BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Municipality saddled with pile of garbage

TALLINN - Volunteers of the Estonian environment clean-up campaign ‘Let’s Do It’ collected garbage during previous years; however, the civic initiative has turned out to be a problem for several municipalities after the company hired to dispose of the junk has gone bankrupt, reports ERR. Last year, the Environment Board took it upon itself to remove the 1,800 tons of waste, mainly demolition and construction debris, dumped by the contractor Utileek in 2008 at the intermediate transfer yard on Tallinn’s outskirts. Now the rural municipality of Tartu is reported to be saddled with over 10,000 tons of waste heaped on the former Soviet military airfield at Raadi.

The dump, according to some estimates consisting of up to 15,000 tons of waste, is being sold by the bankruptcy trustees of the now defunct Utileek. Some of it recyclable, its value on paper is a little over half a million euros, but since not a penny has been left from the bankruptcy, nobody is willing to pick up the bill for moving the waste.

As according to the law, in case of bankruptcy, waste has to be removed by the property owner and since the one-time airfield is municipal land, the Ministry of the Environment is demanding, in a letter dispatched on April 19, that the municipality now fulfill its obligation. The municipality elder, Aivar Soop, said that this would mean 350,000 to 400,000 euros in costs. He said that he had turned to the former Minister of the Environment with a request that the state share some of the expense through the Environmental Investment Center, but that eventually the local community may still be forced to pay.

In 2008, the ‘Let’s Do It’ campaign to clean the country of ugly illegal garbage, in one single day through volunteer effort, sparked public enthusiasm. The initiative has also turned out to be one of Estonia’s major global export articles with similar events being organized around the world.

10s of thousands of Estonians hope to work in Finland

A survey by Estonia's Ministry of Social Affairs estimates that around 40,000 Estonians would be ready to move to Finland if they could find suitable jobs.

According to the study, around 80,000 people in Estonia would be interesting in moving abroad to live and work. More than 40,000 say that they have decided to move as soon as they can find suitable jobs. Their first preference would be Finland.

Estonian Social Affairs Ministry Analyst Liina Malk says that many of the young are especially keen to move abroad because of poor employment opportunities at home. The latest statistics show that one in three young adults under the age of 24 in Estonia is unemployed. However, most lack the language and professional skills needed to move and work abroad.

The Estonian government does not consider emigration a problem. The government's view is that citizens who live and work abroad will acquire experiences and skills that will be useful for the nation when they return home.

As of May 1st, it will be easier for Estonians and citizens of many other eastern European countries to work in countries such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as they will no longer need work permits.

For example, a German employment agency is currently seeking 600 nurses in Estonia, but few have the language skills required.

Finland, on the other hand, is an especially attractive alternative for Estonians because the languages are closely related.

Former Tallinn councilman found guilty of influence peddling

On April 28, the Harju County Court convicted Mati Eliste, a former member of Tallinn's City Council, of influence peddling in a case that came to light in 2009.

The 69-year-old was given a fine of 224 euros, and will have to pay an additional 417 euros in court costs. Authorities had earlier confiscated the equivalent of 6,400 euros from Eliste, the court said in a release.

A criminal investigation into Eliste's activities was launched in autumn of 2009 after an Eesti Ekspress article described how he had demanded 7,030 euros from a private person for the approval of detailed plans for a building in the Pirita district, where Eliste then served as chairman of the administrative council.

The money was transferred to a non-profit organization that Eliste ran.

Steve Roman

Estonia may buy four Eurocopter helicopters

Andrei Hvostov writes in Eesti Ekspress weekly that the government is reportedly considering a plan to buy four Eurocopter NH90 helicopters for the defence forces at a cost of between 16 and 26 million euros a helicopter.

Hvostov writes that since the helicopters can take only 20 people on board they would have little benefit for the Estonian Air Force but would be great to look at.

