Mayor of fifth largest city found guilty of corruption
Viru County Court found Kohtla-Järve, the fifth largest town in Estonia, mayor Jevgeni Solovjov and former deputy mayor Jüri Kollo guilty of corruption charges.
Solovjov, 67, was found guilty of embezzlement, abusing his official powers, forging and using forged documents, among other charges. He received a five-year suspended sentence.
Kollo, 69, found guilty of embezzlement and forgery of official documents, received a four-year-three-month-sentence.
Kollo will also have to pay the city 840,000 euros and, in addition, the pair will have to pay the city a combined 210,000 euros for damages.
A number of other individuals and companies were cleared of any wrongdoing.
The bulk of the damages come from contracts signed with private companies, which issued the city with bills for their work. The city never checked if the actual work was completed. This took place between 2006-2009. In 2009, Solovjov abused his powers to create favorable conditions for a company belonging to an acquaintance to win a city tender.
The pair have seven days to appeal the decision. Both men are Center Party members.
Editor: J.M. Laats