BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

ESTONIA Business : Week 7, 2005

WEEK 7. 2005

Monday, 14th of February, 2005

Estonian Air had 40,024 passengers in January
In January, Estonian Air served 38,538 passengers on its regular routes and 1486 on charter flights. Compared to last year’s January, the number of route passengers grew by fifth. Most passengers were served on routes of Copenhagen, Stockholm and London.
Äripäev

Tuesday, 15th of February, 2005

Cargo volume of Spacecom reached 535,933 tons
Railway cargo company AS Spacecom transported 535,933 tons of oil products in January. A year ago, the volume was 474,629 tons. In total, Spacecom’s cargo volume amounted 2.4 million in five months of 2004. Last year’s turnover of Spacecom that was established in spring of 2003 reached EEK 281.4 million.
Äripäev

Thursday, 17th of February, 2005

Sweets factory Kalev made profit
Estonia's largest sweets factory Kalev ended the first half of its 2004/2005 financial year with a net profit of EUR 0.46 million (EEK 7.2 million). A year earlier the company made a loss of EEK 6.9 million.
EPL

Estonia still the most successful country in Eastern Europe
According to some of the leading indexes and rankings, Estonia is the most successful reformer in Eastern and Central Europe. Estonia owes its success to its economic reforms, stability and innovation, says Andres Sutt, vice president of Bank of Estonia, adding that this is thanks to maintaining a clear economic policy since 1991 regardless of the current government.
BBN

Turnover of Viking Window over EEK 95 million
AS Viking Window, manufacturer of wooden windows and doors achieved a net turnover of EEK 95.2 million in 2004. The result in 2003 was EEK 75.6 million. In 2004, company’s profit before taxes reached EEK 10.7 million, whereby the respective number in 2003 was EEK 10 million. According to this year’s prognosis the turnover will grow up to EEK 119 million and profit before taxes would reach EEK 12 million.
Äripäev

Friday, 18th of February, 2005

Loan portfolios up by 40 percent
Low interest rates and consumption boom have kept the banks’ loan portfolios growing rapidly. According to banking statistics, aggregate loan portfolio of banks went up by 40 percent last year.
Äripäev

Export increased the sale of construction materials
The sale of construction materials went up 17 percent last year, well above expectations. Producers of construction materials say that growth came from large exports. Total sales of construction materials exceeded EEK 6 billion that was 1 billion more than in 2003.
Äripäev

What the Baltic Press says about Russia

Tallinn : The press and politicians are still up in arms about the invitation to the Baltic leaders to visit the May 9 celebrations in Moscow devoted to the 60th anniversary of the victory in World War II. "As an EU member, Estonia should send a representative to Moscow. Our EU partners will do the same, and we are a single European union. A representative, I stress. I did not say 'president' ... If we do not attend the May 9 celebrations, it will present a negative image of Estonia as a 21st-century country." (M.Mikko, European Parliament member from Estonia, Pärnu Postimees, February 11.)

There is still a huge flow of articles on the border treaty between Russia and Estonia. The press continues to debate the Tartu peace treaty and Russia's alleged illegal occupation of Estonian territory. "Even if not a single Estonian lives on that territory, the Estonian state forever has the right to that land." (SL Ohtuleht, February 11.)

"Many of those people who are demanding that the borders should be restored to those under the Tartu peace treaty have no idea what we will do with the territories that now belong to Russia. They have become wastelands, and we will need to reconstruct infrastructure. It will take billions of kroons to make them suitable for life." (Eesti Paevaleht, February 11.)

Estonia : Tourism Farms

Tourismfarms (B&B) in Estonia - Gites ruraux.

Get an idea of what you can get and visit their sites, please.

