MPs in Hot Water for Arranging Residence Permits (4)

Published: 01.12.2011 15:43

Andres Anvelt, head of Parliament's Anti-Corruption Committee, has some serious questions for two of his fellow MPs
( Photo: Postimees/Scanpix )

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The chairman of Parliament's Anti-Corruption Committee, Andres Anvelt, has demanded a detailed explanation from IRL MPs Indrek Raudne and Siim Kabrits over their involvement in aiding hundreds of rich Russian businessmen to obtain Estonian residence permits.

The demand comes after an investigative piece by ETV's muckraking program "Pealtnägija" (Witness) revealed on November 30 that Raudne, Kabrits and Tallinn City Council member Nikolai Stelmach were behind a lucrative enterprise whereby the foreign businessmen would pay 3,500 to 4,000 euros for arranging the permits, which give the holders access to the Schengen zone.  

"At first glance, from what I found out from the media, it seems that we're talking about a hypocritical and very ugly story," Anvelt told uudised.err.ee.

Though the scheme may have been proper from a legal point of view, it's not an activity that politicians should be engaged in, Anvelt said, noting that he would also be taking a close look at the two MPs' declarations of economic interests.

The three men involved jointly own a Tallinn apartment where an unlikely number of Russian and CIS citizens are registered as residing. Raudne himself said that there were probably over 100. The ETV report said that there were also 78 companies registered at the same address.

Raudne and Stelmach defended the activity, saying that it was aiding the Estonian economy by bringing in millions of euros in direct investments.

Under Estonian law, a non-EU resident can be eligible for a temporary residence permit for professing entrepreneurship if he or she invests 63,900 euros in an Estonian company.

 

Steve Roman

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Comments (4)

  • ameeriklane

    01.12.2011 16:28

    So let's see how this story plays out. Here's my guess: They find the scheme was legal, though everyone agrees it was unethical. However, these members do not resign (nor are they pushed out), since they do not feel this is worth resigning over.

  • Juhan021

    02.12.2011 02:43

    Theres something so sinister about it that it makes me want to vomit. The fact that it happend in IRL does not suprise me a bit, reminds me of Vaticans affairs. Hypocristical low-lives - shame on You!

  • avatar

    knut_albers

    02.12.2011 10:06

    To my understanding, gonverment employees need to report their OCI's, right? Then why this was not discovered in its early stages? This is clearly a conflict of interests and I wonder, if this would be not forbidden by law.

  • avatar

    auslane

    02.12.2011 16:07

    Good work by ETV to uncover this. Even if this is somehow 'legal', and the politicians involved declared their income properly, it's obscene given the poor salaries for the the majority of Estonian citizens.