He adds that following the acquisitions of Pasi armoured vehicles for the land-based units and British mine trawlers for the Navy, it seems that it is now simply the turn of air force to get some new iron.

Estonian-owned LHV Pank turns profit into loss

LHV Pank announced that it ended last year with a loss of 13.5 million kroons, down from a profit of 3.6 million kroons the bank earned in 2009, writes Äripäev.

The bank’s CEO Erki Kilo said the bank’s operating costs increased last year from 57 million to 86 million kroons as a result of expanding into Finland.

The bank’s interest income increased from 15.8 million kroons to 41.5 million kroons.

Income from service fees went up from 48.4 million kroons to 50.1 million kroons.

This is somewhat surprising since the three largest banks in Estonia were in profit last year and according to the Bank of Estonia, earned a total of 74 million euros in net profit in the first quarter.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonia registers EU's largest increase in new industrial orders in February

In February 2011, compared to February 2010, seasonally-adjusted industrial orders increased by 56.1% in Latvia, which was the third largest increase among all the European Union member states, according to the latest data from the EU's statistical office Eurostat. The largest increase was registered in Estonia – 60.1%, followed by Denmark – 57.6%.

In Lithuania, the industrial new orders increased by 35.9%.

This past February, compared with the same month last year, industrial new orders rose 19.8% in the EU and 21.3% in the eurozone, writes LETA.

Compared to January 2011, industrial new orders increased 1.2% in the EU and 0.9% in the eurozone.

Among the countries for which data are available, increase was registered in 13, but decrease in nine.

Largest monthly increase was registered in Denmark – 16.3%, and Hungary – 10.9%, whilst the largest monthly decrease was registered in Romania – 4.7% and Lithuania – 2.7%.

Latvia registered 0.7% monthly decrease of industrial new orders, Estonia – 1.4%.

Nina Kolyako

Estonian FM condemns Russian account of "Bronze Riots"

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet on Wednesday condemned a statement of the Russian embassy in Estonia, which detailed its stance on the Bronze Soldier riots of 2007.

"This statement instigates new political emotions on the basis of lies and will not help improve Estonian-Russian relations," Paet said of the statement, which described the rioters as "peaceful protesters" who had been brutally suppressed by police.

Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of the rioting and looting that broke out in downtown Tallinn against the decision of the Estonian government in 2007 to relocate a controversial Soviet WWII monument and the remains of the Red Army soldiers there.

"Digging out the remains of the soldiers not only violated international conventions but also the principle of morality and humanism," the statement said.

The Russian embassy also blamed the Estonian authorities for "a large-scale smear campaign against the liberators of the Estonian capital from Nazi occupiers," and demanded the continuation of the investigation into the fatal stabbing during the riots of a Russian citizen living in Estonia.

Source: Xinhua

Estonia should have 10,000 electric cars by 2020

The government is drafting a plan by which Estonia would build up a fleet of about 10,000 electric cars by 2020, writes Eesti Päevaleht daily.

If this becomes reality, it means that one in every ten cars sold in Estonia in the next decade will be an electric one.

The plan is to make sure that the first 500 electric cars made by Mitsubishi that Estonia will soon get for selling its emission credits will not remain the only ones in operation.

Among others, there are plans to set up a subsidy system to allow private persons to buy electric cars at half the price.

These ideas are included in the government’s new Estonia 2020 action plan that the government is due to approve this Thursday and which says that the government should develop a system to increase the number of electric cars in Estonia to 10,000 by 2020.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Eurozone industrial orders increase for fifth month

New orders received by Eurozone’s industrial sector rose for a fifth consecutive month in February, signaling continued growth in industrial output in the coming months.

Total industrial orders increased 0.9 percent month-on-month, but slower than January’s upwardly revised 1.2 percent gain, data released by Eurostat showed Wednesday.

Economists had forecast 1.5 percent order growth for February. The January’s figure was revised up significantly from the previously estimated 0.1 percent rise.

