Estonia's Defense Minister, Hanno Pevkur, submitted his resignation following a legal dispute related to the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine. In a Facebook post, Pevkur explained that, although he had no direct involvement in the contract negotiations, he considered it appropriate to assume political responsibility for the entire defense sector, given the critical observations of the National Audit Office regarding the actions of the Defense Forces and the State Defence Investment Centre.
The resignation comes after the ammunition contract for Ukraine, funded with European funds through the European Peace Facility, was referred to arbitration. The contract, worth between 60 and 70 million euros, was awarded to the company Datasel, registered in Italy but owned by the Indian company Neco Defence Munitions.
According to Euractiv, the supplied munitions allegedly did not meet the established requirements, leading to the termination of the contract. However, Datasel contests this version, stating that it supplied and invoiced material worth 58 million euros, against 59 million euros in advance payments, and guarantees that no quality problems were identified in the munitions.