Androver OÜ :

Andu Matkamaja :

Anno Turismitalu :

Hansu Turismitalu :

Ilmatsalu motell :

Jaagu Turismitalu :

Jurna Turismitalu :

Kaju Puhkemaja :

Kanarbiku Turismitalu :

Kerepäälse Turismitalu :

Perepuhkus Kiidi puhkemajas :

Kiige Turismitalu :

Kirsioja talu :

Kivisaare Ratsatalu :

Koodi Puhketalu :

Loodusravikeskus Pansionaat Loodus :

Lutsu Turismitalu :

Mare Turismitalu :

Maria talu :

Mesikamäe talu :

Mokko Turismitalu :

Oidremaa Mõis :

Pauna Turismitalu :

Partsilombi Puhkemaja :

Piusa Urgoru Puhkemaja :

Pühassoo Turismitalu :

Riida Turismitalu :

Roosi Turismitalu :

Sangaste Loss :

Seeba Turismitalu :

Setomaa Turismitalu OÜ :

Süvahavva Loodustalu :

Tolli Turismitalu :

Tooraku Turismitalu :

Vahelaane Turismitalu :

Vahtraoru Turismitalu :

Vana-Jaani Turismitalu :

Väike-Trommi Talu :

Külalistemaja Varjula :

Veskimägi Turismitalu :

Vidrik Kivi Turismitalu :

Villa Linda :

Viruna Ökoturismitalu :

Emajõgi Riverland

  Once upon a time Vanemuine got angry at birds and animals because they did not enjoy life but were quarreling and fighting with one another.

The Old Man decided to appoint a king to rule over them. The animals were ordered to dig a river so that the King could live on the bank of it. The river had to be beautiful and deep, there had to be hills and valleys, shadowy woods and meadows along its banks to delight the King.

The animals started working as ordered by the Old Man. The Hare ran first, and the Fox, drawing a line on the ground, followed her. In this way the location of the river was chosen. The Mole broke the ground, the Badger dredged it and the Wolf smoothed the bottom of the river. The Bear heaped up the soil and sand.

As soon as the animals were ready with their work, Vanemuine took a golden ladle, poured water into the riverbed and told the waters the direction into which they had to flow. This is how the Emajõgi river, a symbol of Tartu county, was born.

Outgoing on the Emajõgi river running in between Lake Peipsi and Lake Võrtsjärv

Second World War Estonian Soldiers : Archives of some many many pictures

Peeter Bush - Eesti Elu (CA)

There are some very interesting websites that have appeared in Estonia. I accidentally stumbled across one recently at www.hot.ee/laging/.

               Vaino Kallas

The website consists of an extensive photo album put together by Vaino Kallas. The photos were taken by Karl Hintzer who taught at the Tartu Hugo Treffneri Gümnaasium and was later a photographer with the Estonian war correspondents attached to German forces. His archive consists of almost 24,000 photos and it is now in Germany in the Herder Institute photo archives.

I think that many of my generation that were born outside Estonia and are interested in Estonian history will enjoy viewing the extensive photos, and no, not all 24,000 have been posted. The subject matter, clarity and overall high quality of these old photos is astounding and a testament to the skill of Mr. Hintzer.

            
The subject material is tasteful and is does not to my mind suggest any endorsement of or glorification of Nazi Germany or fascism. It is interesting to note that invariably, units made up of Estonians retained the old prewar style of saluting, doubtless to the irritation of the German authorities in charge.

Most poignant are the pictures of youngsters on their way to the front, many don’t look like they had started shaving, yet they managed to hold off the Red Horde at the 1944 Narva area battles for a very long time despite being heavily outnumbered.

Most accounts of these major Second World War battles suggest that every battalion defending Estonian territory faced an opposing Red Army division. For those of you unfamiliar with army organization, that meant that there were at least nine Soviet attackers to be dealt with by a single defender.

The horrendous losses by the Soviets at Estonia’s border probably go a long way towards explaining Russian past and current antipathy towards Estonians who stubbornly resisted being “liberated”. One has to wonder though at the type of commander that would simply deliberately throw wave after wave of human “cannon fodder” fueled with vodka and urged on from behind at gunpoint by NKVD units specially trained for the task.