IHS Global Insight chief economist Howard Archer said the ongoing healthy industrial orders in February bodes well for Eurozone industrial production, at least in the near term.
While the Eurozone manufacturing sector still looks pretty well placed, the suspicion is that producers will find life more challenging as 2011 progresses with inventory corrections drawing to a close across the region and tighter fiscal policy increasingly kicking-in in a number of Eurozone countries, Archer said.

Year-on-year, new orders were 21.3 percent higher in February compared to January’s upwardly revised 21.9 percent increase. Economists had expected a 21.8 percent gain.

Euro-Zone debt crisis worsening

FRANKFURT - The euro-zone's debt crisis has "deteriorated" in some member states, and "rapid" commodity price inflation must not be allowed to filter through to wages, Estonia's central bank, whose Governor Andres Lipstok sits on the European Central Bank's Governing Council, said Wednesday.

"Debt-crisis related problems in some euro-area member states are still on the agenda and have even deteriorated," despite a pick-up in economic growth in most European Union countries at the end of 2010, the Bank of Estonia said in its economic policy statement.

The bank warned that inflation in Estonia and the euro-zone has been "rapid" in recent months, mostly due to higher food and commodity prices globally.

"Looking ahead, it is very important to avoid the pass-through of commodity prices, since this would harm the competitiveness of enterprises," the bank said.

Still, external risks to Estonia's financial stability from the ongoing debt crisis "have not changed" since late autumn 2010, according to the bank.

The disclosure of results from Europe's second round of bank stress tests should "help reduce the financing risks of banks", the bank said.

Tom Fairless

Estonia economic outlook better than US

TALLINN - In a landmark move, Standard and Poor's ratings agency has given Estonia a better economic outlook than the United States.

S&P's upgraded Estonia's outlook to "positive" just days after downgrading the US to "negative". The agency still maintains a stronger credit rating for the world superpower, however, at 'AAA' compared to Estonia's 'A'.

The agency cited Estonia's successful accession into the eurozone at the beginning of this year as one of the main reasons for the upgrade. Other helpful factors included it's low foreign debt and the country's strict budgetary discipline.

The news comes alongside another major indicator providing a boost to economic confidence in the country -- recent data shows that Estonia was the only country in Europe to register a budget surplus last year.

Last year's surplus amounted to 0.1 percent of GDP, largely due to the sale of pollution credits, state-run news agency ERR reported. No other EU country ended the year with a positive balance sheet.

Estonia's budget is expected to return to a deficit this year and remain in the red until around 2015.

Standard and Poor's is a US-based credit ratings agency. It is one of the "Big Three" along with "Moody's" and "Fitch".

Tallinn to adopt new public transit ticketing system

An Estonian-Turkish partnership has won a tender to revamp the capital's public transit ticketing system, paving the way for a new, state-of-the-art scheme to come on line at the beginning of next year, the Tallinn press office has announced.

The city will pay 8.7 million euros over the next four years for the non-contact-based travel card system, which will be put in place by Estonian company Business IT Partner and Turkish firm Kentkart. The two won the contract beating out 11 other bids by 27 hopefuls.
The primary goal of the change is to merge the two ticketing systems used by Tallinn and the surrounding Harju County, according to Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas.

Tallinn's buses, trolleys and trams currently use a hodge-podge of ticket options ranging from high-tech, ID Card and SMS-based alternatives to sliding a paper ticket into a clunky, 1970s hole punch.

Replacing this system will save the city 440,000 euros a year, Aas said.
Of the 8.7 million euro cost, about 2.5 million will go towards equipping 566 transit vehicles with card readers and sales equipment, as well as devices for ticket checkers.

Steve Roman

Rare eagle abandons Estonian homeland

To the disappointment of Estonian researchers, Tõnn, a young greater spotted eagle whose exciting travels have been tracked via GPS by bird enthusiasts across Europe, seems to prefer life in Sweden over his birthplace in Estonia.

