The renewed management board of AS E-Piim Tootmine, led by CEO Anti Orav, has been working since December 2025 to stabilize the company's situation in order to provide owners and creditors with an opportunity to find a solution to its liquidity problems outside of bankruptcy proceedings.

Over the past couple of months, negotiations have been underway among the company's owners. However, last week SCE E-Piim cooperative decided not to accept an offer from a Dutch shareholder. At the same time, several companies have expressed interest in acquiring AS E-Piim Tootmine's business operations through bankruptcy proceedings.

"The management of AS E-Piim Tootmine is doing everything in its power to keep the team and production running during the bankruptcy process as the best way to preserve the value of the company's assets is to maintain operations. It is critical in this process to ensure the continued procurement of milk and payment to dairy farmers for it," Orav said.

At the beginning of February, the sale of the Paide cheese factory to Dutch investor and shareholder A-Ware was under consideration.

In a letter sent to employees, Orav said there are currently no plans to begin layoffs.

Speaking on February 5, Anti Orav said the dairy plant had already been operating at a loss the year before last as its construction required significantly more resources than originally planned.

Peep Peterson, chairman of the management board of SCE E-Piim, added that as of the beginning of the year, E-Piim's debt stood at €29 million.

The Estonian state contributed €15 million toward the construction of the Paide dairy plant.

AS E-Piim Tootmine is Estonia's largest cheese producer, capable of processing up to 1,000 metric tons of raw milk per day. More than 90 percent of its output is exported.

The recently launched cheese factory in Paide is one of the most modern in Europe and since its opening the company's sales revenue has more than tripled. The company employs nearly 200 people in total. In addition to the new Paide cheese factory, it has production units in Põltsamaa and Järva-Jaani.

The company's majority shareholder is SCE E-Piim cooperative, which holds approximately a 73 percent stake, while 25 percent is owned by Meierei, a company belonging to two Dutch firms. SCE E-Piim cooperative is owned by around 100 Estonian and Latvian farmers.

Minister: Government wants E-Piim's Paide plant retained

Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry Erkki Keldo (Reform) said that both the ministry and the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS) are prepared to assist AS E-Piim Tootmine to ensure that its Paide dairy plant can continue operating based on Estonian capital.

"E-Piim is a critically important plant from a food security perspective and we want it to continue operating after bankruptcy," Keldo said.

"Given the previous unfortunate disputes between the owners, it would be positive to see the plant operating on the basis of Estonian capital as this would ensure better and smoother cooperation with Estonian dairy producers. We have already begun working behind the scenes to find a possible solution and are holding discussions with various banks and entrepreneurs," he added.

According to Keldo, it is important that locally produced raw materials be maximally processed in Estonia. "This provides our milk producers and processors with greater compensation for their work and creates jobs. No one wants us to sell the milk from Estonian cows cheaply abroad where the real profits are made," he said.

"We are ready to support entrepreneurs with the advice and assistance of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Industry and EIS in order to reach swift solutions together with all parties involved."

The article was updated to add comments from Minister Erkki Keldo.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!