First reading of the draft resolution of the Riigikogu “Establishment of a Riigikogu investigative committee to examine the circumstances related to the termination of Nordica’s activities” (543 OE)
Session: 15th Riigikogu, 5th session, plenary session
Date: 2025-03-10 17:10
Total Speeches: 64
Membership: 15
Agenda Duration: 1h 14m
AI Summaries: 64/64 Speeches (100.0%)
Analysis: Structured Analysis
Politicians Speaking Time
Politicians
Analysis
Summary
The main item on the agenda was the first reading of draft resolution 543 of the Riigikogu, aimed at establishing a Riigikogu investigative commission to examine the circumstances surrounding the termination of Nordica. The proposal is submitted by the fraction of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), and the commission's tasks include clarifying shortcomings in state oversight, identifying management errors and accountability, and assessing the ministry's actions during the period when Nordica's problems emerged. Nordica’s financing and termination (the November 2024 announcement and bankruptcy filing) highlighted the need to gather an impartial and broad-based overview, the results of which could form a reasoned basis for the Riigikogu’s future decisions and to improve political culture. In addition, consideration was given to how and whether Nordica and related companies should be terminated in the future in a way that would be most beneficial to Estonia's interests. The first reading also discussed deadlines and procedures, as the draft resolution has been submitted previously, and an extension of deadlines is likely.
Decisions Made 1
First reading completed; the leading committee's proposal to reject the draft in the first reading did not receive the coalition’s support. Voting result: 35 in favor, 38 against, 0 abstentions. Deadline for submitting amendments set for March 24 at 5:15 PM.
Most Active Speaker
Evelin Poolamets (pid a1RqRq2rgr4) – a member of the EKRE faction; right-wing. She was the main presenter and the central speaker and recipient in a multi-stage process, raising coalition and opposition issues, providing introductory and follow-up explanations for integration and responding to numerous questions. She represented the initiative for the bill and led the discussion, while representing a political approach primarily from the right-wing direction, emphasizing the need for clarity and responsibility at the level of the Riigikogu.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi welcomes his colleagues and announces that the first item on today’s agenda is the Riigikogu draft resolution to investigate the circumstances surrounding Nordica's termination of operations, presented by Evelin Poolamets.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets presented the draft bill for forming a Riigikogu inquiry committee to investigate the circumstances related to Nordica's cessation of operations, the aim of which is to identify gaps in state oversight, assess the conformity of management mistakes with the law, and the costs incurred to the state; in cooperation with experts, develop the most beneficial cessation plan for Estonia's interests, and submit a final report, extending the draft's deadline if necessary.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanked the audience, said that there were questions, and invited Aleksandr Tšaplõgin to come on stage.
Aleksandr Tšaplõgin
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The speaker fully agrees with the proposal, but asks why the government continued to support a loss-making airline for a long time, and whether there are any personal interests at play in this.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Therefore there is a proposal to create an investigative commission that would determine whose interests are served by this downturn and why our airline had to end so sadly.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is the plea to invite Mihkel Leesi.
Mihkel Lees
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Mihkel Lees asks which of these seven investigative questions cannot be answered through the work of the existing Riigikogu committees or law enforcement agencies, and which of them will remain unanswered in today’s proceedings.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The briefing emphasizes that Nordica investigations have been divided among different commissions, and there is a need for a central commission that would consolidate these efforts and create a holistic picture, would focus on lessons for the future, and would explain to taxpayers that it is not a political accusation, taking as examples previous cases such as the VEB Fund and Tallinn Port, and showing how negligence and lack of oversight lead to an illogical downward spiral, which the special report also highlights.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The focus of the speech is a prayer addressed to Mart Võrklaev.
Mart Võrklaev
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Võrklaev asks why the 2020 EKRE–Isamaa–Centre Party government gave Nordica 30 million euros, knowing that there were no flights from Estonia and the company did not operate flights, and asks for an explanation of how taxpayers' money was used.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Poolamets recalls 2019—the EKRE coming to power, the coronavirus pandemic, and changes in aviation, where Nordica was created to fulfill Estonian Air's duties and loss-making flights were halted, but profitable routes were kept, and he states that the situation at that time was different and that in hindsight it would have been possible to make decisions more wisely.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Alexander Chaplygin wants to ask a second question.
Aleksandr Tšaplõgin
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The speech states that after the bankruptcy of Estonian Air, a new state-owned airline will be created, but that one is also in bankruptcy, and a question arises as to whether Estonia even needs a state-owned airline.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets said that they are so small, and if they can fly cheaply using the neighboring country's taxpayers' money, it is pointless to continue running their airline as a state-owned company.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi invites Vladimir Arhipov to speak.
