The Supreme Court declined to discuss the appeal filed by the Port of Tallinn, leaving a Tallinn Circuit Court decision in early October that the company should pay compensation to Kiil over the termination of his contract, in force.

Kiil is separately still on trial for accepting bribes; the compensation plus default interest which the Port of Tallinn is due to pay him, however, comes to €22,800, BNS reports.

The appeal on compensation arose from Kiil's contract of service requiring adherence to prohibition on competition within 12 months of the end of his Port of Tallinn contract ending, in other words Kiil is being compensated for this stricture.

A prohibition on competition clause prevents employees obtaining work with a competitor company within a set time following the termination of a contract.

"As a result, in the court dispute, which on two previous occasions also received a substantive assessment from the Supreme Court, a court ruling entered into force, according to which  the Port of Tallinn must pay Kiil €22,000 in compensation for adhering to prohibition on competition within 12 months from the end of the contract, plus €779.76 in default interest," Kiil's lawyer Aivar Pilv told BNS.

Pilv added that the Port of Tallinn must pay Kiil's legal costs of €13,610 arising from the case and with the LEADELL Pilv law firm as counsel.

"The litigation has, via a thorough and lengthy procedure, thoroughly analyzed the requirements for the termination of a contract with a board member, as well as the principles accompanying the application of prohibition on competition following the contract," Pilv said of the case, adding that the case is a teachable moment for both supervisory boards and company owners in understanding and adhering to rights and responsibilities.

Kiil started on the management board at the Port of Tallinn in 2004. Kiil said that Port of Tallinn was obligated to pay him compensation, as it had submitted an application for the termination of his contract.

Kiil and Ain Kaljurand both stand accused of large-scale bribe taking and money laundering, over a 10-year period from 2005-2015, according to Internal Security Service (ISS) evidence, with bribes accepted both separately and together amounting to close to €4 million, according to BNS.

While the state still has a stake in the Port of Tallinn, it has been publicly listed since last year.

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