"Regarding the publication of such a list, the law as it stands today does not allow the state to publish these companies. To do that, the law would have to be changed," Keldo said.

According to Keldo, the Taxation Act prevents the disclosure of such companies because the information concerns company data.

"We do have annual reports that are public. If someone wishes, they can look up who provides which services, to which countries goods are exported, or with whom cooperation is carried out. But the state cannot publish such information itself — the current law does not allow it," he added.

Keldo could not say whether compiling and publishing such a database by a private individual would be lawful. "Data protection experts would have to answer that," he said.

He added that the government has not discussed whether the law should be amended to allow such lists to be published.

"We need to discuss this. At the moment, it has not been under discussion in the ministry or the government. Since the issue has now surfaced, we will look into it and talk, for example, with the Chamber of Commerce, employers, and entrepreneurs to understand their view — whether and to what extent unequal behavior among Estonian companies can be seen," Keldo said.

"Today I certainly won't say that we will do it, but I also cannot say that we won't. We need to look into what the pros and cons of such a list would be," he said.

"First, we need to understand what exactly we would make public, because there is definitely a data protection issue. If we simply publish company names, I suspect that many of those names will mean nothing to the public. In that case, do we add beneficial owners, ownership structure, shareholders, and so on? Publishing this information is not simple. The question immediately arises: what information and how much do we publish — only companies, or also the physical persons who are owners? All of this needs careful consideration. There are personal data and data protection issues, and we must consider whether this method is effective and what we aim to achieve. All of this needs to be discussed with stakeholders," Keldo said.

Keldo said he would support, as a first step, a complete ban on importing goods from Russia or Belarus at the EU level. "Publishing and public shame or condemnation would certainly put those companies under greater pressure, but I believe most entrepreneurs want equal market conditions and fair competition," he said.

The Latvian Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) will begin publishing a list (link in Estonian) of companies that export goods to Russia and Belarus or import goods from those countries every month, according to amendments to the law on supporting Ukrainian civilians adopted by the Latvian parliament, noted Latvian public broadcaster LSM.lv. The published Excel file lists 170 entities in alphabetical order.

This is not a list of companies violating international sanctions. It includes companies that continue business activities in sectors not covered by sanctions.

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