Last fall, the Tallinn city foundation Tallinn Creative Incubator (Tallinna loomeinkubaator) hired Erki Savisaar (Center) to advise on the low-voltage works at the Poldri 3 development in central Tallinn.

However, Savisaar was a Tallinn city councilor at the time, and has since become Mayor of Vinni Rural Municipality, in Lääne-Viru County.

New Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) said: "This contract seems to fit an ugly pattern whereby the Center Party has been utilizing city resources in various ways over the last few months, to keep its council members in line."

"The contract is not a good look, but the detailed circumstances will be established by the internal control investigation," Ossinovski went on.

"I cannot comment today on whether and to what extent the respected councilman performed these works. It is I suppose conceivable that Erki Savisaar was indeed the best low-voltage specialist out there. I have requested that the city's internal control clarify the circumstances of this contract," the mayor continued.

Savisaar, 45, does not currently sit on Tallinn city council. He has said that he was job hunting last autumn, applying for various positions, until he decided to participate in the incubator's competitive process, and ended up being hired.

"I had no other jobs or activities going on, and I took part in many different competitive processes," Savisaar said.

While becoming irritated with the line of questioning by the ERR journalist he spoke to, at one point ringing off, he later takes up the conversation where it was left off, and maintains that his position at the Tallinn Creative Incubator is not a sinecure of any kind.

"It's a real job, not just some random position," he said, also denying any link between his employment and his party affiliation. "If it had involved a connection to the party, I would definitely have been in a higher position," he added.

As for the job at Põldri 3 itself, which lies close to the Old City Harbor area, Savisaar said his main role involves project management.

"I am the client's eyes and ears on the ground, making sure everything goes as needed and so that the building meets their expectations, while all systems will function as they hope," he continued.

The project has not progressed very far yet. "Several tenders to find a builder, I believe, have failed. Finally, a builder has now been found and has started work," Savisaar added.

Savisaar says this work also does not interfere with his duties as mayor of Vinni – around 130km from Tallinn – or vice versa, adding he can juggle both tasks in his working week.

"If there were problems, I would give up one or the other," Savisaar added.

Tallinn Creative Incubator is funded by the Tallinn city government and led by Center Party member Anu Lõhmus, who hired Erki Savisaar.

Lõhmus insists no one instructed her to hire Savisaar. "I have not received directions from anyone to involve any specific person in any way in Tallinn," she told ERR.

Many people applied for the post and after interviews with several candidates, two were hired, one of whom is Savisaar.

Lõhmus added that Savisaar is frequently in the office and on site at the Põldri 3 development.

Following the upheaval which hit the Center Party after the election of Mihhail Kõlvart as leader last September – with many departures, some of them high profile – a lot of changes took place in the management of Tallinn.

Erki Savisaar signed the Tallinn incubator contract in late November, when he was still a city councilor – in fact he remained there until the recent departure from office of the Center-SDE coalition, when he was replaced by Andrei Kante, who returned to the Tallinn legislature after leaving executive office.

Savisaar's monthly retainer from the incubator comes to around €1,500, ERR reports.

Erki Savisaar was environment minister from late 2021 to early June 2022, when the Reform-Center national coalition ended. He is the son of Center Party co-founder Edgar Savisaar (1950-2022).

Tallinn Creative Incubator (Tallinna loomeinkubaator) aims to accelerate the growth of new businesses and provides mentoring to that end, the organization says on its website.

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