Former RKIK chief or the minister — who made contact with Datasel?
Former Estonian Center for Defense Investment (RKIK) chief Magnus-Valdemar Saar says the link to Indian‑owned Datasel for shell procurement came through the defense minister, a claim both the minister and the intermediary deny.
On Wednesday afternoon, former RKIK director Saar contacted journalists. The day before, ERR had published an article (link in Estonian) about how defense-sector leaders who were in office when Estonia began dealing with an Indian businessmen‑owned shell company have remained silent.
Saar promised to speak openly to journalists.
"I take responsibility for every signature I gave, and I am proud that I was able to help Ukraine and Estonia. I am proud of my team and all the experts who contributed, because we achieved a lot during a tense period — it was not easy," Saar said at the meeting.
He led RKIK from 2021 until the summer of 2024 — the period when Estonia spearheaded the "One Million Shells for Ukraine" initiative.
Saar emphasized that under crisis conditions, RKIK delivered a significant amount of ammunition to Ukraine, worth nearly €500 million in total.
"I constantly reminded myself that I was working for a democratic government and followed the guidance of the defense minister, who was aware of the deals and accepted the risks that were presented to him," Saar said.
According to the former RKIK director, the agency he led had the authority to make deals, the funding sources were specifically intended for such transactions, and the ministry's leadership was kept informed of the details. "We did not enter deals lightly," he added.
How did the procurement process work?
Saar briefly described how procurements were carried out.
Contacts and offers arrived through three channels: via RKIK's contract partners, via the defense ministry's leadership, or via Ukraine, Saar said.
RKIK compiled all offers into a table with notes — delivery times, possible issues, export‑control conditions, and more. Then the details of the deal were examined: export controls, logistics, condition, risks, and other factors.
"During the clarification process, inspections were also carried out. Inspection reports were prepared," he noted.
Once enough details were gathered, a decision to enter a specific deal was made at the minister's decision meeting — Saar stressed that these meetings were recorded.
After the decision to proceed, contract terms were negotiated and the contract was formalized, followed by financial transfers.
Before handing over the goods, a quality check was carried out, mostly visual, to confirm compliance and verify quantities. A handover act was prepared for the recipient. "This was the process, and it was followed for all deals," Saar said.
He added that all essential procurement documents were stored exactly according to the rules.
"Today's document controversy concerns some accompanying materials — for example, inspection reports. In my view, these also exist in RKIK's document folders," Saar said.
Only a relatively small number of bidders ended up in contracts, he noted. "Mostly the issues were export‑control conditions, quality, logistical challenges, or other factors that made it unlikely the goods could be delivered."
Saar: the contact with Datasel came from the defense minister
"The person who mediated Datasel was introduced to the RKIK director by Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur. There is information exchanged via electronic channels in reproducible form," Saar said.
At the meeting, Saar showed message exchanges with the alleged intermediary, who used the name "Eric M."
Saar added that many offers came before and after the Datasel contact through the minister's mediation. He said he has excerpts of electronic conversations, but they should also be in emails to which he no longer has access.
Saar also claimed that the defense minister was aware of the procurements in detail.
"Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur was constantly and thoroughly informed about the ammunition procurements carried out to support Ukraine, including bringing and proposing deals himself, leading efforts to obtain additional funding from the European Commission and other countries, and deciding to continue the assistance even when RKIK proposed ending it in that form. All risks, the nature of the deals, and the decision to proceed were presented to the minister and recorded at the minister's decision meeting," Saar said.
"Among other things, there were practically weekly hour‑long meetings where these topics were discussed in depth and specific guidance was given to RKIK. They discussed not only new opportunities to obtain ammunition, but also the associated risks and the progress of the projects," he added.
Pevkur and the intermediary deny Saar's claims
After meeting Saar, journalists approached Pevkur. The defense minister wanted to meet them face‑to‑face so they could speak directly with Eric Malmstead — the mysterious "Eric M."
"I have not had any email exchange, message exchange, or phone call with Eric Malmstead before today," Pevkur stressed.
He showed an email sent on Wednesday in which he contacted representatives of Oculus Strategic Solutions, the company that mediated contact with Datasel. In the email, employees of the US‑based company confirmed they were willing to comment to journalists on matters related to Datasel.
The video call included Malmstead and the company's CEO, Richard Goff.
Goff explained that intermediaries established contact with the Indian company Neco Defence Munitions in 2022, when they went to India at the request of a US defense‑industry company to supply ammunition components to support Ukraine.
The following year, the same company bought Datasel, located in Italy, to make it easier to deliver ammunition to Europe.
Malmstead said he sought contact with Estonia when he heard the country was engaged in arms procurements.
He said he sent an email to the general address of Estonia's defense sector, but received no reply. He found the contact information for RKIK's then‑director Magnus-Valdemar Saar from public sources.
He added that he had previously tried to contact the defense minister, but the minister did not respond.
"The first time I spoke to Magnus at all was in December 2023. I have an email about it. The email is from 4 December 2023, and it arranged the first meeting and introduction for Wednesday, 6 December," Malmstead said. He added that RKIK's armaments category head, Ramil Lipp, was also included in the email exchange.
The US businessmen hoped to become intermediaries between Datasel and RKIK, but were ultimately left out of the deal.
"We essentially signed a brokerage‑fee agreement with Datasel. Magnus signed a direct contract with Datasel, and we did not participate," Malmstead said.
Datasel owes OSS €1.8 million for consultations.
"Considering what they owe Estonia, that's actually nothing," Goff said.
Estonia sought to buy shells for Ukraine and paid €60 million in advance. The delivered goods did not meet requirements, and the dispute is now in court.
--
Editor: Valner Väino, Argo Ideon