BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Google

Crisis worsens poverty in eastern Europe - World Bank

By Lesley Wroughton

WASHINGTON - The global financial crisis could push 11 million more people into poverty and another 23 million to the brink of poverty in eastern Europe and central Asia by 2010, according to a new World Bank report.

The revealing study of how families are dealing with the effects of the crisis shows they are being hit by the credit market squeeze, rising prices, and growing unemployment.

"The global financial crisis risks reversing the substantial gains and improvements in living standards," said Luca Barbone, director for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management in the World Bank's Europe and Central Asia region.

The region has been among the hardest hit worldwide by the global financial turmoil that has pushed many countries into a deep economic recession. Easier access to credit during the region's economic prosperous years helped families but also exposed them to potential market shocks.

During previous crises, families could rely on second jobs or went abroad to find work but the global nature of the current crisis has made such fall-backs almost impossible.

The World Bank said middle-income countries that have experienced the largest economic contractions will also see the steepest rise in poverty.

EU appeals court ruling on Polish and Estonian emissions

BRUSSELS — The European Commission announced Thursday it would appeal against court decisions which blocked EU attempts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from Poland and Estonia.

"The commission is going to appeal... on several grounds," the EU executive arm's energy spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich told reporters in Brussels.

Most importantly Brussels argues that the European court of first instance, in its September ruling, "interpreted too narrowly" the commission's powers as regards national allocations of emissions allowances.

Poland, Estonia and other eastern EU nations rely on heavily polluting solid fuels for much of their energy needs

Six other EU countries -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania -- are pursuing a similar appeal to Poland's.

The Luxembourg-based court has ruled that the commission overstepped its authority by slashing the National Allocation Plans (NAPS) of Poland and Estonia, by more than a quarter and almost half respectively.

Have a look inside your body

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - Our bodies are our most important possession. They are intricately developed machines; more complex and wondrous than all the computers and gadgetry we surround ourselves with today. Yet, many of us do not know what makes us tick - how we function, what we need to survive, what destroys us, what revives us.
For nearly 35,000 years, since the first known depiction of the human form, we have been fascinated by our own bodies. Through the ages artists have sought to represent the body through sculptures, paintings, prints and sketches. The “Bodies Revealed” exhibition  now presents the real thing!

From Nov. 13 to Feb. 28, Tallinn is hosting the world-known international exhibition called “Bodies Revealed,” which is a phenomenal exhibition about the amazing and complex machine we call the human body. This is an opportunity for those that don’t understand the science behind a lot of the exhibits to learn about the body.
Tallinn’s Solaris Center welcomes all its visitors and guests to take part in this exhibition, organized by Dr. Roy Glover, a former anatomy professor at the University of Michigan, and Premier Exhibition, Inc. The exhibition features real human bodies and organs that have been donated to medical science.

Tallinn public transport going up from January 1st, 2009

TALLINN — Sorry suburban commuters! While residents will pay the same rate, visitors using the Tallinn public transportation system will pay more starting from January 2010.

Tallinn’s municipal government proposed a regulation Wednesday increasing public transportation prices for city’s non-residents to raise additional money while avoiding extra costs for residents coping with the economic crisis.

The price of a monthly pass will stay at 290 krooni (€18) for residents but go up to 365 krooni (€23.33) for non-residents. The quarterly pass will also increase 20 percent. Students living outside Tallinn will loose their discount monthly pass of 115 krooni (€7.30) and have to pay the full amount.

Residents aren’t totally off the hook, though. One hour tickets will be raised by one kroon to 16 krooni (€1.02) from ticket vendors and 22 krooni (€1.40) from bus drivers.

The state does not offer financial support for municipal transportation routes within city limits and only 30 percent for routes leaving city limits. All expenses of public transport in Tallinn have to be covered from city’s budget and ticket sales revenues.

The Tallinn Transportation Authority did not respond to requests for comment on the price hike.

Kai Joost

Poor man status awaits if Estonia adopts euro too soon

TALLINN - Rapid accession to the eurozone is a trap for the future economic development of Estonia, says Professor of Nord Academy Ivar Raig, reports news agency LETA.

He says that while most Estonian politicians and economists claim that euro adoption would promote business confidence towards Estonia, drawing in new investment leading to a reduction of unemployment, the euro would actually stall economic growth and structural reforms, and end up increasing social problems and unemployment.

