The minister said he is not holding out on China compensating for the damage, despite conceding culpability via a vessel sailing under the Hong Kong flag.

Speaking to "Aktuaalne kaamera," Minister Pevkur said: "Given the practical realities, it is very hard to assume that China's position here will change and when they maintain that this was an accident, then they will likely stick to their stance that they have nothing to compensate for."

Pevkur added that China's admission of culpability was not in and of itself a surprise as there had always been a strong belief. from the outset, that a ship's anchor had caused the damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.

He also expressed skepticism about China's claim that a severe storm was to blame in the incident.

"Personally, I find it very difficult to understand how a ship's captain could fail to notice for such a long time that its anchor had been dragging along the seabed, but it is up to the Prosecutor's Office to complete the investigation," the minister went on.

China has conceded that a vessel sailing under the flag of the autonomous Hong Kong region, the NewNew Polar Bear, had inadvertently damaged the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland last October, and that the incident was caused by a storm which coincided with the events.

The Prosecutor's Office has said this statement cannot be used as evidence in a criminal investigation under international law, meaning the PRC should respond to Estonia's legal claims, "Aktuaalne kaamera" reported.

The South China Morning Post reports that China recently conducted an internal investigation, concluding that the ship sailing under the Hong Kong flag had indeed damaged the Balticconnector gas pipeline.

The article states that the investigation's findings were shared with the Finnish and Estonian governments, though Prime Minister Kristen Michal has reportedly not yet seen any official documents.

Michal noted The official investigation is being led by Finland, and since he is on an official visit there starting this evening, Tuesday, information can if needed be shared.

"The practical task remains to repair the damage, and the question remains of who will bear the cost," the prime minister said.

The Prosecutor's Office says in criminal proceedings in Estonia itself, only documents obtained via a mutual legal assistance request can be used as evidence.

To date, China has not responded to the Prosecutor's Office's legal assistance request.

In addition to the gas pipeline, the October 8 incident led to the damage of a telecoms cable which ran parallel to the pipeline, operated by Elisa, and later damaged a cable off the coast of Hiiumaa, operated by Swedish telco Arelion,

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