Nebius, an international technology company born from the restructuring of the Russian tech giant Yandex and headquartered in Amsterdam, is hiring in Estonia. The company is offering positions for a data centre IT manager, IT technician, IT support unit manager, IT infrastructure engineer and senior IT technician, and is also looking for a warehouse and logistics specialist.

Both Estonia's largest data centre Greenergy Data Centers and Sunly, which is building a data centre in Läänemaa, believe that if one major international client can be attracted to Estonia, others will gradually follow.

Since it became known this week that Greenergy Data Centers in Hüüru is building additional IT capacity to install artificial intelligence computing power and expand its client base beyond Estonia, journalists asked Greenergy whether they had struck a deal with Nebius.

Greenergy Data Centers' large‑client segment manager Martin Rungi did not wish to comment on the assumption, but noted that Greenergy has so far built out only a small part of its resource and that there is still a long way to go to reach the full potential of up to 300 megawatts.

"We are targeting all the names you hear in the public information space – Amazon, Microsoft, Google, they are all welcome clients. But who and when and in what volume will move here, that will be clear when the time is right. I cannot answer this question otherwise, but our ambition is to serve everyone operating in this field," Rungi said.

He added that the international market is highly supply‑constrained and Estonia has resources to offer. However, concrete agreements in this business are often not discussed publicly.

"A lot of things in our business are confidential until the parties themselves disclose them," Rungi said. "Since most clients are listed companies, they have their own rules for disclosure, and we cannot say anything until they are able to comment."

Nebius also did not provide clarification on its plans in Estonia.

Some data centre clients in Estonia will remain unknown to the public. For critical infrastructure, clients aim to keep the location of their data strictly hidden. Rungi said Greenergy is negotiating with many clients simultaneously and work is very active.

"There are always all kinds of speculations," Rungi said, adding that in this industry it is normal that information is disclosed only when a major client announces something.

Sunly also actively seeks major clients

Commenting on Nebius hiring in Estonia, Rungi said that there are several development projects in Estonia, including Greenergy, Sunly and Evecon. "There is more than one bride at this wedding," he added.

Sunly, a renewable energy company planning to build the largest data centre in the Baltics in Läänemaa, did not wish to speculate on whether Nebius might target Greenergy's Hüüru data centre as a location.

Sunly's energy centre development manager Kaarel Aus said the sector is developing rapidly. He said Sunly is also actively negotiating with potential partners.

"The need for new data centres among major technology companies is large. A few years ago, Scandinavia and Finland were not preferred destinations for data centres. Since Western and Central European electricity grids have no short‑term capacity left for new data centres, attention has shifted to Scandinavia and Finland. Now those grids are also filling up, and data centres are looking for new locations," Aus explained.

According to Rungi, the moment when Greenergy can announce the addition of a major client may come very soon, but it may also take time.

"Sometimes where there is smoke, there is no fire, but sometimes there is," he said, adding that more than one good piece of news is coming. "Our industry is such that first we lay the egg and then we cackle."

Nebius' origins are linked to Yandex

Nebius may raise questions due to its connection to the Russian technology company Yandex, as Nebius emerged after Yandex came under sanctions following Russia's full‑scale invasion of Ukraine.

In 2024, the company sold its Russian business units and adopted the name Nebius Group, headquartered in the Netherlands. Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh is one of Yandex's founders, but he has since renounced Russian citizenship.

Rungi said Nebius is being labelled with things that are not true and that it is likely the most thoroughly scrutinised organisation in the entire chain.

"Because they were once connected to Russia, their burden is so heavy that it is even harder to gain trust. Yet they have earned trust from Meta, Microsoft, the US government, Nvidia and the New York Stock Exchange," he said. "I do not understand why this labelling continues."

Greenergy has operated for ten years, the first five spent on preparation, and has since offered services to the Estonian market while also investing in international expansion. A concern is Estonia's proximity to Russia, which causes hesitation among many potential foreign clients.

"At the same time, Finland has gained clients from this world and is also a neighbour of Russia (Nebius will build one of Europe's largest AI data centres in Finland by 2028). It is also about reputation, reliability, being known and trusted," Rungi said, adding that Greenergy has held hundreds of client meetings and practically all technology companies targeted by market players have visited them.

 Aus said geopolitics is always part of negotiations with potential partners, but Estonia's membership in NATO and the European Union reduces risks for foreign partners.

Data centers could make a strong contribution to Estonia's GDP

If one major international client can be attracted to Estonia, finding additional clients will become much easier, Rungi said.

"This is a gravity business. If one comes, others follow. That is how it goes internationally; I have seen this pattern in many new markets. First come some crazy guys like us with an ambitious plan to do something that supposedly can never happen. Until the first breakthrough comes and the market develops," he said.

Aus agreed: once one major player establishes itself in the Baltics, validating the region as a data centre location, others will start looking more seriously, as has happened in Scandinavia and Finland.

"If we delay too long, until Western Europe's electricity grids catch up with demand, we will lose the opportunity to attract data centres here," Aus said.

Success, however, is hard‑won. Rungi said other countries offer tax incentives for such businesses, but Estonia does not, and there is no support from the export promotion system. He said established players are supported, but new ones do not qualify even when their ambitions are large and they have invested significant capital.

Data centres could bring substantial benefits to the state as a new economic sector. Rungi said that if Estonia's full potential were used, consuming local electricity and adding value through expertise, it would mean billions of euros annually in additional revenue for electricity companies and rental income for data centres, contributing a significant share to Estonia's GDP. The prerequisite is public acceptance.

Rungi said AI tends to be demonised, and although there are contexts where criticism is justified, accusations that data centres are to blame for energy consumption are unfair. He stressed that they do not consume energy for nothing – demand arises when people pay with a bank card or watch a film on Netflix.

"Just as a landfill is not to blame for the creation of waste, but people are, the same applies in the digital information space," he said. "We have a long way to go to make this clear."

He added that high water consumption in data centres is true in hot climates, but at Estonia's latitude, cooling is needed only for a small number of hours per year, which is a competitive advantage.

"The climate allows for much more efficient business, and in the end that means money," Rungi said.

Aus noted that Estonia currently has practically no energy‑intensive industry. For example, electricity consumption per capita in Norway is nearly four times higher than in Estonia, and in Sweden and Finland it is twice as high.

--

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