ISLAMABAD: Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur resigned after a €70 million ($81m) dollar were paid in advance to an Indian company for shells for Ukraine, but the firm had no record of producing the required ammunition and failed to deliver, Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR reported on Wednesday.
Estonian Express reported had reported that the country paid €70 million to Indians who had “never sold missiles before.”
Consequently, Defense Minister Pevkur, in a post on his Facebook account, said that the criticism of the National Audit Office's over the activities of the defense forces raised “question of political responsibility.”
“I therefore believe it is right to take political responsibility today for the entire defense sector and hand over the defense minister's baton at a time suitable for the prime minister,” he said.
While speaking to ETV news, the minister said he recognized his responsibility for the entirety of the ministry, stating that a leader should “have both the courage and the stature to take responsibility as a matter of political responsibility, even when there is no personal responsibility.”
“I will take that responsibility and the prime minister will have to find a new defense minister," Pevkur said in the interview.
According to ERR, the Estonian Center for Defense Investments (RKIK) signed its first sales contract with Datasel in August 2024 and sent the first €15 million payment. Another advance payment for the different contract worth €10 million was sent in October.
Datasel SRL is owned by India-based Neco Defense Munitions, part of the Jayaswal Group, The Print reported.
The case was then taken to the European Court of Arbitration in Strasbourg after advance payment of around €70 million were sent in total, but no shells were received despite the terms of the contract, ERR reported.
The Telegraph reported that Datasel eventually delivered munitions intended for Ukraine, they were faulty and incomplete.