Kaja Kallas lent husband €350,000 for investment purposes

According to a declaration of economic interests, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) lent €350,000 to her husband's firm. The company's main operation is in investments, the husband, Arvo Hallik, says, though ERR reports the funds are to be used to build a house.
Kallas declaration to the Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) reveals that she has lent €350,000 to Novaria Consult, Hallik's company.
According to the commercial register, Novaria Consult provides financial services.
Hallik himself told ERR that Novaria Consult is a holding company whose main activity relates to in financial instruments, and to holdings.
Hallik said that, together with his wife, the prime minister, he has invested in several firms via Novaria.
Hallik said: "When the money is sitting there, would still try to put it to work; this is just a matter of logic. /.../ We haven't taken any crazy risks, for instance Bitcoin risk, with these funds. We hold investments in various companies, some of which are closed [information], though some of it is also public – for instance we are shareholders in BaltCap, though the stake is not a very large one."
BaltCap is a private equity and venture capital firm.
Hallik conceded that €350,000 might seem like a substantial sum to be lending to a private person, but given it is being invested together with the spouse, there is nothing extraordinary in and of itself, he said.
Now, according to him, the investments have to be put to work in reverse, so to speak, or made liquid, because they are building a new house in Kuusalu municipality.
Prior investments are now having to be put to work in reverse, as it were, in other words made liquid, Hallik said, in order to build the new house – which will be located in Kuusalu Rural Municipality, which lies to the East of Tallinn.
"The house construction is starting, so we put together the funds, most of which go into that. We have been working towards this for three years. So far, the design process has been ongoing for a long period; now comes the interesting part, the building, which is underway, so we should already start to see results this summer," he went on.
Pledges to complete financial reports
Novaria Consult itself has not filed annual financial reports for the last three years, ERR reports.
The last dates from 2019, when the company's reported profit for the financial year stood at €103,000.
Hallik says he pledges the outstanding reports for the three years will be submitted in the near future.
"Because this is being done with a company which does not have bank loan liabilities and does not have any other stakeholders, this has not been done, alongside other actions. I am fully aware of this, and I will likely file the reports in the commercial register next week," he went on.
Hallik is sole shareholder of Novaria Consult. The company itself owns a 24.8 percent stake in Stark Logistics AS and a 30 percent stake in Stark Warehousing OÜ.
Hallik and Kallas married in September 2018. Hallik has remained relatively out of the limelight during that time.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte