BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

EasyJet’s cheap tickets on sale from the 28th

* One of Europe’s biggest low-cost airline companies EasyJet has promised to sell 15 million extremely cheap tickets on the occasion of its tenth birthday. The company will not reveal the details of its campaign until the last minute. The ticket sale starts in the Internet at midnight on Thursday, 28 and will last for a week until November 4. For low-cost airlines, cheap tickets begin from EUR 1-10. Another European low-cost airline Ryanair has also carried through campaigns with similar prices. Airport taxes are added to the ticket price. EasyJet is warning customers that the company’s home page server may freeze due a huge amount of visitors.

Estonian Air is not afraid of EasyJet’s discount campaigns. The period of discount has to be seen .... No attractive prices from Tallinn at the beginning of November !

Dispatches from between 2 notes

Advanced Video Controls with the new RealPlayer Plus

By JEREMY EICHLER

Published : October 30, 2005

TOM TYKWER'S 2002 film "Heaven," a thriller-turned-fairy-tale about two fugitive lovers, offers ravishing aerial views of Turin, Italy, and of the Tuscan countryside. As the camera passes over rooftops and, later, rolling hills, a tranquil feeling of distance sets in ; even the most frenetic motion, when viewed from above, becomes a peaceful study of lines and muted colors. In the final scene, the couple steal a helicopter and ascend straight toward the sky, simply dissolving into the blue.

The visuals are exquisite, but the floating, oceanic sensation they achieve owes just as much to the spare, luminous music chosen for the film. It is the 1976 work "Für Alina," by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

Feature films are rarely good places to search for the essence of a serious composer, but Mr. Pärt's music has a way of leaving listeners, including himself, grappling for ways to express its curious effect. Yes, all music floats on air (in the happy phrase of the composer Ferruccio Busoni), but Mr. Pärt's music does so differently. Its harmony hovers in one place ; its statements have a purity that is unique in contemporary music. Perhaps because the works are built from the most elemental materials, they have a peculiar way of burrowing deep into memory, hinting at what Nietzsche and the psychoanalyst Theodor Reik temptingly described as "the third ear." .........

ESTONIA BROKE

£2.4m drug barons face assets probe

By Russell Findlay

TWO Scots are set to be stripped of their heroin fortunes after admitting they masterminded a GBP 2.4 million smuggling racket in Estonia.

Robert Wright and Les Brown were sentenced to four years and seven months each last Tuesday - but were allowed home immediately because of the time they spent behind bars before the court case.

A Scots police insider said : "We are going after their assets. We are looking at all their properties and bank accounts."

Wright, 38, lives in a  GBP 500,000 mansion, complete with cinema, in West Lothian.

At one time, he owned his own Formula One racing car and a fleet of other expensive motors.

Brown, 49, who also has considerable assets, lives in Bearsden, near Glasgow.

Finally, SAKU is available in LCBO stores

* To all of our new friends in the Estonian community,

Finally, SAKU is available in LCBO stores. It has taken the LCBO some time in releasing SAKU for some unknown reasons but at last the beer you have been patiently waiting for is here. Saku will be showing up at more and more stores as days go by. From what I understand after speaking with a number of LCBO store managers, many of you in the Estonian community have done a wonderful job in getting into your local stores and asking for the product.

We at BGS Intertrade Ltd. would like to thank you for the support you have all shown thus far and hope to see SAKU have great success so that we may be able to provide your community with Estonian Vodka in the future. We will continue to answer any questions or concerns that you may have regarding present and future projects and products.

Sincerely,
BOB CLARKE,
BGS Intertrade Ltd.

EU to pass transparency plan for farm aid

TALLINN (AFP) - The European Commission will go ahead with a package of transparency measures for lobbyists and farming aid aimed at boosting citizens' confidence in the EU, Administration and Anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas of Estonia said yesterday.

"I am confident the Commission will pass the transparency plan at the beginning of next month," Kallas told reporters.

"There are people who think these measures are not needed, but the Commission as a whole has supported the idea."

The plan includes an obligation for member states to make public the list of companies and individuals receiving EU farming subsidies, the registration of lobbyists in Brussels and the adoption of a code of conduct for ..........