Over the decades we, the younger generations, have become used to seeing our “võitlejad” (veterans) as older men and it comes as a bit of a shock to see how very young many of them were. Unfortunately, every passing year now sees less of them showing up for events.

Estonian Independence Day is almost upon us and now would be a good time to visit the web site and actually see what these people looked like, many of them seen for the last time on the way to the front.

The website has not yet been translated into English but the pictures speak for themselves. Many photos lack captions identifying people and Mr. Kallas is hoping that he will get assistance from readers in this regard.      
To Peeter Bush's mind anyway, a site well worth visiting for all age groups.

                                                            
                                                               Karl Hintzer

Rein Lang nominated as Foreign Minister

TALLINN – Prime Minister Juhan Parts on Friday nominated Rein Lang for the post of foreign minister, saying that the Reform Party member had the potential to explain the foreign policy.

“Foreign policy needs to be explained to people, in this regard Lang has more potential than the dismissed foreign minister,” Parts said on a Kanal 2 talk show on Thursday in reference to the former minister, Kristiina Ojuland, whom he sacked last week.

Parts will hand his nomination to President Arnold Rüütel on Sunday, the governmental press service said. He said in a statement that, if confirmed, Lang faced great challenges as foreign minister, since accession to the European Union and NATO had not diminished but increased the importance of the country’s foreign policy.

“Estonia's foreign policy must be consistent, purposeful and realistic,” Parts added.

The prime minister met with Lang on Thursday to dispel doubts about the candidate’s tendency to make emotional remarks. As Parts said, a foreign minister cannot afford to make emotional statements. “To my mind, Lang has realized that he cannot say anything that occurs to him in every situation.”

Lang told TV3 television news that it had not been his duty to persuade the prime minister that he was the right person for the job, saying it was the party’s obligation to do that for him. “We talked about what men usually discuss among themselves. It was a constructive conversation. Among other things we talked about foreign policy, and our views are close to each other in that respect,” Lang said.

He also said the two talked about recent statements at which Res Publica, Parts’ party, could take offense. “I believe that in Estonian political culture it is necessary to speak about things directly, not holding an axe behind your back,” Lang said.

MOL expands into the Baltics

MOL Europe has announced the appointments of agents in Europe for the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The move is consistent with MOL’s policy to consider opportunities to extend its range of services globally.

(2/18/2005)

Effective 1st March 2005, MOL will extend the existing relationship with Samskip Russia (based in St. Petersburg and Moscow) to the Baltic States, where Samskip have their own offices.

“The Baltic States are currently experiencing tremendous economic growth, and MOL will now be able to offer an improved service into this fast developing region,” said Jochen Veldmann, MOL’s regional managing director & general manager. “Over the last three years, we have built up a very good working relationship with Samskip, making them the ideal choice to represent us in the Baltic.”

MOL, with its partners in The New World Alliance, currently serves northern Europe with four fixed-day weekly services to the Far East and two fixed-day weekly trans-Atlantic trade services, and offers an extensive feeder network to a wide range of ports and countries worldwide.

Author : Newsdesk / eyefortransport.com

Estonia Rejects TeliaSonera Bid for Eesti Telekom

By Jari Tanner, Associated Press Writer

Estonia's Government Rejects TeliaSonera Offer for Eesti Telekom Shares, Citing Low Offer

TALLINN (AP) -- The government on Thursday refused to sell its remaining stake in Eesti Telekom to TeliaSonera Corp., calling the company's bid too low.

"The government has made this decision today because the offer isn't economically feasible," the prime minister's office said.

TeliaSonera didn't immediately comment.

In December, Nordic telecom TeliaSonera increased its ownership in Eesti Telekom to just more than 50 %, triggering a requirement that it make an offer to buy the company's outstanding shares.

