"The committee considered today the basis for calculating the monetary value of the prohibited donation and agreed that we will use Postimees' own rate card, specifically the price intended for content marketing with video production," Liisa Oviir, chair of the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK), told ERR on Thursday.

Oviir could not specify the exact amount, as it must be calculated by the committee's technical staff. However, she stated that it would certainly be in the thousands of euros, since 14 episodes of the program "Varivalitsus" ("Shadow Cabinet"), hosted by Reinsalu, have already aired on Postimees Online. Each episode runs about 30 minutes.

At its April meeting, the ERJK decided — after receiving information from Reinsalu — to continue proceedings related to the "Varivalitsus" program and to determine the monetary value of the prohibited donation associated with it. On Thursday, the committee formally decided to base this calculation on Postimees' pricing.

According to Postimees' web advertising department, a 3-5-minute content marketing video, including on-site filming and an accompanying article, might cost around €2,000. However, when asked specifically about the cost of Reinsalu's program, they replied that it is editorial content provided by the newsroom and therefore carries no cost.

Following Thursday's decision, the ERJK will send Reinsalu a letter of notice, outlining the committee's arguments for why they believe this constitutes a violation of the Political Parties Act. The letter will also include an estimate of the monetary value of the prohibited donation. Reinsalu will have the opportunity to respond to each point and the committee may re-evaluate the case based on his objections.

"And then, once we have received those responses and analyzed them, a final decision will be made on whether we issue a formal injunction, which in our view is final and which states whether the donation amount must be repaid to the donor. That decision can only be challenged in court. This is standard procedure in administrative proceedings," Oviir explained to ERR in April. An injunction may be contested within 30 days of the committee's decision.

Urmas Reinsalu told ERR that he had not yet seen the official decision from the ERJK, but would likely challenge it.

"I have not yet seen the committee's decision in writing, but if what the committee chair said orally is accurate, then of course I intend to present my arguments. I will submit my arguments in writing, and if the committee does not accept them, then every citizen of the Republic of Estonia has the right to turn to the courts to defend their rights," Reinsalu said.

ERJK to continue processing Ossinovski's hockey advert

On Thursday, the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee also decided to continue proceedings against Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) regarding a prohibited donation related to his appearance in advertisements promoting an international ice hockey tournament. Posters featuring Ossinovski's face encouraged spectators to attend the matches of the Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group B tournament held in Tallinn.

"We received Jevgeni Ossinovski's own explanation. And the committee's fairly unanimous position was that we certainly do not object if the City of Tallinn wants to support sports — there are many respectable ways to do that. [But] in the case of this particular advertisement, the focus was not on the City of Tallinn, but on a specific high-profile politician: Jevgeni Ossinovski. Committee members felt that this was, in fact, personal promotion. Therefore, the committee decided to continue the proceedings and issue a letter of notice to Jevgeni Ossinovski," ERJK chair Liisa Oviir told ERR.

According to her, the committee's letter of notice will outline the issue, relevant legal provisions and an estimate of the value of the possible prohibited donation. The person involved will then have the right to file objections, return the value of the prohibited donation as specified in the letter or to dispute the arguments presented.

"The committee will then have to reanalyze the case in the next stage if the person has not returned the prohibited donation and submitted proof of this, but has instead submitted counterarguments. If the committee maintains its original position, it will issue a formal injunction, which, from the committee's standpoint, is a final document," Oviir explained. However, she added, it is also possible that the committee may accept the person's arguments and close the proceedings.

Through a spokesperson for the Tallinn city government, Jevgeni Ossinovski told ERR that he intends to challenge the ERJK's decision.

"Transparent political financing is an important value, and the ERJK undoubtedly plays a key role in upholding it. Unfortunately, it seems that the committee has recently had difficulty distinguishing between real and perceived problems," the mayor stated.

"Unlike a civil servant, a politician always has a broader societal role in addition to their official duties. I was asked to pose for a few photos in hockey gear for use in a campaign to promote ice hockey ahead of the World Championship tournament. Since the event was part of the Capital of Sport program, I was happy to take part. As mayor, I place great emphasis on promoting a variety of sports. The claim that this was self-promotion is absurd," Ossinovski emphasized.

"I do not agree with the committee's decision. It's complete nonsense — we'll see each other in court," the Tallinn mayor concluded.

Võrklaev needs to pay €5,000

ERJK also decided to issue a formal injunction to former Minister of Finance Mart Võrklaev (Reform) for his appearance in a television advertisement for Skoda vehicles. The amount he is required to repay is expected to be around €5,000. The injunction is the final stage of the ERJK's proceedings and can only be contested in court.

"This case has now reached the final phase of the administrative procedure. Last month, we sent Mart Võrklaev a letter of notice outlining the committee's substantive and legal positions, including our assessment of the total value of the prohibited donation," said ERJK chair Liisa Oviir.

The committee received a response from Võrklaev, but according to Oviir, it did not satisfy the ERJK. She said the response largely reiterated arguments he had already made, which had been addressed in the letter of notice.

"As a result, the committee concluded that the objections did not bring forth any new information that had not already been considered when determining that this was a prohibited donation. The committee upheld its position, which led to the decision to issue an injunction requiring Mart Võrklaev to repay the prohibited donation," Oviir explained.

When asked about the amount demanded from Võrklaev, Oviir said it would be slightly under €5,000.

Võrklaev appeared as himself in an episode of the comedy series "Alo," filmed at a Skoda dealership operated by Rohe Auto. The company later shared a clip from the episode on social media with a caption encouraging people to buy a new car before the implementation of the car tax. Võrklaev has maintained that his appearance in the Skoda advertisement did not constitute political promotion.

Mart Võrklaev also told ERR on Thursday evening that he had not yet seen the ERJK's decision but disagreed with the conclusions reported in the media and fully intends to take the matter to court. "It's clear — I'm going to court," he emphasized.

The article was updated to add comments from Urmas Reinsalu, Jevgeni Ossinovski and Mart Võrklaev.

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