Most of the criticisms revolve around the contribution of IT firm Nortal, given it is owned by a major Eesti 200 donor and co-founder, Priit Alamäe, which, politicians from other parties say, is not a good look.

The concept of a personalized state was one of Eesti 200's pre-election pledges ahead of last year's Riigikogu election, and ended up in the coalition agreement the party signed with Reform and the Social Democrats (SDE) last April.

Last Monday, Minister Riisalo showcased the concept to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, his own ministry, an event also attended by Nortali's Andres Raieste.

Raieste, too, is an Eesti 200 member, while Alamäe is one of the original authors of the personalized state concept document.

Riisalo has put the cost of implementing the personalized state project at €200 million.

Isamaa leader: Minister must provide a convincing explanation

Chair of opposition party Isamaa Urmas Reinaslu told ERR he expects clear explanations from Minister Riisalo on the matter, noting that it "looks bad when you read what has been stated in the media, that this personalized state has been formed around one company, ministry and political party."

Reinsalu added that Riisalo's explanations had been "insufficient," something which the latter must address publicly, and goes beyond a potential conflict of interest.

"The issue of conflict has been depicted in the media as a real one," Reinsalu added.'

The Isamaa leader said he would also await Prime Minister Kaja Kallas' (Reform) intervention, which, he suggested, could take the form of a government office independent audit.

Otherwise, the issue will grow and not diminish, Reinsalu said, adding he was "sorry that those decision-makers are is led by the minister of economic affairs, have not grasped the essence of this matter, which is a problem for all society.

Reinsalu also hit out at the recent abandonment of the planned mRiik e-state smartphone app, which would have been based on Diia, Ukraine's e-state app and which Reinsalu said had been decided upon arbitrarily, to the detriment of the Estonian taxpayer and to the EU (the project's €800,000 costs were divided equally across those two funding sources).

Ossinovski: society must be sure that it will not follow the business of the company

Jevgeni Ossinovski, SDE's Riigikogu chief whip, said that if Eesti 200 is really behind the development of a personalized state, then all doubts need to be dispelled about the project being in the public interest and not just a private project for one of its more visible members.

Ossinovski identified two strands to the controversy: First, that the public interest aspect can be addressed from a legal perspective in terms of the relevant legislation, and second, the public confidence aspect.

"Eesti 200 has the obligation to provide answers to society too," he said.

"Speaking about this personalized state, my biggest question is a substantive one: There have been lot of nice-sounding words, but in reality the question is, what is really being done, and for what purpose? Is this plan essentially reasonable?" the SDE MP went on.

EKRE leader: Political corruption 'par excellence'

Chair of the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) Martin Helme meanwhile said the episode was not just one of a conflict of interest, but a case of daylight robbery.

"At its most basic level, this is political corruption par excellence," he said.

"Eesti 200's whole point has been to get IT businessmen's money into the Riigikgou, into the government, so that these representatives of the Riigikogu and government would repay the IT entrepreneurs' investment 200-fold, using taxpayers' money," Helme said.

"If the Nortals and other businesspeople put in €50,000, then the aim is to get €100 million as a return on investment" he went on.

Helme expressed a hope, in the light of sums being provided to other sectors too, such as aviation, that the Estonian people were able to see what was going on, adding that the concept of a personalized state is a white elephant in any case.

"Nobody's even pretending it's a serious thing," he said, also expressing data privacy concerns he says the concept brings with it.

Center MP: This represents a blow to the reputation of the digital state

Opposition Center Party MP Andrei Korobeinik said that the Eesti 200 minister is doing a disservice to all those who wish to develop Estonia's digital state at governmental level in the future.

While the personalized state concept was sound, he said, Eesti 200 politicians have undermined this via their activities.

"The most major harm caused by this whole saga is that it is now being mocked. In reality, we do need [a personalized state]. A proactive e-government solution like this should have been ready 10 to 15 years ago already, but still hasn't," Korobeinik said.

"Actually, a personal state is not a convenience service, it saves money, saves lives. Now I'm afraid that it won't happen. Since every next minister who comes to a cabinet meeting to ask for funding for his plans, he will be reminded how Eesti 200 managed it," he went on, noting that this will mean it will be a long time before society warms up again to the concept.

Korobeinik said the conflict of interest between Nortal and Eesti 200 and the personalized state project was so obvious, it couldn't really be called corruption as such.

Minister of Finance Mart Võrklaev (Reform) spoke to ETV news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" Wednesday, and also said that the situation was not a good look.

"My concern is first and foremost that our e-government is quite strong. /.../ Perhaps we should not now jeopardize the whole development of our e-governance and the following activities by such moves, where justified or unjustified doubts arise," Võrklaev said.

NGO Transparency International Estonia (Korruptsioonivaba Eesti) has said that the personalized state as proposed and implemented, at planning stage, by Nortal and Minister Riisalo, may have been prepared "unethically"

Eesti 200 chair and Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has stood by his party-mate Tiit Riisalo, arguing that it is hard to be innovative without cooperating with business.

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