TALLINN - Claims that the Reform Party attempted to extort 1 million euros from a railway corporation are likely to go unchecked after the Security Police announced this week there would not be an investigation into the allegations.
The Security Police had been called in to investigate claims by Edward Burkhardt, an American railway businessman and CEO of Baltic Rail Services, which recently sold Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railways) to the government for 2.35 billion kroons (150 million euros).
Burkhardt claimed a fundraiser from the ruling Reform Party had approached BRS asking for 1 million euros to smooth the passage of the purchase through Parliament.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, leader of the Reform Party, rejected the claim and appealed to the Security Police as a way of clearing his party's reputation ahead of the March 4 general election.
The veracity of the investigation was thrown into question last week when police said they based their decision on "information published in the press."
On Jan. 30, Security Police spokesman Henno Kuumann announced they had found no grounds to open a probe into impropriety by Reform.
The decision was based on press interviews with Burkhardt's former BRS business partners, in which other members of the railway board claimed to have no knowledge of the bribery attempt.
"The Security Police finds that the statements of Mr. Burkhardt would be grounds for starting a criminal investigation only if these were confirmed by the original sources. However, the former leaders of Eesti Raudtee have publicly overruled the statements of Mr. Burkhardt," Kuumann said.
The decision not to investigate has drawn fire from Burkhardt. "This wasn't a thorough investigation," he told The Baltic Times. "A proper investigation would involve KAPO talking with a number of people having information on what occurred. I was not contacted by KAPO."
Kuumann confirmed that the Security Police had not conducted interviews with any of the parties involved, but based their decision on "publicly available information."
"The simple fact is that my report of the bribe demand was true, regardless of the fact that people now don't want to speak about it," said Burkhardt.
Burkhardt headed Estonian Railways for over five years, but the company came under fire when Edgar Savisaar, who leads the Center Party, took over the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.
The ministry accused Burkhardt and other BRS executives of poorly managing the railroad and multiple violations of the privatization agreement. For example, the ministry said BRS violated the agreement by pledging 6 percent of Estonian Railway's stock, without the government's consent, as collateral against bank loans.
Burkhardt struck back, comparing the government's assault against Estonian Railways to that of the Russian government's attack against Yukos, an oil major that has been systematically dismantled for tax evasion.
"I think that free citizens in a democratic country have an obligation to report on corruption in government if they want to keep their free democracy," Burkhardt told The Baltic Times. "But it seems that the Estonian way is to tell what occurred only to close colleagues, and then to deny in public what occurred."
