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Estonia’s Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur has resigned after growing scrutiny of a €70 million ($81.1 million) artillery ammunition deal intended to support Ukraine, following an audit that raised concerns about procurement failures and political responsibility.
Pevkur, who has held the defence portfolio since 2022, announced his decision on Wednesday during an interview with Estonia’s public broadcaster ETV. He later addressed the matter in a Facebook post, saying leaders must accept accountability when problems occur.
“A leader must have the strength and courage to take responsibility,” Pevkur said, adding that findings from the National Audit Office had raised questions about political responsibility for the procurement process.
The National Audit Office published a report on August 28 criticising defence purchases the Defence Ministry has made in recent years. The report warned that Estonia could eventually be forced to absorb the €70 million cost through its national budget if the deal fails to deliver the intended military supplies.
The controversial contract was signed in 2024 between Estonia and Datasel S.R.L., an Italian-registered company owned by Indian defence manufacturer Neco Defence Munitions, according to Estonian newspaper Eesti Ekspress. The agreement was designed to provide artillery shells for Ukraine and was financed through the European Union’s European Peace Facility.
However, the procurement process faced major setbacks. The Estonian Centre for Defence Investments (RKIK), which managed the deal, made advance payments to the supplier, but deliveries were repeatedly delayed. When a shipment eventually arrived in 2025, reports said the ammunition was defective and unusable.
RKIK Director-General Elmar Vaher, who supervised the original agreement, said the contract should not have been approved because the supplier lacked experience in producing and supplying artillery shells.
“In my opinion, we should not have signed a contract with them,” Vaher said.
The deal was negotiated at a time when Ukrainian forces were experiencing severe ammunition shortages, worsened by delays in US military assistance and the European Union’s failure to meet its target of supplying one million artillery rounds to Ukraine by March 2024.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal later called a cabinet meeting to discuss Pevkur’s resignation and the audit findings. Estonia’s Prosecutor’s Office has also opened a criminal investigation into issues identified in the National Audit Office reports from 2025 and 2026.