The 2006 report on the telecoms market in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania including for example : trends, developments, facts, figures, statistics, and major players

DUBLIN  (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c26710 ) has announced the addition of 2006 Europe - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Baltic Countries to their offering

This report covers the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all with small telecom markets by European standards, yet progressive. Trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, Internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including VoIP, VoD and IPTV developments. Subjects include :

• Market and industry analyses
• Trends and developments
• Facts, figures and statistics
• Industry and regulatory issues
• Research, Marketing, Benchmarking
• Major Players, Revenues, Subscribers, Prepaid
• VoIP, IPTV, VoD, digital TV and DTTV

Topics Covered

1. ESTONIA

2. LATVIA

3. LITHUANIA (the following are samples of some of the areas discussed under each country: key statistics, telecommunications market, overview of the market, regulatory environment, background, regulatory authority, telecoms sector liberalization, privatisation, Interconnect, access, carrier selection and carrier preselection, number portability)

4. GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS List of Tables List of Exhibits

Summary

The three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have all ..........

SEB increase investment as profits rise

By Rupini Bergstroüm in Stockholm

SEB, the bank controlled by Sweden's powerful Wallenberg-family, on Friday said it was prioritising further investments in growth rather than share buybacks, after reporting surprisingly strong third-quarter results, thanks largely to robust financial markets, strong sales and volume growth.

In the three months to September 30, Sweden's fourth-biggest bank reported a 32 per cent increase in operating profits, to SKr 3 billion against an expected SKr 2.7 billion, on total revenues that grew to SKr 8.3 billion from SKr 7 billion.

Ericsson provides Estonia with 3G network

STOCKHOLM -- Ericsson said Friday it is providing Estonia's mobile operator EMT with the technology needed for third-generation mobile connectivity.

The Swedish telecommunications group said that EMT's third-generation network launched Friday covers the capital of the country, Tallinn, and will gradually expand over Estonia.

In a news release, Ericsson said that the network will allow users to watch television and listen to the radio as well as make calls through their handsets.

Valdo Kalm, chief executive of EMT, stated that "launching 3G ... is a perfect opportunity for EMT to increase data revenues. We see it as the logical next step in the evolution of mobile services, and we are confident we can take that step together with Ericsson."

Anneli Ahven - Productrice Exitfilm, Estonie

Un pari sur une première œuvre

Anneli Ahven est la productrice du gros succès du moment en Estonie, Men At Arms, premier long métrage de Kaaren Kaer. Exitfilm, la société qu'elle co-dirige à Tallinn avec le producteur-réalisateur Peeter Urbla, s'occupe de la distribution de tous les titres produits et participe en outre activement à des co-productions avec des partenaires européens. Parmi les coproductions d'Exitfilm, on peut citer le film suédois Lilja 4-Ever de Lukas Moodysson, le long métrage danois Unforgettable d'Anders Rønnow Karlund et le film français Rothschild’s Violin d'Edgardo Cozarinsky.

Cineuropa: Comment fonctionne Exitfilm ? Quels type de films choisissez-vous de produire et distribuer en Estonie ?
Anneli Ahven : Exitfilm est une maison de production estonienne qui depuis sa création en 1992, a produit un grand nombre de longs et courts métrages ainsi que de documentaires. Nous travaillons souvent avec Zentropa (Danemark), Memfis Filmproduktion (Suède), Die Basis and Lichtblick (Allemagne), Sylva Mysterium (Finlande) et Gorcy Studios (Russie). Exitfilm collabore par ailleurs beaucoup avec les fonds locaux et les groupements professionnels, en particulier les réservoirs de jeunes talents.
Le budget moyen d'un film estonien va de 600.000 à 1.200.000 euros. Exitfilm est ouverte à différents modes de production, à condition que le professionalisme prime. Nous nous intéressons autant aux projets ambitieux à contenu psychologique qu'aux comédies légères ou aux films historiques.

Il sort chaque année trois à quatre longs métrages en Estonie ; cette année, d'eux d'entre eux sont des productions Exitfilm : Shop of Dreams, du fondateur d'Exitfilm, Peeter Urbla —un film coproduit par la maison de production finlandaise Silvia Mysterium Oy sorti en avril dernier sur les écrans d'Estonie— , ainsi que Men At Arms, de Kaaren Kaer, qui est sorti le 9 septembre.

Estonian Jews Come Together for Simchat Torah Festivities

TALLINN – In the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Jews marked the holiday of Simchat Torah in the city's Synagogue with great enthusiasm.

