"My professional life needs changes," Tšasovskih told Ekspress. "The time has come to take a look around."

He served with the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and the Tax and Customs Board before joining the prosecution.

Regarding his plans for the future, Tšasovskih only told the paper that he is also considering moving to the private sector. His colleagues speculate that the prosecutor could be considering joining the bar.

Tšasovskih is currently the lead prosecutor in three corruption cases at the Harju County Court, the biggest of which is the Port of Tallinn trial, with 177 days of sessions still to go until January 2025.

The corruption trial of former Education Minister Mailis Reps (Center) will also need a new lead prosecutor post haste.

Data from the Ministry of Finance puts Tšasovskih's base salary at €5,656.36 as of April 1.

Port of Tallinn case

The Port of Tallinn criminal case got started in 2015 and reach the court in 2019. The case had to basically start from scratch in April of this year when one of the lay judges dropped out due to illness.

In the summer of 2015, the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS or KAPO) arrested Allan Kiil and Ain Kaljurand who had taken bribes on a grand scale as members of the board of the state-owned port over ten years. According to the charges, Kiil was offered nearly €3 million in bribes by representatives of shipyards in Turkey and Poland for the contracts for Estonia's island ferries.

The case of Kiil was dropped in October 2020 after he took ill and was no longer able to attend the trial. Kiil died in June of last year.

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