Estonia to host Baltics' largest AI data center as security service flags Nebius's Russian ties
Dutch company Nebius will launch the Baltic states' largest artificial intelligence data center in Estonia by the end of this year, while the security police says it will monitor risks linked to the firm's past connections to Russia.
Dutch company Nebius plans to launch the largest artificial intelligence data center in the Baltic states by the end of this year, located at the Greenergy data center in Hüüru, Harju County, Estonia. The company already operates in Finland and has projects underway in the United Kingdom, Spain and Iceland. Nebius has not disclosed the exact investment amount, but projects of this scale typically involve several billion euros. Its major clients include Microsoft and Meta.
In the first phase, the company aims to bring 22 megawatts of capacity online by the end of the year, describing it as only the first step toward further expansion, according to a Nebius spokesperson.
Government weighs security risks
Estonia's economy minister said high-tech investments are important for the country, but the government must also account for related security risks. Nebius emerged from Russian tech giant Yandex after Yandex came under sanctions over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and one of Yandex's founders, Arkady Volozh, renounced his Russian citizenship. However, some Nebius employees remain Russian citizens.
The minister noted that the state must understand that the data center will process large volumes of data that must not end up in unfriendly countries, including Russia.
Security police: won't block entry, but will flag risks
A spokesperson for Estonia's Security Police (KaPo) said the agency will not obstruct Nebius's entry into Estonia, but its task is to identify the security risks involved and propose measures to reduce them, which both the company and its partners could apply.
According to the owners of the Greenergy data center, Nebius does not plan to bring in foreign staff and will hire locally. The head of the data center operator added that they conducted their own due diligence in line with common European requirements, noting that Nebius already operates in Finland, where local security services likewise reviewed the situation and approved the cooperation.