Apart from members of the local community, this event was also attended by Isreali Cultural Center Director Regina Pats and numerous other Israeli guests, Social Center Director Marina Astanovskaya, 'Dor-Va-Dor' Director Inna Lapidus, and the Director of the Jewish Day School of Tallinn, Mikhail Beylinson. Participants received flags featuring the text of the prayers traditionally read on Simchat Torah.

Rabbi Shmuel Kot, the Chief Rabbi of Estonia and a Chabad Lubavitch emissary, led the services and festivities. Chanon Barabaner, the Vice-Chairman of the Jewish community of Tallinn was the first to speak. Avi Dobrysh, the Chairman of the Committee for Constructing a New Synagogue, gave an encouraging talk, followed by well-known politician Iosif Eidelkind and the Day School Director, Mikhail Beylinson. Cheerful dances and songs began, as adult men and .......

Estonia simplifies citizenship rules for people with poor health

TALLINN -- The Estonian government passed a resolution on Thursday that helps people with poor health undergo citizenship formalities under simplified rules. Such people might be either fully relieved of an examination in the Estonian language, citizenship rules and constitution, or pass these examinations under a simplified program.

All applicants for Estonian citizenship on simplified terms should have a medical certificate, signed by a family doctor, submitted to a special expert commission. The commission is to pass a conclusion on the applicant's ability to take the exam either on a full or simplified program.

Around 160,000 out of 1.346 million -strong population of Estonia have no citizenship at all. After Estonia seceded from the former Soviet Union and restored the 1938 citizenship law Estonian citizenship was granted only to the population who lived in Estonia before World War II and their

Little-known European state to trouble quiet 'Old Europe'

* It has become some sort of a fashion to review results of WWII. Latvia and Estonia allow open Nazi parades ; Germany and Austria demand that Germans resettled from the territories of victor countries must be compensated for the damage. A revenge-seeker has been the most popular politician of Hungary for several years already.

It is the former Prime-Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, 42, the leader of FIDESZ, the party which ideology combines economic liberalism and social justice. Orban's populism lies in his open demands to grant Hungarian citizenship to people of neighboring countries and he also prejudices the present-day boundaries in Europe.

The modern history of Hungary reveals why the idea is so much popular. After WWI, the country lost many territories inhabited by ethnic Hungarians. Over 4 million Hungarians found themselves in Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. In 1940, the country became an ally to the Nazi Germany and retrieved majority of territories lost in 1918. But in 1945, Hungary once again lost all of its territorial acquisitions. It was planned that millions of people must be resettled from Slovakia, Romania, Serbia and Transcarpathia that became part of Ukraine to Hungary. At that time, the USSR stopped the process to support its new socialist ally.

As a result, by the beginning of the 21st century, every fourth ethnic Hungarian lived outside Hungary with its 11-million strong population. All of these people would not like to remain national minorities in those countries where they live.

Moscow expresses concern over Estonia "squeezing out" Russian military retirees

MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement Thursday saying that it is seriously concerned over the Estonian authorities' policy of "squeezing out" Russian military pensioners.

The statement was issued following the detention in Estonia of retired military officer Anatoly Galitsky. According to Russian officials, Galitsky was illegally denied a residence permit extension and threatened with expulsion. Estonians said he had obtained a housing voucher from a U.S.-Russian program to assist the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Estonia, yet refused to leave for his native Russia.

Another Russian military retiree, Nikolai Mikolenko, has been held in a deportation camp in Estonia since 2003, the ministry said. The man, put into custody after he refused to leave the country when his residence permit ...........

Estonia wants ecological scrutiny of Russia-Germany gas pipeline

TALLINN - Estonia deems it necessary to conduct environmental scrutiny of the project for laying a gas pipeline on the Baltic Sea bed from Russia’s Leningrad region to Germany, the head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry’s press-service, Ehtel Halliste, told Itar-Tass on Thursday.

Estonia is concerned over what it describes as the pipeline’s likely environmental risks.

“We have no information, if the project has been examined by environmentalists. No one can say for sure, whether it is safe or not to lay the underwater pipeline across a busy shipping area of the Baltic Sea and what environmental consequences an accident may have,” Halliste said. “If there is any threat, may be, it will be better to lay the pipeline on the ground as usual,” she said.

Estonia's IT development slowing

By TBT staff

TALLINN – The rate of IT development in Estonia has slowed significantly due to poor coordination, State Auditor Mihkel Oviir

“Governmental legislation does not stipulate any ministerial responsibility for the IT sphere’s comprehensive development,” Oviir said in a Parliamentary address.

