tallinn1 hour ago
- copy link
Hanno Pevkur was the Defense Minister of Estonia from 2022. He resigned, taking responsibility for the agreement.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has resigned. The reason for his resignation is a deal worth about Rs 768 crore made for Ukraine.
Under the deal, an Italian firm associated with an Indian company was given the contract for supplying ammunition. It is alleged that the company did not have the experience of manufacturing or selling cannon balls. Despite this, he was given a big contract and a huge amount was given in advance.
4 agreements were made with the company
In 2024, the Estonian Center for Defense Investment signed four agreements with Datacell SRL for the purchase of artillery shells. This company is registered in Italy.
The shells were to reach Ukraine by November 2024
The first batch of ammunition was supposed to reach Ukraine in November 2024, but Datasel caused delays. Questions were also raised about the goods that arrived later.
According to officials, some consignments were incomplete and did not contain parts required for firing the shells. These include parts like fuse, propellant charge and primer. Therefore, Estonia did not accept some goods.
The company rejected the allegations
Datacel has rejected Estonia’s allegations. The company says that it manufactured goods in large quantities and also paid bills for its supply.
The company also said that the reasons behind the delay in delivery were the delay in getting approvals and necessary documents from different countries.
768 crore rupees stuck in estonia
Estonia had given about Rs 768 crore in this deal. Now he is trying to get this amount back. If the money is not recovered, the financial burden of this amount may fall on Estonia. The European Commission is also in talks with Estonia on the matter.
The money came from EU funds
The money used in this deal came from the European Union’s European Peace Facility (EPF). This fund is being used to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Now the question is what will happen to this fund if Estonia is unable to take back the money from the company. The European Commission is in contact with the Estonian authorities on this matter.
Investigation also questions the purchase process
The National Accounting Office of Estonia has raised serious questions about this deal. A major issue of investigation is how a company which had no previous experience in supplying artillery shells was selected in such a big defense deal.
That means the dispute is not just over whether the shells arrived on time or not. The question is also how the company was selected and why such a huge amount was given in advance.
————————-
Read this news also…
Jaishankar said – Ban on oil purchase will not stop the war: It will end only through talks, India is ready for mediation to end the Ukraine war.
Union Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said that the solution to the Russia-Ukraine war will not depend on whether a country buys Russian oil or not. Read the full news…
Source link
[ad_3]
