Harju County Court stared the proceedings on the claim filed by ESTEVE AS
(hereinafter: ?ESTEVE") in 19.12.2019 against AS Tallinna Sadam (hereinafter:
?Tallinna Sadam") applying for compensation of the loss of revenue due to the
alleged unjustified early termination of the Old City Harbour and Paldiski South
Harbour mooring services contracts in the amount of EUR 379,768 plus accrued
interest. In addition, ESTEVE has requested the suspension of the proceedings
until the final resolution of the dispute regarding the validity of the mooring
service contracts described below.
ESTEVE has been providing mooring services at Paldiski South Harbour since
30.05.2008 and at the Old City Harbour since 23.02.2009. On 08.06.2016, Tallinna
Sadam submitted notifications for extraordinary early termination of both
contracts as of 31.12.2016 on the grounds that the former management board
members of Tallinna Sadam did not follow the procurement procedure stated by the
Public Procurement Act and thus the terms of the contracts may not correspond to
market conditions. In June 2016, a new public procurement was announced to find
a mooring service provider for both harbours, which was won by ESTEVE and with
whom new contracts were signed for the provision of mooring services in the Old
City Harbour and Paldiski South Harbour at a lower price than previous
contracts.
ESTEVE filed a claim with the Harju County Court on 26.08.2016 seeking to
establish the validity of the Paldiski South Harbour mooring service contract
and 29.08.2016 a claim for the validity of the of the Old City Harbour mooring
service contract, as WCE did not accept the extraordinary early termination of
the contracts by Tallinna Sadam. On 15.01.2020, The Tallinn District Court
issued a judgment dismissing the action brought by ESTEVE against Tallinna Sadam
in a claim for a declaration of the validity of the Old City Harbour mooring
Services Agreement and ordering ESTEVE to pay the costs of court proceedings.
ESTEVE may appeal this decision under cassation proceeding. The proceedings on
the claim regarding the validity of the Paldiski South Harbour mooring services
contract are still ongoing in Harju County Court.
The compensation claim of ESTEVE does not affect the financial results of
Tallinna Sadam, as it the company has formed a reserve since 2017 to cover the
amount of the claim and accrued interest.
Tallinna Sadam is one of the largest cargo- and passenger port complexes in the
Baltic Sea region, which in 2019 serviced 10.64 million passengers and 19.9
million tons of cargo. In addition to passenger and freight services, Tallinna
Sadam group also operates in shipping business via its subsidiaries - OÜ TS
Laevad provides ferry services between the Estonian mainland and the largest
islands, and OÜ TS Shipping charters its multifunctional vessel Botnica for
icebreaking and construction services in Estonia and offshore projects abroad.
Tallinna Sadam group is also a shareholder of an associate AS Green Marine,
which provides waste management services. Tallinna Sadam group's sales in 2018
totalled EUR 130.6 million, adjusted EBITDA EUR 74.4 million and net profit EUR
24.4 million.
Additional information:
Marju Zirel
Head of Investor Relations
AS Tallinna Sadam
m.zirel@ts.ee (mailto:m.zirel@ts.ee)
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