BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Consumer price index increased in April

According to Statistics Estonia, the percentage change of the consumer price index in April 2008 compared to April 2007 was 11.4%. The increase of the consumer price index that had slightly slowed down in March speeded up again in April.

This year compared with the same month of the previous year the change of consumer price index has remained around 11%. So far the highest price increase was in February when the annual increase was 11.3%. In March the price increase slightly slowed down, but speeded up again in April.

In April 2008 compared to April of the previous year, the prices of goods changed by 10.4%, of which the prices of food by 15.3% and the prices of manufactured goods by 6.5%. The prices of services increased 13.4%. Regulated prices of goods and services changed by 21.4% and non-regulated prices by 8.7%. The index was mainly influenced by the price increase of food and by the increase in the expenditures on housing. The prices of motor fuel also increased, accompanied by the increase in the prices of transport services. Dairy-, cereal- and meat products gave more than two thirds of the price increase of food. The biggest impact on the increase of expenditures on housing had the price increase of heat energy.

On average, the prices of goods and services in April were 1.0% higher than in March.
The consumer price index was mainly influenced by the increase in the prices of food and heat energy. Fresh vegetables and cereal- and meat products gave 80% of the price increase of food.

Change of the consumer price index by commodity groups, April 2008

Commodity group	April 2007 – April 2008, %	March 2008 – April 2008, %
TOTAL	11.4	1.0
Food and non-alcoholic beverages	17.6	2.0
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco	8.6	0.9
Clothing and footwear	5.2	0.4
Housing	17.4	2.2
Household goods	4.1	0.5
Health	7.4	0.3
Transport	13.5	0.3
Communications	-0.7	0.0
Recreation and culture	2.4	-0.7
Education	8.8	0.4
Hotels, cafés and restaurants	14.7	1.1
Miscellaneous goods and services	11.5	1.5

For further information : Olga Nikiforova Leading Statistician Price Statistics Service Statistics Estonia Tel : +372 625 9239

Russian chill persists

By Patrick Lannin

NARVA - Estonia's medieval fortress at Narva glowers at a corresponding fort over the border in Russia, a symbol of tensions between the nations and, for some, of friction between Estonians and their big Russian minority.

In this town on the far northeast fringe of the European Union, surrounded by flat countryside in a region pock-marked by slags of oil shale, 85 percent of the population are Russian speakers.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, they and others in the 300,000-strong Russian-speaking community of the tiny Baltic state of Estonia faced a choice : integrate and become Estonian or, in the eyes of the law, remain a non-citizen.

Their status has long been a source of contention with Russia, and relations soured overtly after April last year when Estonia moved a Soviet-era Red Army war memorial, sparking riots in the capital Tallinn and anger in Moscow.

Saying Estonia's action showed disrespect to the fighters of fascism, Russia retaliated with steps that dampened trade flows and knocked Estonia's economy.

A year on, Mikhail Stalnukhin, the head of Narva city council which lies just across the river from the Russian town of Ivangorod, uses charged language to describe community ties.

Dangers of EU visa changes

By Alistair Smith

As Australians head for Europe in their droves this northern hemisphere summer, they'll find travel between countries a lot easier because of recent changes to the visa system.

By the same token, they may well encounter unexpected problems if they don't read the fine print of the new rules.

What has happened is that nine more countries have become signatories to what is known as the Schengen Convention.

The convention is an agreement among countries that are members of the European Union to scrap Customs posts and passport checks on their common borders.

The new Schengen countries are from eastern Europe : the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Applications for enhancing administrative capacity were submitted for 118 million EEK

As of 14 March, a total of 118 million EEK had been applied for in the first call for proposals in the “fund of wise decisions” and the organisation development and internship programme. The projects will be funded from the European Union Structural Funds.

Within the framework of the “fund of wise decisions,” 71 preliminary applications were submitted by local government unit associations, representative organisations of non-governmental organisations, associations of undertakings, trade unions and ministries and other governmental institutions, and support was applied for in the amount of  91.3 million EEK. The projects help to enhance the capability of shaping and implementing state policies, and increase general cooperative capacity. Support was also applied for shaping policies for conducting required field studies and analyses.

Within the framework of the organisational development and internship programme submeasure, ministries and other governmental institutions, as well as local government units and associations thereof were eligible for support. Applications were submitted for projects aimed at enhancing the management and cooperative capacity of state institutions and local government units, and involved partners. All together, 77 applications were submitted. 54 applications were submitted to the submeasure for the development of organisations, and support in the amount of 23.4 million EEK was applied for. 23 applications were submitted to the internship programme submeasure, and 3.1 million EEK was applied for.

In April, the projects that will be supported will be identified after a conformity check and evaluation of applications.

More information on the application process can be found on the web page
www.avalikteenistus.ee/haldusmeede

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :
Head of Structural Fund Unit at the Department of Public Service of the State Chancellery
Urmo Merila 693 5467

_____________________________________
Valitsuse kommunikatsioonibüroo briifinguruum
http://www.valitsus.ee/brf/ 
press@riik.ee 

A little country with a great big voice

The Singing Revolution

Warning : PG : Violence. 97 minutes

The good news is Estonia manifested a popular revolution against the Soviet Union using music, not guns. The bad news is a lot of the music was written in the mid-'80s, when songs like "We Are the World" and "Tears Are Not Enough" embodied the popular approach to making political change.

