The toothlessness of the state in retrieving money is expressly evident in the former Cultural Endowment head Avo Viiol (57) case. Having caused the state €544,879 of damage in his time, the man currently lives in Jõhvi, Ida-Viru County, and works in OÜ Viru Äriteenindus owned by himself, a company offering training and legal advice. He pays himself no salary, and withdraws dividends.
To at least get something back of Mr Viiol’s debt, Cultural Endowment and the bailiff are allowing the man to keep doing the business upon agreement that he pays about €500 a year to cover the debt. The 2013 report says Mr Viiol withdrew a total of €8,191 of dividends i.e. about €680 a month. Meanwhile, the company has accumulated nearly €30,000 of retained profits. Mr Viiol’s obligations expire by April 5th 2021. By today, he has paid back €4,777.
«Well he could actually apply methods to not pay at all. Our leverage is fragile,» admits Cultural Endowment head Olavi Laido. True: the state might apply forced sales to Mr Viiol’s share of the company, but the chances of getting anything out of it are weak.
As admitted by all parties that talked to me, the situation developed mainly has two causes to it. As in Estonia the notion of bankruptcy has been very badly defined, lion’s share of bankruptcy proceedings are initiated too late. At the same, time, once achieving private person’s bankruptcy, it is extremely easy for an individual to enter debt cancellation procedure.