Oviir added that the state lacked an overview of IT expenses. What’s more, few can be certain that money allocated to this sphere is being efficiently used.

“This is partly due to a disservice of your forerunners. They amended the state-budget act so that it’s no longer possible to get an overview of public sector IT expenses via the state treasury since 2003. The previous Parliament included IT costs in ...........

Tallinn, Estonia - Lodging and Accomodation

Where to stay in the Capital
For an up-market, technoligically-equipped business stay, choose one of the following well-researched idylls combining the past and the future:

Domina City Hotel is an elegant hotel with restaurant and cafe. Many extras include sauna, jacuzzi, wireless LAN connection (on request) and PC with modem in one's room (on request and extra charge). Residents' parking lots are available. A good Business venue for only 135€ per night for a double room. Address : Vana-Posti 11-13. Tel : 6813900, Fax : 6813901
www.dominacity.com

Park Consul Schlössle Hotel is a classic hotel within the old city walls. It has conference rooms with characterful fireplaces and a central hearing-aid system. The hotel affords elegant rooms at approx. 250€ per night for a double room. Address : Pühavaimu 13-15. Tel : 6286500, Fax : 6286565. www.schlossle-hotels.com

Thee Sisters Designer Hotel is also popularly close to the city's fortifications. It boasts of a gourmet restaurant, a pleasant mixture of old and new architecture and for 270€ per night for a double room with breakfast, it makes for an impressive venue for the highest level occasion. Address : Tolli 2. Tel : 6306300, Fax : 6306301. www.threesistershotel.com

All hotels have special Friday to Monday weekend prices or 3-night reduced rates.

Your "Estonian" name may be illegal !

A few days ago, a friend asked me for some help in finding a list of Estonian baby names for her soon-to-be-born child. A simple matter I thought...what with today's technology...internet access and Google & Neti searches at my fingertips ! Little did I know...
http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/smi/0201d20638/01 You truly do learn something new every day ! 

Americans aren't the only ones to obsess over baby names.  Apparently, things have gotten so bad in Estonia that the government has actually seen the need to step in ! I guess they must have been having a run on Moon Unit Zappas or something ! Note : For those of you born after 1970 or not aficionados of American Rock & Roll of the 60's & 70's, Moon Unit is the daughter of Frank Zappa...a rock musician with the penchant for giving his kids...um...er...unusual names. His son was named Dweezil.

Anyway...on December 15, 2004 the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) passed with 58 votes in favour the Names Act (369 SE), initiated by the Government of the Republic. The Act establishes a totally new regulation for persons' names. The Act establishes the procedure for the formation of person's names and the bases for the uniform use of person's names of Estonian citizens and aliens staying in Estonia. (Note: The name of the civil servant responsible for passing the related bill through its parliamentary approval process was Carina Rikart.  Under the new law...giving her first name to a child would be illegal !

Source : http://www.riigikogu.ee/index.php?id=14977 and http://web.riigikogu.ee/ems/plsql/motions.show?assembly=10&id=369&t=E

The whole topic has been a real hot button issue for at least the last 1 1/2 years filling newspapers, blogs, TV & Radio, talk shows, etc.  Some of the comments are pretty hilarious (click on the "loe kommentaare" box of http://www.delfi.ee/archive/article.php?id=7681820 since the new law which took effect on March 31, 2005 outlaws the use of famous people's names (example : Lydia Koidula or Lennart Meri) and most non-Estonian names or Estonianized versions of foreign names in addition to anything really strange or obscene ! Comics have had a field day, because there does not yet appear to be a list of government approved acceptable suggested names.
Although it is rumored that some civil servant somewhere is dutifully in the process of preparing one.

Minority groups and people in in theatrical, musical and literary circles are up in arms...as are followers of ancient Estonian pagan religions...who wish to name their children Vihmapiisk (Raindrop) or Väle Põder (Swift Moose).

To date, the Estonian Supreme Court has upheld the law, but several more appeals are pending.  The Estonian Bar Association has even put forth a special issue of it's law journal on the whole matter.  A brief summary of this issue by Piret Mõistlik (Bridget Sensible...no joke...that is the real translation of her name) follows :

Legal regulation of personal names Piret Mõistlik http://www.juridica.ee/show_cv.php?uid=55447&lang_id=2 (pp.191-199)

Savisaar holds out for official results, Reform Party edged out of key cities

TALLINN - Coalitions materialized in Estonia’s large towns throughout the week, while the biggest intrigue – who will be Tallinn mayor – remained unresolved as leading candidate Edgar Savisaar postponed making a final decision.
Savisaar, who heads the Center Party, has said he would make up his mind whether or not to become mayor in the capital once the election results are officially confirmed.

