एस्टोनिया के रक्षामंत्री ने इस्तीफा दिया: यूक्रेन को समय पर तोप के गोले नहीं दे पाए; कॉन्ट्रेक्ट में भारतीय कंपनी शामिल, अनुभव नहीं होने का आरोप

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 cannon balls. This company is registered in Italy. In March 2024, it was purchased by the Indian company Neco Defense Munitions. The first contract was signed in August 2024. Under this, about 1.5 crore Euro advance was given. After this, second and then two more contracts were made. The advance payment in all four deals reached about 70 million euros. The shells were to arrive in Ukraine by November 2024 The first batch of ammunition was to arrive in 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 are said to include parts like fuse, propellant charge and primer. Therefore, Estonia did not accept some goods. The company rejected the allegations. Datacell has not accepted the allegations from Estonia. 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. Estonia’s Rs 768 crore stuck: Estonia had given about Rs 768 crore in this deal. Now he is trying to get this amount back. The matter regarding the contract has reached arbitration. 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 Peace Facility (EPF) of the European Union. 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. The minister said – I am responsible for every deal. Defense Minister Hano Pevkur said that the minister himself does not negotiate the contract for every weapon purchase. He also said that he had not personally read the relevant contracts. But according to him, the political responsibility for the work of the ministry rests with the Defense Minister. For this reason he decided to resign. The investigation also raised questions on the purchase process. The National Accounting Office of Estonia has raised serious questions regarding 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. ———————–



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