Veiko Vaske represents clients in administrative and civil court actions and advises them on organising business activities to minimise the risk of any disputes. His main focus areas are various public commercial law matters ranging from public procurements to spatial planning and environmental permits. He is one of the leading public procurement law experts in Estonia and in addition to his work as an advocate he teaches construction and planning law to future lawyers at the School of Law of the University of Tartu.
Veiko Vaske has been active in the field of law since 2002 and he has dealt with public procurement matters since 2003. From 2003 to 2007 he was a public servant at the Ministry of Finance, where he was responsible for harmonising Estonian public procurement law with European Union law. He has drafted the Public Procurement Act and several other legal instruments in the area of commercial law. He acquired diverse experience in communicating with state agencies, international organisations and European Union institutions. He represented the Republic of Estonia in the European Union legislative process upon developing public procurement directives and remedies directives. He has participated in the management and privatisation of state owned companies as a supervisory board member and audit committee member and he has represented the Ministry of Finance as a member of the Market Supervisory Council.
Between 2007 and 2012 Vaske served as a member of the Public Procurement Review Committee administering justice in the first instance in public procurement disputes. During this time he adjudicated more than 200 challenges and requests for compensation for damage. Therefore, it would be difficult to find an issue of dispute in the area of public procurements which would be new for him.
Starting from 2012 Veiko Vaske has been acting as an advocate and he has gained substantial experience in administrative and civil court actions, especially in disputes on public procurements and in the matters of planning and construction. He has represented clients in international negotiations and arbitration. Veiko helps clients to organise tender procedures and participate in public procurements, he advises clients on drafting and entry into various real estate and construction contracts, including building contracts based on FIDIC standard terms, he assists clients in complying with the environmental requirements and in procuring the required permits as well as in matters relating to infringement of fundamental rights and public authority competence. Between 2012 and 2018 he worked at law firm Sorainen.
According to Veikko Puolakainen, co-founder and partner of NOVE in charge of the area of administrative law and public procurements, the fact of Vaske’s joining the team supports the strategy of NOVE upon creation of a strong team with a diverse experience. “Vaske’s joining NOVE is a major reinforcement to our team and enables us to provide even more support to our clients in settling their matters of public commercial law, public procurements and planning. The strategy of NOVE which is based on the combination of specialisation, practical, academic and legislative experience and the ability to focus has met the expectations of clients for legal counselling. We intend to remain faithful to these three fundamental principles also in the future. This poses extremely high requirements on ourselves and those joining us in the future. Vaske satisfies these criteria to the full extent.”