Center Party Tallinn city council deputy Kalle Klandorf told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "The Center Party has always been accused of having some sort of patronage system, but it seems that others have a similar one too, perhaps an even worse one."

A situation arose last month when the board of a hospital which doesn't even currently exist expanded, with four of the six-member board coming from the Tallinn coalition parties.

City leaders justify this step by citing the need for information, due to the significance of the project – a central hospital in Tallinn which has been on and off the table for several years now.

One case comes with city council deputy Igor Gräzin, who played a key role earlier this year in toppling Center's nearly 20-year hegemony and is now board chair of the city-owned Kultuurikatel (Tallinn Creative Hub) development.

Gräzin left the Center Party shortly before the vote of no-confidence in the previous Tallinn administration passed.

Gräzin denies the position is not an example of a quid pro quo.

"I should have been there long ago," Gräzin said of his new role.

"The thing is, I am not a politician. I don't belong to any party. At Kultuurikatel, I am an expert, not a politician. An expert. This is because I have been a board member of cultural institutions for about 25 years. I have served on the boards of ERR, the National Library and the Russian Theater."

"In short, I am a specialist and expert in cultural matters," Gräzin added.

Gräzin receives a monthly stipend of €750 for the role, the same sum as the Tallinn Hospital board members do.

Steven-Hristo Evestus, a member of NGO Transparency International Estonia ( Korruptsioonivaba Eesti) called it crucial that the staffing of city-owned enterprises is done transparently.

The riskiest situation, he said, comes when agreements are made behind closed doors, as this can sideline the most competent individuals.

Evestus said the city could take inspiration from state-owned enterprises and establish an independent nomination committee.

"There is hope that the city will not act hypocritically now, as per its previous criticism of the Center Party, and will take concrete steps," he said.

"To my knowledge, we might see new development plans and documents in the next few months that should improve the quality of management and oversight in the city's enterprises," Evestus added.

Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) said there were no issues with the way the city is run in relation to subordinate agencies.

He said: "There was a time in Tallinn when the entire board and council of a city enterprise belonged to the Center Party, and, naturally, there was no talk of oversight or professional management."

"But now, in making these decisions, we have adhered to two principles. First: The total number of politicians [on board] is less than half. And second, that each board includes impartial experts from outside the city system," the mayor went on.

The mayor noted that he has never considered the complete depoliticization of the city's enterprises to be the right thing to do.

The "owner" of these enterprises, ie. the City of Tallinn, must have scope to direct the organizations' activities and to prevent responsibilities being dodged or dilute.

For this reason alone, Ossinovski says he does not support the creation of a nomination committee to oversee appointments to these boards.

The SDE-Reform-Isamaa-Eesti 200 Tallinn City Government coalition entered office in April. The Center Party had ruled in Tallinn for 18 years up to that point, mostly alone, but in coalition with SDE for the last two-and-a-half years.

Dismantling the apparatus of sinecures and patronage put in place by Center had been one of the pre-election pledges of the new coalition partners.

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