Tallinn terminated the contracts of TLT board members Boroditš and Popel on May 18 as both had attended several trainings on the city's dime. Loss of trust was given as the official cause of their termination.

Neither challenged their termination in court, while both men sought severance pay. The court satisfied Popel's claim on October 11 and is set to hear Boroditš similar action on February 3, ERR's Russian portal reported.

Boroditš did not wish to comment on Wednesday.

Member of the board of the municipal transport company and former supervisory board chair Andrei Novikov, who signed both Boroditš and Popel's contracts, told ERR that Boroditš' claim follows different interpretations of contract conditions. "We will have to wait for the court's decision, and I would refrain from commenting until then. It will be what the court will decide," he added.

Novikov said that the city also disagreed when it came to Popel's severance pay but has decided not to appeal the court's decision.

Popel's contract entitled him to nine monthly salaries totaling €57,600. The court ordered TLT to pay the sum plus interest and legal expenses.

Boroditš hopes to claim 12 salaries worth of €90,000.

While the company's supervisory board accused Boroditš and Popel of breach of trust as they allegedly had their training expenses covered without the board's approval, the court found nothing to suggest this had been the case.

TLT paid €19,400 in Popel's education expenses at the Estonian Business School between February 2021 and May 2022, with the company's accountant making four payments.

"If the defendant considered the sum too great, this should have been said at the time, while there is no record of that in evidence," the court found.

The court also pointed out that the supervisory board had delegated all matters pertaining to Popel's education expenses to Boroditš who was basically acting with the board's blessing.

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