Татьяна Зарецкая. Фото: facebook.com/tatsiana.zaretskaya
Former representative of the United Transitional Cabinet (UTC) for finance and founder of the startup Laava Tech, Tatsiana Zaretskaya, has become the subject of a criminal case in Estonia. As reported by Ekspress.delfi, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office suspects the entrepreneur of fraud in obtaining European Union subsidies intended for the development of “green” technologies.
The case concerns Laava Tech OÜ, a company specializing in the development of energy-efficient systems for crop production. Between 2021 and 2023, the project led by Laava Tech received approximately 2.4 million euros from the European Commission. However, in 2024 the прокуратура initiated an inspection, after which suspicions emerged that damage of around 450,000 euros had been caused to the EU budget. In addition to the entrepreneur herself, two other individuals are involved in the case.
Brussels has also demanded that the company fully return the granted subsidy in the amount of more than 2 million euros. European Delegated Prosecutor Kristiina Savtšenkova stated at a hearing in the Tallinn District Court that when signs of fraud are identified, the grant provider has a legal right to recover the entire amount of allocated funds.
In December 2025, the Harju County Court ordered the freezing of the entrepreneur’s bank accounts in Estonia for up to 1.8 million euros and imposed a ban on any transactions involving her shares in Estonian companies. The defense, represented by lawyer Denis Chasovskikh, confirmed cooperation with the investigation but declined to provide detailed comments, citing the early stage of the proceedings.
Tatsiana Zaretskaya is the founder of the Laava Tech startup and was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. In September 2022, she joined the OPC as a representative for economics and finance, but two months later announced her resignation. At the time, Zaretskaya said her decision was motivated by numerous threats and pressure on her relatives and company employees.