During the campaign Savisaar, who is currently minister of economy and communications, said that if victorious, he would return to the mayor’s spot in order to complete unfinished business. However, after his party won 32 out of the 63 seats on the Tallinn City Council, he backtracked, saying he first wanted to consult with the prime minister.

However, official endorsement of the results has been delayed due to a complaint from Igor Grazin, member of the Reformist faction, filed with the central electoral committee.
If the central electoral committee refuses to satisfy Grazin’s complaint, he may file an appeal to the Supreme Court, which will effectively postpone a final endorsement of the results.

In the meantime, parties put together coalition agreements throughout the country. In Tartu, the country’s second largest city, the Reform Party and the Center Party signed an agreement in accordance to which the Reformists will get the post of mayor and the latter of deputy mayor.

Tartu Mayor Laine Janes told the Baltic News Service that the .............

In Brief : 27-10-2005

* Bank of Estonia President Andres Lipstok has told Parliament that if Ain Hanschmidt’s activities at Uhispank were proven to be unethical, he would censure the former banker.

* Galvex, the U.S.-owned steel galvanizing plant in the Muuga port, has brought in professional management consultants to reinvigorate the company. It’s the largest foreign investment to date in Estonia, and could possibly lead to business with a foreign strategic investor. The Eesti Paevaleht reported this week that ownership of Galvex is now firmly in the hands of a group of investment banks, including Germany’s Hypovereinsbank, after the company failed to meet payments on loans. According to the paper, the syndicate immediately sold its equity stake, along with the debts, to Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

* A major regional conference on rail tariffs in Tallinn passed fruitfully, with Russian rail officials promising to lower tariffs for shipments on Russian territory and several companies inking an agreement to develop container shipments.
Rene Varek, marketing director of Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railway), called the tariff conference an absolute success.

* U.S. investigators have identified a technical malfunction as a possible cause of the Copterline helicopter accident in August, Finland’s STT news agency reported. The aircraft crashed into the Bay of Tallinn with 14 people on board. There were no survivors.
The investigators spotted a fault in one of the three flight control panels that operated the Sikorsky S-76C+ aircraft. The wreckage was salvaged from the bottom of the sea.

* Official confirmation of the Tallinn municipal poll has been postponed due to MP Igor Grazin’s legal protest, putting off a decision on who will become the capital’s new mayor.
Grazin (above), who had been a candidate for the City Council as a member of the Reform Party, originally wanted results from the Kristiine borough cancelled, but the National Electoral Committee refused his request.

* State prosecutors have begun looking into several suspicious real estate transactions at Kalev that may have caused significant financial loss to shareholders of the country’s largest chocolate factory.

*  Tallink and Sea Containers, owner of Finland’s Silja Line, have reportedly reached an agreement allowing Tallink to buy its smaller competitor.

Source :  Baltic Times

Universal name brings tears of joy

TALLINN - Estonia has given birth to many excellent composers and musicians, and Georg Ots is definitely one of them.
It is little surprise then, to come across his name, whether it be on a street sign, a university building or in conversation. And now, 30 years after his death, his name will be gleaming from the Tallinn Linnehall Walls. On Nov. 18, the premier of the musical “Georg” will resurrect the musician’s unmistakable music.

A humorous look at the life of one of Estonia’s most popular icons, “Georg” will most likely have audiences gleaming with nostalgia. His generation-spanning songs, both poignant and passionate, are subtly woven into his biographical story. One thing’s for sure; the story of this phenomenal individual will bore nobody.

Music ran deep in Georg’s family. His father, Karlis Ots, was already a renowned tenor by the time Georg was born in 1920. Growing up in Petrograd (Soviet Russia), Georg’s music later earned fame both in his native Estonia and today’s Russia. He also had a large audience in many East European countries. The musician has been described as a “connecting link,” as almost everyone - despite age, nationality or class - liked his music.

Georg began singing in a boy’s choir when he was 12. This was perfect training for what would soon become a path to fame. It wasn’t until 1944 that the young man had his solo opera debut; a tiny part in the opera “Eugene Onegin.” Despite the small size of his role, Georg’s voice soared. Soon he ..........