Estonian businessman Vjatšeslav Leedo said in his final statement in Pärnu County Court on Wednesday that the money that moved out of his shipping company remained in his group, which he is the owner of, and it is not possible to steal from oneself by transferring money from one pocket to another, the daily Postimees writes.
Saaremaa-based businessman Vjatšeslav Leedo is accused of emptying Saaremaa Shipping Company of assets when it became clear that the company was about to lose its business of running subsidized ferries between the mainland and Estonia’s largest islands.
“I want to confirm that our activities did not look like the picture the prosecutor is trying to paint here of long-term activities and world of thought. Our activities were aimed at ending Saaremaa Shipping Company’s activities with dignity and moving on with other businesses. It was never our intention to default on any of our creditors,” Leedo said.
According to the businessman, there was never any doubt that in the case of any dispute that would have been resolved to the detriment of Saaremaa Shipping Company, this money would have been paid.
“A guarantee of this was an entry in the 2016 financial year report of Holostovi Kinnisvarahaldus, which is now being ridiculed. It was written there that Saaremaa Shipping Company would be supported according to the needs of the company,” Leedo said.
In 2016, Saaremaa Shipping Company bought 12 shares of Holostovi Kinnisvarahaldus AS with a value of 5.2 million euros. The sole owner of both companies is Vjatšeslav Leedo. According to the prosecutor’s indictment, the economic condition of Saaremaa Shipping Company was damaged by this, since the only liquid assets, or money, against completely illiquid shares and the marketing or realization of these shares are practically impossible.
Leedo noted that in Estonia there is such a concept as beneficial owner, and this was a situation in which the solvency of Saaremaa Shipping Company, owned by the beneficial owner, decreased and the solvency of another company belonging to the same beneficial owner increased.
“It is impossible to steal from oneself by moving money from one pocket to another. Accusation would be justified if we had taken some assets out, for example placed them in offshore companies, but in fact this money remained in one place, on the account of the same group,” Leedo said.
In conclusion, Leedo said that he would now leave the issue to be resolved by the court.
“If the court decides that I am guilty, please consider that the rest of the staff followed my orders and these are all my decisions. I will not run away from responsibility,” he added.
Lennart Viikmaa, a former member of the supervisory board of Saaremaa Shipping Company, said in his final statement that his role as a supervisory board member was rather formal, which was confirmed by several witnesses during the trial. Viikmaa described how he became a member of the supervisory board by saying that in 2014 he started working as the manager of Saaremaa Shipping Company’s ticket center and his tasks included organizing ticket sales and access systems.
“In January 2015, Vjatšeslav Leedo proposed to me to become a member of the supervisory board of Saaremaa Shipping Company because the previous member was recalled and this position needed to be filled. According to Leedo, it was more of a formality,” Viikmaa said, adding that the entire management and support staff of Saaremaa Shipping Company operated in Saaremaa, while he lived and worked in Tallinn.
“In summary, I was not the preparer or the initiator of the actions included in the indictment, I only have a formal connection to all said actions. The decision-maker was Vjatšeslav Leedo and the decisions were implemented by the board,” Viikmaa said, adding that he did not have the knowledge to carry out the transactions highlighted in the indictment.
He added that while during the trial it was repeatedly claimed that Saaremaa Shipping Company was in a poor financial condition in 2016, this cannot be confirmed according to his knowledge. He noted that although the ferry service between the mainland and the major islands moved away from Saaremaa Shipping Company, the company participated in several tenders and was looking for new directions of activity.
“Timber transport and the servicing of wind farms were tested. I did not sense that the company was doomed,” Viikmaa said.
Former Saaremaa Shipping Company board members Tõnis Rihvk and Grete Kundrats, who are also on trial, did not issue a final statement. The court will issue a ruling in the case on Dec. 10.
The prosecutor’s office is accusing the owner of Saaremaa Shipping Company, Vjatšeslav Leedo, board members Tõnis Rihvk and Grete Kundrats and a member of the supervisory board of deliberately worsening the company’s economic situation. AS Holostovi Kinnisvarahldus, a company belonging to Leedo, is also accused as a legal entity.
According to the indictment, the defendants emptied Saaremaa Shipping Company of assets when, by early 2016, it had become clear that the company’s subsidiary Väinamere Liinid will not get further contracts from the government for operating subsidized ferry services between the mainland and Estonia’s large western islands, and that this business will be taken over by TS Laevad, a subsidiary of then fully state-owned company Tallinna Sadam.
Source: BNS
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