Craftsmanship surging in Estonia

By Liina Lelmi

TALLINN - Estonia is known for its innovativeness and eagerness to adopt and invent new technologies. Yet the old and the traditional has not at all been forgotten. Among the Nordic capitals, only Tallinn and Lubeck have far-reaching roots in the history of marzipan.

The recipe for marzipan was invented in Hanseatic Tallinn by a student at Town Hall Apothecary, which is also known as the oldest apothecary in the world. Since then marzipan (originally Marci Panis) has been produced in Tallinn. When visiting Tallinn, it is suggested to go to one of the two marzipan museums in Tallinn, on Pikk street 16, or Viru street 4, where one can shape all sorts of marzipan figures. These are popular places for celebrating children’s birthdays among the locals. Also, Estonia’s biggest chocolate manufacturer Kalev had its start, in 1806, in Pikk street’s marzipan boutique in the Old Town. Kalev celebrates its 203rd birthday this year.

As for handmade sweets, the selection is wide. Chocolaterie Cafe on Vene street 6 offers a Parisian atmosphere along with handmade chocolates made on site, with almost religious care. It is told that the owner of the chocolaterie, Peeter Reier, learned the “sweet art” from an old master of Brussels, and his truffles are definitely worth tasting.

A new and growing trend in Estonia is to eat chocolate to stay healthy. Healing handmade chocolate bars and truffels are produced by Kolleste Kommimeistrid in the southern Estonian town Polvamaa. There is no magic behind the recipe, but there is science. The handmade chocolate bars contain pollen, propolis, or honey, and are copyrighted by the company as being unique, and are sold in pharmacies. It is known that propolis carries similar healing properties as do weaker antibiotics, able to kill over 100 different viruses. But antibiotics also kill the “good viruses,” while propolis removes the “bad.”

Brothel Watch

Two years ago, a women's rights organization claimed there were 60 to 100 brothels operating in Tallinn , the capital of the former Soviet Republic of Estonia. The police cracked down, and now it's believed there are fewer than half that number. You can't deny the progress, but if you look at the numbers for very long (old or new, take your pick), you start to see brothels everywhere. You start to think your neighbors are operating bordellos. Which mine actually happen to be.

I live in what is supposedly one of the more upscale residential suburbs. It's a small enough neighborhood that I know most foreign residents. At the beginning of last summer I heard English spoken on my neighbor's deck. They were just over the fence, through the hedge. The accents and voices changed daily, and it struck me as a very social family.

I wondered if I should I stick my head over the fence and introduce myself? "Hi, I'm Scott. Strange we haven't met before." But for some reason I didn't. Something held me back.

"It's probably a brothel," my wife said. "There's one up by the petrol station which they just closed. They're all over."

A week later, I ordered a taxi and got a driver who liked to talk. He was 70 years old, had been driving since Soviet time.

Exclusive : Celtic start rebuilding programme as Puri and Ki Sung-Yong arrive

Keith Jackson and Neil Cameron

Tony Mowbray's Celtic revolution moved a massive stride closer yesterday when TWO new Boys checked into Glasgow.

Record Sport was the only newspaper to greet Korean kid Ki Sung-Yong when he arrived last night to seal his £2million move from FC Seoul.

Earlier Mowbray sprang a major surprise when he unveiled wing wizard Sander Puri.

The 21-year-old Estonian is out of contract with Levadia Tallinn and after failing to clinch a move to Borussia Dortmund, he is on trial at Lennoxtown, hoping to strike a deal with the Hoops.

Puri has been on Celtic's radar all season after impressing Mowbray's scouts with a dazzling international display against Brazil in August.

He is also being tracked by Werder Bremen but should Celtic win the race for the youngster they would still have to cough up compensation to Tallinn.

HIV experts voice concerns on World Aids Day

Enlarging NATO, Expanding Confusion ...!

Berlin - Twenty years ago, dictatorships across Central and Eastern Europe toppled. During this season of remembering, the focus has rightly been on celebration of the new freedoms gained by the inhabitants of those countries: to speak freely, to travel, to vote and to choose their own national futures and alliances. Yet the legacy of 1989 has difficult aspects as well, mostly centering on the origins and legitimacy of later NATO expansion to former East German and Warsaw Pact territory; acknowledgment of them by the United States could greatly improve American and Russian relations.

Moscow has long asserted that the Soviet Union allowed Germany to unify only in return for a pledge from Washington never to expand the Atlantic alliance. Former advisers to Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have transcended partisan differences in dismissing the Russian claim. An internal State Department review during the Clinton era concluded that no legally binding prohibition on NATO enlargement emerged from the era of German unification.