Stockholm-based TeliaSonera offered EUR 7.02 (US$ 9.48) per share for the rest of Eesti Telekom's 68.9 million shares, valuing them at EUR 484 million (US$ 653.4 million). Shares of Eesti Telekom closed at EUR 8.04 (US$ 10.85) on the Tallinn bourse Wednesday.

The Estonian government currently holds a 27.2 % stake in Eesti Telekom, which is Estonia's biggest provider of fixed-line and mobile telephony services through its Elion and EMT subsidiaries. It has more than 1 million customers in the Baltic state.

Besides Eesti Telekom, TeliaSonera has a substantial ownership in Latvia's and Lithuania's key telecommunications companies Lattelekom and Lietuvos Telekomas. It also owns stakes in telecom operators in Russia, Turkey and central Asia.

TeliaSonera has 12 million wireless subscribers in the Nordic and Baltic countries and operates more than 8 million land lines in Sweden and Finland. The governments of Sweden and Finland own 64 % of TeliaSonera.

Social Security Agreement between Estonia and Canada

OTTAWA, Feb. 18 /CNW Telbec/ - Ken Dryden, Minister of Social
Development, and Marko Pomerants, Minister of Social Affairs from the Republic
of Estonia, will sign the Agreement to ensure citizens of both countries
receive the pensions they have earned from Canada and Estonia.

    Photo opportunity during the signing.

    Both Ministers will be available to answer questions from the media
following the signing.   

DATE : Monday, February 21, 2005

EU warns Germany, Italy, France, Poland on deficits

BRUSSELS : European Union finance ministers cautioned France, Germany and Italy yesterday they could face budget deficit problems in the medium term unless the euro area’s three biggest economies do more to cut spending.

In an annual assessment of 11 member states’ fiscal plans, the ministers endorsed the view of the European Commission that the three countries had done too little to achieve the bloc’s goal of working towards balanced budgets in the medium term.

France and Germany have been under the Commission spotlight since 2002 for breaching the budget deficit ceiling of 3 per cent of gross domestic product, but have not been sanctioned.

Among countries not in the euro zone, the ministers praised Denmark, Slovakia and Estonia.

Warsaw’s “convergence plan” was unlikely to reach its target of lowering the deficit to below the 3 per cent cap in 2007. – Reuters

Western ESTONIA for QUADS

Choose many activities : Quads, Hiking, Fishing, Canoes, Paintball, Ball games, Sauna.

Check the 2 mn Video and enjoy.

REIU PUHKEKESKUS OÜ

Telefon:	+372 445 5206
Faks:	+372 442 6764
Aadress:	Jõekalda 13, Paikuse, Paikuse vald

reiu@reiu.ee

ESTONIA : Interim Foreign Minister : Jaak Jõerüüt

Tallinn :

As of 11 February 2005, Defence Minister Jaak Jõerüüt will also act as Foreign Minister.

Minister hopes HansaBank doesn’t leave exchange

From wire reports

TALLINN - Finance Minister Taavi Veskimagi said that the government should be concerned about the Estonian security market’s stake if Hansabank is delisted as a result of Swedbank’s buyout offer.

PARTS, ruling coalition survive crisis

Aleksei Gunter

TALLINN - Juhan Parts successfully survived an attempt by coalition allies to squeeze him out of the prime minister’s chair after President Arnold Ruutel supported his decision to sack Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland.

At a meeting on Feb. 14 Parts and Reform Party Chairman Andrus Ansip agreed that the coalition must continue as before, despite Ansip’s previous calls that the Reformists would only stay on board if Parts stepped down.

Ansip told reporters that the senior coalition partner also reassured him that key promises made by the Reformists, such as decreasing income-tax rates and keeping the parental allowance intact, would be kept

According to reports, Ansip caved in after being reassured that the prime minister would not dismiss another minister without first discussing it with coalition partners

Ansip and other Reform Party members were irate that Parts, from Res Publica, had fired Kristiina Ojuland without consulting them.

