Estonian Prime Minister Kaia Kallas' husband's company accused of ties to Russia

Estonian President Alar Karis has said that Prime Minister Kaja Kallas must answer questions about her husband's company, which was found to have ties to Russia.

"The public expects explanations from the Prime Minister. And after that, she will probably have to think for herself and talk to her advisors about what the next steps will be," the president said in an interview with ERR.

The day before, ERR published an investigation about the transportation company Stark Logistics, in which Arvo Hallik, Kai Kallas' wife, owns a stake.

As the journalists found out, the company continued transportation to Russia even after the outbreak of a full-scale war in Ukraine.

Stark Logistics CEO Christian Kraag confirmed that the company still transports goods to Russia, but assured that it is winding down its operations and fulfilling the last remaining obligations.

"We are talking about the movement of warehouse stocks, i.e. goods that are not subject to sanctions," Kraag said, refusing to specify what goods he meant.

He also did not disclose how many shipments to Russia Stark Logistics has made since the outbreak of the war. Later, ERR received a more detailed comment from Stark Logistics about its operations in Russia:

"Before the war, it was normal for us to make 60-70 shipments per month to and from Russia. Today, this has been reduced to about one or two shipments per week, and they are all related to one client, the Estonian company AS Metaprint, which has also publicly told the media about the process of stopping its production in Russia. [...] This company is winding down its business in Russia, they have no new contracts, only expiring contracts: they produce aerosol packaging, a significant part of which is processed in Estonia and whose end users are international concerns."

Kaja Kallas responded to ERR's request by saying that she was not involved in her husband's business activities and that she did not have time to follow his company.

Earlier, the Estonian Prime Minister stated that no business relations should be carried out with Russia. Kallas's declaration, published in June, shows that she lent 350 thousand euros to Novaria Consult, a company owned by her husband Hallik, through which he owns 24.8% of Stark Logistics.