Eagle experts had hoped that the endangered bird - with only 20 known couples, it is the rarest and least reserached eagle in Europe - would finally settle down in Estonia this year, wrote Eesti Päevaleht.

Greater spotted eagles are not native to Sweden, and solitary females in Estonia are being forced to mate with the more numerous lesser spotted eagle, leaving fewer purebreds.

Born in Lääne County in 2008, Tõnn's summertime migration takes him to El Hondo national park, in the Spanish Mediterranean. Tõnn took off to his spring nesting area at the end of March, flying sometimes 300 kilometers per day, to arrive in southern Estonia on April 13. But after a few days in Estonia, the young bachelor kept going, as in previous springs, toward St. Peterburg, to Finland, to northern Sweden, and eventually to his new adopted home, Östersund, in central Sweden.

Estonian bird enthusiasts were, nevertheless, content to see that Tõnn bothered to make a stop in Estonia, after cutting straight through Denmark when flying south last winter. Tõnn can be tracked here.

Ott Tammik

Estonian wage increase reflect upward trend for 2011

Estonia shows concrete signs of an up turn as two state owned giants agreed to wage increases.

Estonia Railways, who have recently signed a cooperation agreement with global Chinese Logistic company Sinotrans Shipping, agreed with trade unions to increase their bonus rate to 7% and, due to lay offs last year, to raise monies paid to railway employees who’s work load has increased as a consequence.

Mining subsidiary of Eesti Energia, Eesti Energia Kaevandused has recently signed a two year agreement to increase wages; 5% for piece work and 11% for time-work. Eesti Energia Kaevanduseds main activity is oil-shale mining in the north-east of Estonia. Last year, 2010, the company mined 17 million tonnes, 3 million more than in 2009, which was all the more remarkable as the company currently employs around 3,000 people, the last time a equivalent amount of oil-shale was mined was in 1992 when the company employed approximately 9,000 workers!

Joanna

SEB launches Internet bank for mobiles and smartphones

SEB has launched a new mobile bank for its clients in Estonia which allows them to easily and conveniently access and use all key bank services wherever they have mobile coverage, as the bank reports.

The Mobile Bank can be used on modern smartphones as well as ordinary mobile phones. SEB has also become the first bank in Estonia to offer a special Internet bank application for iPhone, while also providing a special application for Android smartphones, reports LETA.

Using the Mobile Bank, clients are able to make domestic transfers and check their account and credit card balances and statements. They can also access their personal Financial Planner, look up the latest exchange rates and check on their securities portfolio.

"The new Internet bank we launched late last year has been really well received by our clients, so logically the next step was to make our services just as easily available to mobile users," explained Riho Unt, chairman of the management board of SEB. "It's an important step, too, in SEB's longer-term strategy to be the best bank on the Internet and on mobile phones."

Sales of new apartments on the rise in Estonia in Q1 : Ober-Haus

Sales of new apartments increased in Estonia the first quarter of the year 2011, the number of offers on the market was also registered in January-March this year, as the Estonian national broadcasting corporation ERR reports referring to a real estate broker Ober-Haus.

Comparing to the end of the last year, which was marked by higher activity in anticipation of the euro changeover, the general real estate market in Estonia was relatively calm in January-March 2011, writes LETA.

However, sales of new apartments go ahead, according to Ober-Haus.

As experts stated, owners had waited for the euro to offer new developments for sale. Approximately 1,000 new apartments came on the market in the first quarter of the year. According to prognosis, between 500 and 1,000 dwellings will be available for purchase in the second quarter of this year.

Currently, price continues to be the key factor for sales, particularly when the new apartments are located in suburban areas. In general, sales of suburban apartments are successful when priced from 850 to 1,200 euros per square meter, while those in central areas go for 1,400 to 2,000 euros per square meter.

While the number of new apartments sold is increasing, the overall apartment market didn't fare as well. In the Tallinn area, the number of apartments sold, old and new, dropped by 30% between the last quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011, Ober-Haus said.

