Estonian opposition leader and Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar asked for financing from Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin, posing a security threat for the country, the Security Police said in a statement on its web site late Tuesday.
Savisaar, head of the Center Party, asked Yakunin to contribute 3 million euros ($4 million) to the party’s election campaign, receiving a pledge for half that amount during a meeting in Estonia in June.
The Savisaar deal was abandoned after police warned him that he might compromise himself and risk national security, the statement said.
Savisaar said he sought financing to build an Orthodox church in Tallinn, a statement on his party’s web site said. Yakunin grew up in Estonia and is a prominent Orthodox believer.
(Bloomberg, MT)
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