This article is good journalism - it presents both sides of an important issue appropriating viewpoints from two of the relevant parties in clear and excellent English.

I do agree to some extent with both sides.

Perhaps, Estonia could impose an local content/local manufacture or an offset series of conditions as a precondition of the winner being awarded the contract.

However, the grant money from the EU might not permit such conditions. answer

stop crying! answer

"the bidder must be an experienced train maker"

My God what an unreasonable criteria! answer

"grant money from the EU might not permit such conditions".

This is bullshit!
If you see how much totally ILLEGAL subsidy Alsthom has had from the French government it would make any Baltic effort look clean in comparison.
The fact is the Estonian government has ZERO vision and no desire to develop its own economy. It's got so used to "hand-outs" it would rather go back to the EU for money to but someone else's rolling stock than think of developing a rail industry.....

It's just laughable! Already ALL the rolling stock of the Baltic zone is Russian, and making new ones for that railway gauge would be a golden opportunity for entry into the Russian market (as Finland is developing itself with the new coming SPB-Helsinki high speed link.)
Ossinovski is absolutely correct.
"trains are like block legos", (no single manufacturer can act alone to develop Eg, the TGV or ICE projects).
I suppose if you always argue your industry can't make something "because it has no experience", then no-one would have ever started the industries for, cars, buses, trams, tyres, or anything else for that matter.
As you can see for yourself.
The first answer from any Estonian is always.

NO

Sheer negativity from start to finish, and Ossinovski is just the latest in the general trend. answer

free market?? what´s that?? heheh. this situation happens in all the "normal" countries of the world. I would like to think that Estonia is in the list of "normal" countries. Maybe your company can start by providing services to the winner of the tender and help them with local expertise.. and maybe in 20 years your company will be ready to compete with the other companies and maybe you can participate in a tender in Finland, Germany or Spain. answer

I guess Mr Ossinovski has to make a tender also to Estonian carmakers next time he needs a new car.
This is so typical " We have welders so we can make this also"
Don't scare away foreign investors from this country and let people like Mr Ossinovski keep his mouth shut. answer