Court rules Prisma not obligated to reopen Linnamäe mall supermarket

A court has ruled in favor of supermarket Prisma over the latter's decision to close a 24/7 outlet in the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn.
The first-tier Harju County Court dismissed all of premises owner L95 OÜ's claims, including a demand for Prisma to reopen the store at the Linnamäe keskus mall, on Linnamäe tee 95. The court cited contract terms and operational autonomy as key reasons for its decision.
While the court found that Prisma did not have the right to terminate the contract with L95 prematurely, it ruled that it cannot dictate how a company should operate its business.
Prisma Estonia country director Teemu Kilpiä said: "We are satisfied with the court's decision, as keeping a supermarket open in the Linnamäe keskus would have proved highly unreasonable and would result in massive amounts of food going to waste."
"We are prepared to pay rent to L95 OÜ until the end of the lease period," he added.
The court had accepted the plaintiff's withdrawal of its claims for €48,093.02 plus additional interest.
The lawsuit, filed by L95 OÜ in September, accused Prisma of unilaterally terminating the lease agreement. Vitali Kõllomets, a member of L95 OÜ's management board, said the company demanded that Prisma fulfill its obligations, including operating a supermarket and paying rent.
According to Kõllomets, it was poor management on the part of Prisma which led to the decision to terminate the lease prematurely.
Prisma Peremarket opened the 24/7 Linnamäe supermarket on August 19, 2021, and announced its closure by the end of January 2024.
Prisma is Finnish-founded and owned.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Mari Peegel