came from the European Peace Facility rather than Estonia’s state budget.

RKIK’s current director general, Elmar Vaher, said he would not have signed the contract. He said the decision had been made by a very small group of people and that RKIK’s head of procurement at the time knew nothing about it.

Magnus-Valdemar Saar, who led RKIK at the time, disputed that account. He acknowledged that buying ammunition from third countries involved risks, but said no major decision had been made without the approval of ministry officials.