Juhan Tere

Estonia Central Bank calls to limit impact of price rises

TALLINN - Estonia's Central Bank called on the government on Wednesday to reduce its budget deficit and for efforts to improve competitiveness by not allowing recent high global commodity prices to pass through to broader price and wage increases.

Estonian joined the euro zone from Jan. 1. 2011, but has seen prices increase by over 5 percent year-on-year in recent months as higher global food and energy prices impact on prices.

The country has been warned by the European Central Bank to try to keep price increases under control.

"Looking ahead, it is very important to avoid the pass- through of commodity prices, since this would harm the competitiveness of enterprises," the bank said in an economic policy statement.

The bank added that in order to reduce the effect of a commodity price pass-through, it was necessary for the government to focus on improving domestic competitiveness and on the setting of administered prices, as well as, to pvent wage growth from exceeding productivity growth.

The bank also said that it was essential that the government continue with its plans to reduce the budget deficit and improving the efficiency of the public sector.

"Higher tax income, which results from faster growth, should first and foremost be used for achieving fiscal balance and restoring reserves," the bank said.

Reporting by David Mardiste ; editing by Patrick Graham

Estonian electricity prices to rise 6% from August

Estonian electricity prices will rise an average 6 percent for consumers from August after state- owned utility Eesti Energia AS won approval to raise grid fees to fund investments.

Prices will rise because the company needs to invest 300 million euros ($438 million) through 2014 to upgrade the aging power grid and make it less vulnerable to bad weather, the Tallinn-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. The number of electricity outages per household will decline an average 20 percent during the period, it added.

Electricity prices will increase an additional 0.4 percent from June due to the annual indexation of tariffs approved by Estonia’s Competition Board in 2008, Eesti Energia said.

Increases in administratively regulated prices have led annual price growth in Estonia since last March, even as a period of deflation from May 2009 allowed the Baltic nation meet the euro entry terms. Consumer prices grew an annual 5.2 percent in March, with administratively regulated prices rising 6.3 percent and non-regulated prices growing 4.8 percent.

Average inflation will probably accelerate to 4.5 percent this year from 2.7 percent in 2010, the Finance Ministry forecast earlier this month.

Ott Ummelas

Estonia registers EU's only State Budget surplus

By selling off its pollution quotas, Estonia managed to achieve a budgetary surplus in 2010, making it the only European Union country to end the year with a positive balance.

Last year's surplus amounted to 0.1 percent of GDP. However, the Ministry of Finance has forecasted that this year the country will rack up a budget deficit equivalent to 0.4 percent of GDP, which will grow to 2.8 percent in 2012. The country is most likely to reach a budget surplus again in 2015, according to the ministry.

One of the reasons for the predicted deficit is that the government plans to use the income from the pollution quotas in the near future, which will push up spending figures.

Out of the 27 European Union countries, 21 member states recorded an improvement in their government balance relative to GDP compared last year, while others saw it worsening.

Besides Estonia, only Sweden managed to balance its government budget, ending 2010 with an even 0.0 percent deficit.

The largest government deficit relative to GDP was the 32.4 percent recorded in Ireland, followed by Greece's 10.5 percent and the United Kingdom's 10.4 percent.

Price of beer on Town Hall Square reaches 5 euros

What was meant to happen has happened!

Open-air cafes on Town Hall Square in Tallinn that are popular with foreign tourists serve some of the country’s most expensive beer with half litres costing 5 euros, writes Postimees.

In most other open-air cafes in the Old Town beer costs between 2.5 and 4 euros a glass.

According to a representative of the central city district, there are about 100 potential open-air catering places in the Old Town, half of which are covered with applications.

Renting one square metre of Town Hall Square costs about 31 euros a month which is as much as last year.

Rents on other old town streets depend on the popularity of the site.

Toomas Hõbemägi