According to the January decision, former Minister of Economic Affairs Urve Palo did not submit false information about the 2014 ferry tender in saying that an offer by ferry operator Väinamere Liinid was €60 million more expensive than a competing offer by a subsidiary of the state-owned company Port of Tallinn which won the tender. The Supreme Court's rejection of the appeal signaled the final defeat of the contesting ferry operator.

Väinamere Liinid, owned by Estonian businessman Vjatšeslav Leedo, filed a lawsuit in September 2015 against former Minister Urve Palo over her statements regarding the 2014 public procurement tender to award the contract to operate subsidized ferries between the mainland and Western Estonia's largest two islands.

Palo, who was responsible for the tender in her capacity at the time as Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure, had said that the winning offer by Port of Tallinn subsidiaries was cheaper by €60 million over the contract period of ten years.

Väinamere Liinid had previously sought in a formal letter that Palo refute her claim regarding the outcome of the ferry tender. According to Väinamere Liinid, their offer in the procurement was more favorable than the one made by the subsidiaries of the Port of Tallinn.

On Jan. 12, the lower-level court ruled not to satisfy the action and decided that Palo had not submitted false information.

The court found that the claim that the Väinamere Liinid offer was €60 million more expensive was correct provided that the state did not use the buyout option. According to calculations by BNS, the difference in price would be €64.3 million without using the buyout option and not taking into account the current value of money. With the discount rate of 7.5 percent, the present value thereof would be €43.3 million.