Former representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for finance and founder of the Laava Tech startup Tatsiana Zaretskaya has left Estonia together with her husband, Jussi Matias Pikkarainen, Nasha Niva reports. According to the outlet, the entrepreneur obtained resident status in the United Arab Emirates on June 2, 2025, while her spouse received the same status on June 10, 2025.
It is noted that the couple may in fact have moved earlier: citizens of Belarus and a number of European countries are allowed to stay in the UAE for a limited period without a visa, however, obtaining tax residency requires either an entrepreneurial visa or a work permit.
The publication also draws attention to changes in the entrepreneur’s public activity. Previously, she actively maintained her social media accounts, sharing detailed information about her travels and projects. However, since spring 2025 her Instagram account has been set to private, and her Facebook page has been cleared. On LinkedIn, where Zaretskaya had previously offered consulting services and business contacts, no new posts have appeared for about a year.
In the last publicly available photo, published in May 2025, Zaretskaya is pictured against the backdrop of the flags of the United States and Saudi Arabia. In the caption to the photo, tagged in Riyadh, she noted that she was watching “how history is being made”.
Zaretskaya is the founder of the Laava Tech startup and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. In September 2022, she joined the United Transitional Cabinet as a representative for the economy and finance, but two months later announced her departure. At the time, she explained her decision by citing numerous threats and pressure on her relatives and company employees.
It also became known recently that Zaretskaya has become a defendant in a criminal case in Estonia. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office suspects her of fraud in obtaining European Union subsidies for the development of “green” technologies. The alleged damage to the EU budget is estimated at around 450,000 euros. In addition, Brussels has demanded that the company fully repay the previously granted subsidy, amounting to more than 2 million euros.
