Estonia‘s opposition and mainstream media on Friday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas after it emerged that a company partly owned by her husband was continuing to operate in Russia.
Public broadcaster ERR reported Wednesday that the transport company Stark Logistics, which is partly owned by Kallas’s husband Arvo Hallik, had continued deliveries to Russia after the start of the war with Ukraine.
The United States and the European Union have levied unprecedented sanctions against Moscow to limit Russia’s ability to finance its war effort since the invasion in February last year.
Stark Logistics has said that it had only one Estonian customer, Metaprint, which is currently in the process of closing its plant in Russia.
It said that Stark Logistics was making deliveries to help arrange with the closing up of the site.
The opposition Centre Party said it was starting discussions on a no-confidence motion against Kallas, while another opposition party Isamaa said she had “no other option but to resign immediately”.
Several Estonian newspapers on Friday also called for her to resign.
In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, Kallas said that her husband’s company was assisting one of its Estonian clients “in accordance with the laws and sanctions imposed”.
She said that all trade with Russia must “stop as long as the war of Russian aggression against Ukraine continues”.
Kallas’s husband apologised on Friday for the situation that has arisen and the “harm caused to my wife” and said he would immediately sell his shares in Stark Logistics and withdraw from the company.
He said his wife was “not aware” of his work.
Kallas has been prime minister since 2021.