Since then, however, it has become possible to reconstruct what happened from first-hand evidence. Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany released the papers of his office, which inspired the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to publish many of his own. A number of other leaders and institutions also opened files in advance of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall: the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library, Secretary of State James Baker, the German Foreign Ministry and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office among them.

Estonian Air celebrates its birthday!

Estonian Air is celebrating its 18-year birthday on 1 December 2009. Therefore Estonian Air makes a gift to all its customers and offers until 6 December 2009 birthday fares to Estonian Air flights. In addition, flight tickets for two into one of Estonian Air direct destinations will be drawn among players of the birthday game.

In the event of full age Estonian Air is offering really sweet prices! One-way fares to Tallinn from: 

Stockholm from 833 SEK*

Oslo from 644 NOK*

Amsterdam from 90.05 EUR*

Copenhagen from 627 DKK*

Berlin from 82.07 EUR*

London from 78.32 GBP*

Vilnius from 307 LTL*

Munich from 84.84 EUR*

Brussels from 100.8 EUR*

Kiev from 134.75 USD*

Milan from 90.26 EUR* flights from 27 February to 27 March 2010.

St Petersburg from 86.44 EUR*

Moscow from 86.2 EUR*

*One-way fares, inclusive of all taxes and fees if purchased from Estonian Air’s home page, the number of seats sold with the campaign fares is limited.

Tallinn - January 19th-24th, 2010 : ISU European Figure Skating Championships

The ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2010 will be held in Tallinn, Estonia between January 19th and 24th 2010. The venue of Saku Suurhall will be a stage for Europe’s best skaters competing for a title of European Champion just one month before the Olympic Games in Vanouver. It is great opportunity to see all your favourites and witness the performances of future Olympic Champions.

Estonian Skating Union and city of Tallinn are privileged to invite the skaters, coaches, officials, media and all the guests to Tallinn. The organizing committe welcomes you to take part in this exciting event in Tallinn. See you soon!

Tallinn should tax tourism industry : Sulev Mäeltsemees

Cash-strapped City of Tallinn should consider imposing new taxes on the tourism industry, says Sulev Mäeltsemees.

In an interview to municipal newspaper that is published by the Tallinn City Government, Mäeltsemees who has been chairman of the Tallinn City Council says that the city needs to introduce new local taxes or issue bonds to overcome the budget shortage.

Many large towns tax hotels, for instance, When a tourist visits the town and spends thousands in local restaurants, 10% to the local government budget may go unnoticed. And tourists are using services subsidised by local government during their stay," he added.

The right to impose local taxes is the prerogative of local governments," added Mäeltsemees.

Tallinn City Government is due to discuss its 2010 budget today. City government officials have promised to issue a press statement after the meeting.

Savisaar to introduce sales tax and boat tax in Tallinn

Tallinn City Government is proposing new local taxes in Tallinn for next year to bring more revenues into the budget.

According to the next year's draft budget that was submitted to the Tallinn City Council today, the city's next year's budget will be 7 billion kroons.  

In spite of poor budget revenues, the city is confident that it will succeed in balancing the budget by introducing new taxes.

Starting from July 2010, Tallinn will introduce a sales tax for traders and retailers which is expected to bring in 150 million kroons. Sales tax will be paid by natural persons who are self-employed in trade business or service sector and by legal persons that operate in the retail, catering or service segment.  

Tallinn will also introduce a boat tax payable by owners of yachts and boats that are up to 12 metres long.  

Tallinn : a girl's guide to the best bars, hotels and restaurants

This pinch-yourself perfect walled capital is the most intact medieval city in Europe. In November and December its snow-covered streets are crammed with Christmas stalls.

Stay

The smartest address in town is the Schlössle Hotel, a super-luxe retreat where everyone from Sting to Soros has stayed over the years. If your budget doesn't stretch to a stay, splash out on the best dinner in the city at the sublime Stenhaus restaurant.

• From €169 (schlossle-hotels.com/schlossle)

The chic Three Sisters hotel, in three adjacent town houses, is not for the shy and retiring. Think modern décor, hip music and a clientele to match.

• From €159 (threesistershotel.com)

Eat

Estonian chefs have embraced the cuisines of the world with a vengeance, but their take on Italian is particularly inspiring. Try it at Controvento (controvento.ee) and Bocca (bocca.ee)

For an incredible authentic Russian menu – including the best-ever blinis – visit the old-world Restaurant Nevskij (nevskij.ee)

Drink

Find the best cocktail list in town, and a cool jazz-loving clientele, at Basso (basso.ee)