Estonia paid $81 million for Ukraine’s shells to firm that had never made one—now its defense minister is out
Estonia may have to repay €70 million in EU funds. The ammunition failed quality standards.
Estonia's defense minister, Hanno Pevkur, has resigned over a failed €70 million ammunition deal for Ukraine, involving firms that had never sold artillery shells, according to ERR. The state procurement agency, RKIK, had paid $81 million using EU funds, but the first delivery failed to meet quality standards, leading to the deal's cancellation.
Pevkur's resignation follows a National Audit Office report and a criminal investigation by Estonia's Prosecutor's Office. Estonian taxpayers may now have to cover the losses, and opposition parties called for his resignation before he announced it. The resignation marks the second in four months for a Baltic defense minister, with Latvia's Andris Sprūds also stepping down in May.
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