Vladimir Arhipov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
He emphasizes the need for an investigative commission and asks why Estonian aviation cannot get off the ground, and whether the problem lies in management or in insufficient funding.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The speaker says that for a small country it is difficult to fulfill all tasks; using Estonian Air and Nordica as examples and based on separate reports that have revealed management mistakes and a lack of risk analyses, it shows that halting operations may be prudent and raises the question of whether the state should even run such companies at all.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Speaker Toomas Kivimägi asks Mart Võrklaev to present the second question.
Mart Võrklaev
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Võrklaev asks why, in the autumn of 2020, 30 million euros were given to Nordica, a company that did not fly out of Estonia, and why Martin Helme, the finance minister at the time, believed in 2019 that it could be shut down.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Poolamets says that Martin Helme was not in the government alone, and looking to the other side for support was a matter of survival; the situation had to be temporary, and if there had been no coronavirus, another decision would probably have been made.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi invited Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvarti onto the stage.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The submission suspects that Kristen Michal deliberately pressured KredExit to pay a 1.5 million euro loan to a company on the brink of bankruptcy, which involved a consultancy firm under criminal investigation in Italy, and claims that Nordicat was kept artificially alive in order to await the former climate minister's move to Stenbock House, and asks at the same time what the special committee actually adds and why the board and supervisory board members refuse to appear there.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
This is a short expression of thanks.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The speech discusses forced euthanasia and asks whether the members of the management board and the supervisory board can be held liable.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Poolamets pointed out that the allocation of 1.5 million euros to Nordicale occurred within the framework of a separate audit of KredEx loans, mentioned the pressure exerted by Keit Kasemetsa on KredEx, and expressed concern that the people involved in the matter would not appear before the commission to report, but he is optimistic that once the commission starts working, ministers and officials will report.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Mart Maastik to come onto the stage.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Maastik raises the question of accountability in enterprises with government participation and asks whether the responsibility lies with the taxpayer or with those who make those decisions, compared to private firms where the responsibility lies with the owner.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets called for taking political responsibility and for restoring a culture of responsible leadership, criticizing the situation in which taxpayers' money disappears and no one takes responsibility, and she emphasized that acknowledging mistakes and taking responsibility are essential so that future decisions are legitimate and responsible.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks Helle-Moonika Helme to take the floor.
Helle-Moonika Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
We are to establish an investigative committee to examine the circumstances surrounding Nordica's cessation of operations and to clarify any possible evidence of corruption, taking into account Nordica's division between passenger services and aircraft and assets, and the non-payment for maintenance, which has caused damages.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets noted that Nordica's planes are old and that the planning of maintenance and the maintenance reserve has been inadequate, which has affected their price and the concealment of their debts, and the investigative committee should determine whether this was deliberate conduct, negligence, or recklessness.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Jüri Jaanson to come.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Jüri Jaanson expressed regret over Nordica's closure and asked what conclusions the commission should ultimately reach and how to use its results, noting that different governments, including EKRE, have supported Nordica and that the correctness of the decisions changes over time, so the current view may later prove to be a mistake.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The Commission seeks to clarify whether it is legally possible to hold the company's management accountable for the management mistakes that have occurred, how much Nordica's management mistakes have cost the state in addition, and whose fault these costs are, and it emphasizes the shortcomings in cooperation between the board and the management and highlights the lessons to be applied in the future in other state-owned enterprises to prevent similar situations.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asked Jüri Jaanson to present the second question.
Jüri Jaanson
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
They asked how the work of a Riigikogu committee differs from the work of law enforcement agencies, because committees too must determine whether abuses have occurred.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Poolamets said that law enforcement authorities have the task of identifying violations, and the results of a special audit cannot be used in court as evidence, and if the investigative body handles it, there would be no need for a separate investigative committee in the Riigikogu.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks Mart Maastikut to present the second question.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The landscape laments that, as a result of decisions made by state politicians, millions are lost, no accountability has been taken, and no investigative commission has been formed, referring to Eesti Energia's decisions, to the losses of Utah's ore deposits, and to Air Baltic's subsidies connected with Nordicast, and asks whether the decisions made in a bankrupt company could have been prevented.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets expresses concern about an injustice where the taxpayer must bear responsibility for every misdemeanor, while lawmakers and officials may lose millions, but do not take responsibility; the broad-based work of the investigative committee explains the costs borne by the state and the possibility of holding the leadership to account and, if necessary, imposing criminal liability when new circumstances arise.
Vadim Belobrovtsev
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
They ask how the coalition will vote today on establishing a new inquiry committee, taking into account the prime minister's words that he is not opposed to it, and considering that the coalition is now smaller, will they vote for or against.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi invited Vadim Belobrovtsev to perform.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Poolamets notes that over the past two years there has not come from the opposition a single draft that would have been approved by the coalition, because even if it is to their liking, it is voted down and framed as a coalition proposal, and he believes that even with Reform Party allies, things will not get better, be it the Nordica investigative committee or the Port of Tallinn, the R-Hoolduse and Autorollo cases, not to mention others.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, invites Vladimir Arhipov to present the second question.
