The call follows high profile job changes for long-serving state officials, both civilian and military, into related private sector roles, prompting fears of conflicts of interest – in other words that the official could allegedly have been feathering the nest while still in office and ahead of the career change.

Going to work in the private sector in and of itself is not an issue, Pevkur said.

Speaking to "Aktuaalne kaamera" Tuesday, the minister said: "If for instance Timo Tatar had taken a job in the catering sector, no one would be raising this matter."

"The issue arises now as he joined a company that will likely be getting government support for its sector," he went on.

While not the only instances of senior public officials transitioning into private sector roles within their former areas of oversight, two recent high-profile cases have involved Tatar, a former deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and who is now set to lead the Estonian operations of the Lithuanian energy group Ignitis, and former Estonian Defense Forces chief Gen. (Retd.) Martin Herem, who is starting work with the defense industry company Frankenburg Technologies.

As a deputy secretary general, Tatar had a hand in shaping Estonia's energy policy.

To prevent potential conflicts of interest, Pevkur said a cooling-off period should be established, during which time former civil servants would be restricted from taking certain positions in the private sector for one or up to two years.

Putting the policy in place would also require the provision of compensation, he said.

State Secretary Taimar Peterkop expressed doubts over the proposed policy, saying it is "too expensive" and implementation "resource-intensive."

It could also stifle the career opportunities for specialists in these fields, he said. "We are such a small society and our opportunities are relatively limited. Competition is modest everywhere, and often the greatest asset that public sector employees bring to the private sector is their knowledge," the state secretary said.

Peterkop added that since 2021 there has been a code of conduct for civil servants regarding their interactions with lobbyists, which also references the principles of a cooling-off period. However, compliance with this is not mandatory, he said.

Pevkur said it is essential to assess what is more important for the state, including fair competition and transparency, so that "those responsible for managing public funds don't turn around the next day and start using those funds themselves, leading to what are essentially golden handcuffs."

.Pevkur said he has tasked Eesti 200 MP and Riigikogu national defense committee chair Kalev Stoicescu with bringing up the matter at parliament.

Compensation could be determined on a case-by-case basis, Pevkur added noting that, for example, the ex-commander of the defense forces already receives a special pension from the state.

This cooling-off period would not apply to regular ministry officials or defense force employees, but only to top civil servants, Pevkur added.

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