TALLINN – Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas advised businessman Parvel Pruunsild, who donated one million euros to parties of the opposition, not to silence the messengers, but to convince everyone that it was not a donation that required return favors.
"It is clear that politics must be and appear honest. If there is a strong suspicion that laws can be bought, it is unfortunate. The current government does not tolerate such an approach," Kallas told reporters at the government's press conference on Thursday.
"My recommendation to Parvel Pruunsild is to not silence the messengers, but to convince everyone, including me and the majority of the Center Party Board, that it was not a donation that required a return favor. As long as this is not done, questions will remain in the air," the prime minister added.
According to Kallas, she would be lying if she said she did not know anything about it.
"It was talked about at the level of rumors. But there were different rumors. Another version was that the Center Party would be promised money if they initiate this bill. Now it seems that something was promised. All this was associated with the name Parvel Pruunsild," she said, referring to the family benefits bill.
According to her, the meta data of this version shows that it was prepared by an Isamaa adviser.
"It was also Parvel Pruunsild who supported these political parties for the law with a donation in 2016," Kallas added.
Parvel Pruunsild, the major owner of Bigbank, donated a total of one million euros to three opposition parties. Of the sum, Isamaa receives 400,000 euros, while the Center Party and the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) each get 300,000 euros. This is likely the largest one-time donation to political parties in the history of Estonia.
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