Speaking on the ETV current affairs program "Esimene stuudio," Andrus Durejko said Enefit Green's initial public offering in 2021 should be viewed in the context of its time, and that the decision did bring certain benefits.

"With the money invested by small shareholders, we've built the largest wind energy portfolio in the Baltics, which is now up and running. Naturally, the energy market has changed rapidly and Eesti Energia must respond to these changes to continue investing and to increase the productivity of our invested assets," he explained.

In Durejko's view, the pace of building renewable energy production capacity was likely misjudged at the time.

"Decisions made back then need to be viewed in that context and I don't want to dwell on the past. That decision has been made. But it's likely the speed at which renewable energy production capacity could be built was underestimated and now we need to correct for that."

Durejko went on to say that a strong, integrated energy group is better positioned to ensure lower electricity prices and energy security.

"In the long term, from the standpoint of electricity prices, competitiveness and energy security, it's important for Estonia to have local production capacity — both balanced renewable energy and controllable generation — as well as storage. This mission is best carried out by a strong energy group with an integrated production and sales portfolio. That's the reason we're in the position we are today," he said, referring to the decision to buy back Enefit Green shares.

"The best competitiveness for an energy company comes from having an integrated production and sales portfolio and we don't have that in the current setup. That's exactly why we plan to make a voluntary takeover offer — to fix this situation," he added.

Durejko noted that while the money raised through Enefit Green's IPO has been invested in renewable energy production, further investment is still needed. However, Eesti Energia is currently limited in that regard. He said the company has no other choice but to bring Enefit Green back under its ownership in order to lift those restrictions.

"Unfortunately, the situation today is such that we can't continue investing because of existing limitations. But we want to remove those limits and keep investing," he said.

"We also need to add controllable capacity. Looking at the investment capacity of the group as a whole — including Enefit Green — we haven't been able to invest in controllable capacity due to restrictions. These stem from the current high debt burden, which must be addressed. We're in a better position to solve this as a fully integrated group. That's what our internal and external analyses show. We don't have another option," Durejko said.

Eesti Energia, the majority shareholder, plans to make a voluntary takeover offer to minority shareholders of Enefit Green at €3.4 per share, representing a 47 percent premium over the March 26 closing price and 27 percent above the three-month average. This move aims to fully integrate Enefit Green back into Eesti Energia to create a unified energy group combining electricity production and sales portfolios. The offer is scheduled to commence on April 8 and conclude on May 12, with payments to be made on May 16.

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