Ojuland is a talented politician and, having served as foreign minister during Estonia’s accession to NATO and the European Union, is well-respected abroad.

Confronted with the Reformists’ indignation and Ojuland’s refusal to hand in her resignation, Parts stuck to his guns and appealed to President Ruutel, who backed the prime minister.

ESTONIA : What scares the West ..... !!

In reply to http://www.livejournal.com/users/malgrep/

Kanahakkliha : everyone will know in seeing the "mpg" advert that this is "poultry minced meat". But check it yourself and let me have your impressions as well.

Better than Yankee burgers to my taste in any a case, and as great as English cod in batter !

Stateless 3rd class Citizens

ESTONIA

When Estonia joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, the country’s 160,000 Russian-speaking non-citizens remained in limbo. These individuals are being forced to choose between learning a new language and passing an exam to acquire Estonian citizenship ; applying for Russian citizenship and thus surrendering the benefits of EU membership; or remaining stateless with limited political access and foreign travel restrictions. While Article Nine of the Estonian Constitution states that “the rights, freedoms and duties of each and every person, as set out in the Constitution, shall be equal for Estonian citizens and for citizens of foreign states and stateless persons in Estonia,” this mandated equality is not the reality for Estonia’s stateless persons.

The problem of statelessness in Estonia has a long history. In June 1940, Soviet troops occupied Estonia, abolishing its independence and establishing a new Soviet order. From 1944 to 1991, Estonia belonged to the Soviet Union. During this time, thousands of Estonians were killed or deported, while Russians were forced to migrate to Estonia. The Russian-speaking population in Estonia jumped from eight to approximately 40 percent.  On August 20, 1991, Estonia re-established independence.  At that time, the government restricted automatic citizenship to those who held it before the Soviet occupation and their descendents, leaving hundreds of thousands of individuals stateless. Over time, albeit slowly, Estonia has taken steps to reduce the numbers of stateless people.

Estonia justifies its current citizenship legislation based on the collective right of ethnic Estonians to their historical territory as well as the need to protect Estonian culture and undo the injustices suffered during the years of Soviet occupation.  With tears in his eyes, one elderly Estonian man who spent time doing forced labor in Siberia, told Refugees International, “True Russians are good people, those with mixed blood are not.”  Non-Estonians feel they are discriminated against based on language and the association of Russians with the Soviet occupation. They criticize Estonia for not adhering to the international standards of minority and human rights. Others see no need to acquire citizenship or believe that obtaining Estonian citizenship would hamper their visits to see relatives in Russia.  The ongoing debate has left 12 percent of Estonia’s entire population carrying ‘alien’ (gray) passports. 

To acquire citizenship, one must pass Estonian language and constitution exams. However, it is difficult for Russians to learn Estonian since there is little mixing between the two groups, limiting opportunities for Russians to develop adequate Estonian language skills. To address this issue, the Estonian government has imposed a reform plan that increases the percentage of the school curriculum taught in Estonian. However, Estonian language teachers in Russian schools are often non-native speakers themselves. The constitution component of the citizenship exam is reportedly challenging even for ethnic Estonians. Despite access to study guides, many Russians feel reluctant to study for a test to include them into a culture they are otherwise excluded from. This makes obtaining an EU passport the primary motivation for gaining Estonian citizenship.

Estonian farmer 'kanga-woos' love of his life

TALLINN (AFP) - A 49-year-old Estonian farmer has found a unique way to show the love of his life his enduring adoration for her: he's given her two kangaroos.

AFP/DDP/File Photo

"I just thought my wife already has everything a woman can dream about -- me, of course, and our three daughters, whom I gave her many years ago -- so I decided to express my everlasting love to her with two wonderful Australian kangaroos," farmer Elmet Erik told AFP a few days before Valentine's Day (news - web sites).

