Estonia Leader Has ‘Nothing to Hide’ on Spouse’s Russia Activity
(Bloomberg) -- Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has called for the Kremlin’s economic isolation, said she had “nothing to hide” as she sought to contain mounting criticism over the presence of her husband’s company in Russia.
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A day after public broadcaster ERR reported that a company in which her husband has a 24% stake is transporting goods between Estonia and Russia, party leaders in Estonia demanded the premier explain herself over accusations of hypocrisy.
Estonia’s President, Alar Karis, said the episode risked shedding a negative light on a Baltic nation that has been out front among European Union peers in its criticism of Russia.
“Society expects explanations from the prime minister,” Karis told journalists in Tallinn Thursday.
Kallas reinforced her message that all business activity in Russia should be wound down. The premier said she had no detailed overview of her husband’s company, Stark Logistics AS, which is helping an Estonian client in Russia end its production — adding that “not a single euro, dollar or ruble” made its way to Russia as part of the activity.
“I’ve said it before and I remain of the view that local companies need to find the moral compass and decline transactions that somehow help the Russian war machine,” Kallas told reporters on Thursday.
Stark, based in the Estonian town of Keila southwest of Tallinn, said its Estonian client operated an aerosol packaging plant on Russian territory and that it would carry out a final shipment in September. The premier’s husband, Arvo Hallik, who is listed as the company’s chief financial officer, directed questions Wednesday to the the company’s general manager.
No business on behalf of Stark’s client has benefited Russia and deliveries “have been entirely lawful in substance as well as form,” General Manager Kristian Kraag said Wednesday in a statement in response to a query from Bloomberg.
Kallas also defended a €350,000 ($380,000) loan to a company owned by her husband, saying she trusts his activities and the funds had been repaid. The loan went to a company with a holding in Stark, according to filings made by Kallas earlier this year and Estonia’s business registry.
After a convincing election victory in March swept her into a second term in office, Kallas has since seen backing for her center-right Reform Party slip in some polls.
Mart Helme, a leader of the far-right EKRE party and former cabinet minister, demanded Kallas’s resignation. Leaders of the premier’s coalition partners raised concerns over the impact for Estonia’s reputation, though a key Social Democratic ally weighed in that he was satisfied for now with Kallas’s explanation.
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