Music has incredible power, and as The Singing Revolution proves, even cheesy, over-produced and over-performed music has undeniable emotional potency when it's used to rally people around a common cause.

So no matter what you think of the actual tunes in The Singing Revolution, the beauty of the human voice always rings loud and clear as documentary filmmakers James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty take the viewer on a speedy tour of Baltic history.

Beginning with Estonia's long history of invasion and occupation by surrounding countries, the movie's central arc begins with the 1939 signing of the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact" that saw Estonia, and fellow Baltic states, split between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Estonia the first to sign UN-backed sea wreck treaty

Estonia today became the first country to sign up to an international convention on the removal of lurking shipwrecks that pose dangers to navigation and the sea environment, while the head of the United Nations marine agency urged other States to follow suit.

“The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention, once in force, can fill a gap in the existing international legal framework by providing the first set of uniform international rules aimed at ensuring the prompt and effective removal of wrecks beyond the territorial sea,” Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said at the London signing ceremony.

Although the incidence of marine casualties has decreased dramatically in recent years, the number of abandoned wrecks, estimated at almost 1300 worldwide, has increased along with the threat they pose to coastal States and shipping in general, according to the IMO.

The wreck convention, adopted in May 2007, will provide the legal basis for States to remove these hulks, or have them removed, in part by making the registered owner liable for costs of locating, marking and removing them and requiring insurance to cover this liability.

The Convention is open for signature until 18 November 2008 and, thereafter, will be open for ratification, accession or acceptance. It will enter into force 12 months following the date on which 10 States have taken such approval actions.

Fitch leaves Estonia be

TALLINN - Ratings agency Fitch has decided not to tinker with its soveriegn rating and outlook positions on Estonia, leaving them at 'negative' but making optimistic noises about a possible future upgrade.    

According to the report, Estonia's ratings are supported by consistent budget surpluses and very low public debt levels, as well as by strong economic growth rates that are driving the per capita income levels more and more towards the EU average.

No respite yet for the stateless

TALLINN - The minister for population Urve Palo, who presented the new integration program this week, announced he planned to keep the number of people who can become Estonian citizens in check.

Under the previous integration program which ran from 2000 to 2007 only 5000 people a year became Estonian citizens out of a population of nearly half a million people who are not ethnically Estonian.

At present Estonia has 115,672 stateless residents who represent 9 percent of the population.

Application for Schengen Visa

Schengeni viisa taotlus
Заявление о выдаче Шенгенской визы

Schengen - Connecting Borders

As of 21 December 2007, Estonia is a part of the Schengen visa area.
What does Schengen mean ?

In 1985, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland decided to abolish checks on persons crossing over their internal borders.

This border control-free territory became known as the Schengen area, after the small town in Luxembourg where the first agreement was signed.

Today the Schengen area is composed of 24 states, and most of it overlaps with European Union (EU) territory. Although Great Britain, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania are EU member states, they have not signed the Schengen Agreement. Also, Norway and Iceland are not EU member states, but they are part of the Schengen area.

One of the principles of Schengen is the free movement of persons. Checks of persons are not carried out at internal border crossings. There are only border controls at the Schengen area’s external borders.

Uniform rules for entering the Schengen area

Citizens of EU member states (including Estonia) must present a valid passport or ID card when entering the Schengen area.

Citizens of non-Schengen states must be prepared to present other documents in addition to a valid passport, such as an explanation of the purpose of travel, should the border guard request them. The border guard also has the right to ask for proof of sufficient funds to support the person’s stay in the Schengen area.

Citizens of non-Schengen states visiting the Schengen area

Citizens of non-Schengen states who do not require a visa to enter the Schengen area may stay there for up to 90 days within a 6-month period, starting from the date of first entry into the Schengen area.

Economic growth deceleration to 7,1% in 2007

According to preliminary calculations of Statistics Estonia, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 7.1% at constant prices in 2007 compared to the previous year. In the 4th quarter of 2007, GDP grew by 4.8% compared to the same period of previous year.

GDP at current prices was 243.3 billion kroons and at constant 2000 prices it was 169.1 billion kroons. In 2007, the GDP growth decelerated gradually due to the deceleration of domestic demand and exports and imports of goods and services. The growth rate of domestic demand decelerated to 9.3% compared to 2006 (in 2006, domestic demand grew by 16.1%). A steep deceleration of household final consumption expenditure and capital investments in the second half of the year influenced the deceleration in the growth rate of domestic demand. Growth of exports and imports decelerated as well, whereas in the second half of the year both indicators even decreased. Thus, in 2007 compared to the previous year, exports increased only 1.5% and imports increased 2.8%. At the same time, deficit of net exports in GDP somewhat improved.

Deceleration in the growth of domestic demand and exports brought about deceleration in the growth of corporations’ sector to 5.8% (in 2006, the sector grew by 12.4%).

Value added growth of the majority of economic activities decelerated in 2007 compared to 2006. A more significant deceleration was in hotels and restaurants, wholesale and retail trade and real estate, renting and business activities. The annual growth of value added decelerated fast in the electricity, gas and water supply activity. However, the growth rate of this economic activity accelerated in the second half-year. Value added grew faster than in 2006 only in the fishing, mining, and public administration and defence activities.