RKIK proposed ending ammunition deals, ministry disputes warning

Estonia’s State Defence Investment Centre reportedly proposed in late winter 2025 ending ammunition contracts funded by the European Union and third countries, ERR reported. The Defence Ministry did not accept the proposal and decided to continue brokering aid, but now says it is uncertain whether it received the warning at all.

The Riigikogu’s special committee for state budget control continued a public hearing on Monday into financial management in the defence sector and defence procurement. The hearing addressed questions raised by the National Audit Office’s audit and by information that has emerged publicly in recent weeks.

Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, former State Defence Investment Centre director general Magnus-Valdemar Saar and State Secretary Keit Kasemets did not attend, although they had been invited.

RKIK director general Elmar Vaher said committee members would be able to visit the centre on Wednesday and access documents protected as state or confidential secrets. They will also see a timeline showing various decision points and related materials. It is still unclear who was involved in the decisions and how they were made.

Unanswered questions

Before the hearing, Reinsalu sent Saar written questions about conflicting accounts of the Defence Ministry’s role in individual transactions. Pevkur has said the ministry did not examine the background of individual deals and that the minister and secretary general were not the people negotiating with market participants.

Saar gave a different account, saying Pevkur was not merely informed and keeping his distance but actively intervened in the process. According to Saar, weekly discussions covered new supply opportunities, risks and the progress of projects, with specific instructions being issued.

“He brought and proposed deals himself, and offers continuously reached RKIK through him,” Reinsalu read from Saar’s response. Saar also claimed that Pevkur had urged an expedited payment at least once after contracts were signed, sought to shorten the contractual payment deadline and demanded an exception to state accounting rules.

Kaimo Kuusk said various ammunition offers were sent to everyone with public email addresses, including the minister, and were forwarded to RKIK. The centre was then responsible for validating the offers, assessing production capacity, determining whether the ammunition could be obtained for aid to Ukraine and evaluating the related risks.

Kuusk said it was routine for offers from different parties, including the minister, to be forwarded in this way.

There are also conflicting accounts of who established contact with Datasel. Saar said the contact arose through Pevkur, who had described the company as trustworthy. Contact was then established with a company called Oculus, which brought Datasel into the process. Pevkur denies this.

Kuusk said he had no reason to doubt the minister’s account. “What Magnus-Valdemar Saar presented does not convince me. There is one screenshot from a conversation in which Magnus himself claims he received it from the minister, but the other party does not confirm this,” Kuusk said.

Under the planned process, RKIK was to assess the offers and arrange delivery of the ammunition to Ukraine.

Saar further claimed that the final two transactions involving Datasel were carried out at Pevkur’s personal initiative. He said the minister was particularly interested in concluding the deals through the Greek company Nordeto. The contracts were again allegedly expedited, citing the offer’s short validity period.