The two marsupials, who are a touch out-of-the-ordinary in northern Europe, appear to have acclimatised well to the nippy Estonian winter and can be seen daily hopping through the snow at the Eriks' farm on the island of Muhu.

Erik's wife Helena said the kangaroos are the crowning glory of her long and lasting love affair with Elmet.

"I feel like a queen. How many women have kangaroos at home to remind them daily -- not only on Valentine's Day -- how nice life is with true love?" Helena Erik said.

"People should create more romance around themselves to brighten their days," said Helena.

"I am happy that I have such an adoring husband. Estonian men are generally very conservative and Estonia is a rather patriarchal country, which I hope the younger generation will change."

The farmer and his 50-year-old wife fell in love 32 years ago and married a year later.

"I think the recipe for a happy and lasting marriage is not difficult: you have to trust the other person and you need to have common interests," said Elmet Erik.

"And you also have to ensure that the flame of your love keeps burning, because if it goes out, it's very hard to get that feeling back again," he added.

A dash of exoticism probably hasn't hurt the Eriks' enduring love affair either. The two kangaroos are not the only unusual animals at their home near the Baltic Sea.

The Estonian couple also have a thriving ostrich farm, for which the idea was hatched on a romantic trip six years ago to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

"In 1999, on that romantic journey, we visited a small farm at Abruka island near Estonia's biggest island, Saaremaa.

"It was the only ostrich farm at the time in Estonia, and we simply fell in love with the big-eyed birds -- perhaps because we were in a very romantic mood," said the love-struck farmer.

"We knew nothing about ostriches or whether we could make a profit raising them, but we decided to try," Erik said.

Today, the ostrich farm is the mainstay of the Eriks' living, and the doe-eyed birds have taught the couple a thing or two about love and jealousy.

"After years living with these huge, exotic birds, I think ostriches are a lot like humans, capable of very strong feelings, including fits of jealousy.

"A few years ago, we took one of the three 'wives' of one of the male ostriches away. When my wife went to feed the angry 'husband', he almost killed her, he was so angry that she had taken his bird-spouse from him.

"He eventually got all three wives back, but he has never forgiven my wife," Elmet Erik said.

Tallinn Pedagogical University becomes Tallinn University

The Estonian parliament voted to create Tallinn University as the first step in an effort to create a larger university comprising Tallinn Pedagogical University, Estonian Humanities University, Viljandi Culture Academy and History Institute.
The Pro Patria Union proposed that the university be named Tallinn City University. Tartu forces opposed the Tallinn University name, saying it might create “overly high financial ambitions” for the new institution vis-à-vis Tartu University.

What happened to cheap Estonian labour ?

The days of attracting investors to Estonia with a cheap workforce is over, a labour costs study by Database Central Europe indicates.
The study, conducted in 12 countries, noted that the labour costs in Estonia last year were considerably higher than in Latvia or Lithuania. Estonian labour costs are more comparable to Poland and the Czech Republic.
Last year in Estonia, the average monthly cost per employee was 9,813 kroons (627 EUR), while in Lithuania it was 7,277 (465 EUR), and 6,182 kroons (395 EUR) in Latvia.

Will Parts get the sack too

TALLINN, (Itar-Tass) -- The Reform Party has demanded resignation of Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts.

Only a replacement of the prime minister can preserve the ruling tripartite coalition, Reform Party Deputy Chairman Meelis Atonen. He said that problems in the coalition resulted from the lack of confidence in the premier.

The coalition crisis began with the Parts decision to dismiss Reform Party member and Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland for disappearance of classified documents in the Foreign Ministry. Estonian President Arnold Rüütel approved of the premier’s decision on Thursday evening.

The foreign minister’s position is now vacant, but only a representative of the Reform Party can take it under the coalition agreement. There have been no reports on a possible successor to Ojuland. Atonen said they would name a candidate only after the resignation of this premier. “We will not nominate anyone to the Juhan Parts Cabinet,” he said.