Vladimir Arhipov
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Vladimir Arhipov criticizes the management of Nordica and points out that there are several major infrastructure projects in the country, and asks whether Rail Baltic might also collapse.
Evelin Poolamets
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Evelin Poolamets claims that Rail Baltica is designed to fail, there is no need or basis for it, and the taxpayer will lose billions of euros, which, in her view, is an example of the Reform Party's pattern.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Thank you very much; the questions have been concluded, and in the lead committee Kalle Laanet, a member of the Constitutional Committee, presents the discussion of the core issues and the decisions taken.
Kalle Laanet
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The Constitutional Committee discussed the establishment of a Nordica-themed inquiry committee, stressed that it must not interfere with criminal investigations and that the topic should be consolidated into a single committee, and by consensus decided to bring the draft onto the plenary agenda on February 12 and to shelve the draft, designating Kalle Laanet, a member of the Constitutional Committee, as the representative of the leading committee.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanked the briefing, noting that it was thorough and clear in every respect and there were no questions, and opened negotiations, saying that Mart Helme would speak on behalf of the faction.
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme accuses the Reform Party and the government of corruption and of financing in connection with the bankruptcy of Estonian Air and Nordica, and stresses that taxpayers' money has gone and that the investigation and accountability have been hindered.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
They ask for three more minutes to continue the discussion.
Mart Helme
Profiling Eesti Konservatiivse Rahvaerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Helme accuses the Reform Party of this: that taxpayers' money has ended up in someone's hands, he calls for a vote on forming a commission to clarify the matters, and he claims that Estonia has become a failed state due to lies and a very successful theft.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Deputy Chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanks the Reform Party faction on its behalf and greets his colleague Mart Võrklaev.
Mart Võrklaev
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Võrklaev criticizes the 2020 EKRE-Isamaa government's decision to give Nordica 30 million euros of taxpayers’ money, although Nordica had not flown in Estonia since 2019 and all flights were unprofitable, and asks for an explanation regarding the terms of state aid, the consideration of privatization, and the causes of the company’s bankruptcy.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The vice-chairman, Toomas Kivimägi, asks the organizers to grant three more minutes.
Mart Võrklaev
Profiling Eesti Reformierakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
Mart Võrklaev notes that the accelerated spending of 2019–2020 increased the state's debt burden and created a long-term budget deficit and rising interest costs, and although criminal proceedings may shed light on whether the company was run with due care, we do not need to form a new special committee to investigate the 30-million loan involving Ratas, Helme, Reinsalu and Nordica, because the lesson is that a lack of timely decisions may recur and the state must not intervene in a company before it is absolutely necessary, and the company has paid the state about 70 million in taxes in recent years, which is almost the same amount as the allocated funds.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi thanks you, and on behalf of the Isamaa faction, his colleague Mart Maastik presents a request.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
Maastik expressed deep concern about the irresponsibility of state-owned companies, cited the bankruptcy of Estonian Air, money buried in the Utah desert, and the large costs of energy projects, and called for forming a standing committee that would investigate the culprits and the reasons and ensure accountability so that the people’s money would not be wasted hopelessly in the same way.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The deputy chairman Toomas Kivimägi asks to add three minutes.
Mart Maastik
Profiling Fraktsiooni mittekuuluvad Riigikogu liikmedAI Summary
The landscape calls for forming a commission to determine whether the matter is based on objective or subjective reasons, and for accountability for their actions to be taken, while emphasising that small sums should not be taken from single mothers or from large families when billions could go to waste.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Vice-chairman Toomas Kivimägi thanks the audience, announces that on behalf of the Estonian Centre Party faction Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart will speak and asks for extra time; the speech lasts eight minutes.
Anastassia Kovalenko-Kõlvart
Profiling Eesti Keskerakonna fraktsioonAI Summary
The gist of the presentation is that Nordica was kept artificially alive in 2023–2024 by a six-month Knighthood Global consultancy contract worth 1.14 million euros and its background, the payment of large management fees to participants, and Camiel Eurlings' influence intensifying, ultimately leading to bankruptcy; the documents remained sealed, and therefore there is a need for an ad hoc committee and the prosecutor's office to provide clarification.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
Toomas Kivimägi ended the negotiations, announced that the steering committee wants to bring the draft 543 to a final vote and to reject it at the first reading, and put this proposal to a vote.
Aseesimees Toomas Kivimägi
AI Summary
The proposal received 35 votes in favor, 38 against, and 0 abstentions; the first reading has been completed, and the deadline for submitting amendment proposals is 24 March at 17:15.