Oldest pub in Tallinn closes doors over leasing disagreement
Well-known Tallinn Old Town pub Karja Kelder closed its doors as its tenants could not reach an agreement with the owner of the property during the emergency situation.
Aare Hallop, who ran Karja Kelder in Tallinn Old Town together with Raul Juur for 22 years, told Eesti Päevaleht (link in Estonian) that he had thought about closing the place for many years. The pub needed renovating, lease contract had been signed ages ago and was sharply biased towards the lessor, he said.
"To be honest, I'm very sad about it. It's the oldest pub in Tallinn after all. I proposed we renovate it ourselves, but then we would have had to amend the agreement and the owner didn't agree with that," Hallop told the daily.
After the emergency situation was declared, Hallop and Juur asked the owners for a two-month grace period, but were sued for not paying their debt.
"We were their tenant for 22 years and they never had to issue any warnings to us. Now they sued us - it was the last straw," Hallop explained.
Until the crisis, closure plans were held back by Karja Kelder's history. Beer was already produced on the property back in 1832.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm
