Erki Savisaar associate to receive biggest sum of Center protection money
The Center Party is to give €50,000 in protection money to the nonprofit MTÜ Voore, whose board member Kristjan Sakk is a business partner of Center Party member Erki Savisaar.
With the exception of the Free Party directing its protection money to the nonprofit MTÜ Eesti Külaliikumine Kodukant, by far the largest allocation of protection money to any one object or organization this year is the €50,000 being given to MTÜ Voore by the Center Party.
The majority of allocations are between €5,000-10,000 in size, which is why the larger sum stood out. The money is to pay for the 3D modeling of Voore (Forby) Manor.
According to Creditinfo's information, MTÜ Voore is registered at Voore Manor in Saue. Listed as its board member is Kristjan Sakk, who in turn is also a board member of MTÜ Ekuubis alongside Erki Savisaar. MTÜ Ekuubis is involved in offering various 3D solutions.
Ekuubis was the subject of media attention in 2015, when investigative weekly Eesti Ekspress reported that the Information System Authority (RIA) allocated the nonprofit €243,000 for the production of "Uos," a game meant to introduce ID cards. Ekuubis put in another nearly €43,000 of its own in mandatory self-financing, but despite the large investment, the game was not a success. The amount of money allocated for the game development also raised questions at the time, as other companies offering similar services claimed they could have gotten the job done with just €30,000-60,000.
Sakk and Savisaar have cooperated elsewhere as well. Savisaar has provided training in Sakk's company Edunet, and the two have also compiled IT textbooks together as well.
Sakk does not belong to any political party.
ERR has been unsuccessful in contacting Sakk by phone since last Friday. Neither Sakk nor Savisaar have responded to questions emailed by ERR on Monday evening either.
Editor: Aili Vahtla