Helen Kiviloo from the District Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crime and Corruption told ERR's Russian news portal rus.err.ee that the prosecution on May 2 decided not to launch criminal proceedings based on the report of criminal offense filed by the supervisory board of the Narva Hospital Foundation.

"The criminal complaint and the materials attached do not indicate that Kõrgvee has committed embezzlement and/or abuse of trust or any other act with the characteristics of a crime specified in the special part (as concerns officials – ed.) of the Penal Code. If the criminal complaint does not contain sufficient information indicating a crime, initiating criminal proceedings is neither lawful nor justified. It is not permissible to initiate criminal proceedings with the purpose of searching for grounds for a procedure," explained Kiviloo in his response.

The decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case can be contested. ERR's information suggests a lawyer from Narva Hospital is now exploring this possibility.

In late February, the hospital's supervisory board released Kõrgvee from office and presented him with a ten-item list of criticisms. Üllar Lanno was appointed the new director of the hospital.

Aleksei Jevgrafov (Center), chairman of the supervisory board, Narva City Council and Riigikogu member, had previously said that Kõrgvee misused his official position and caused the foundation material damage.

Kõrgvee took over running the hospital from Jevgrafov in May 2021 when Katri Raik was Narva mayor and supervisory board chair.

Ago Kõrgvee has said that he wanted to turn the hospital into an Estonian-speaking institution based on European best practices. The former hospital head has refuted allegations of violating financial discipline and said that he considers his removal to be politically motivated.

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