ÄRIPÄEV
Tony Blair to meet with Baltic leaders today in Tallinn
Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair will be arriving in Tallinn today with hopes to convince Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to accept large cuts in EU aid. It is believed that under the scheme proposed by Blair, Estonia would lose about EUR 320 mln in EU aid between 2007 and 2013. The proposal has already drawn criticism from Lithuania Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas and Estonian MEP Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
LHV, Uus Maa and Bonaprix to develop a new residential area in Tallinn
The investment fund EE REIT and property developer Bonaprix plan to invest up to EEK 2 bln in developing a new residential district in Telliskivi street. The area will have around 140,000 square metres of floor space for housing. EE REIT is owned by Estonian investment bank LHV and real estate agency Uus Maa.
Gunnar Okk pulls the plug as chairman of Eesti Energia
Gunnar Okk who has been chairman of state power utility Eesti Energia for the last seven years had his last workday in the company yesterday. His farewell party was attended by Estonia’s most powerful businessmen. Okk himself has said that he has been offered a job in a foreign company that is listed on a stock exchange, but refused to provide details. "As a listed company, they will announce it when necessary," he said.
Saku Brewery reported sharp rise in nine-month revenues, profit
Estonia’s largest brewery Saku said today its revenues for the first nine months were EEK 498 mln (32 mln euros). The company’s net profit for the period was EEK 63 mln (4.1 mln euros), up from EEK 44.5 mln (2.8 mln euros) a year ago). According to the Estonian Breweries Association, the market share of Saku was 45 pct, up from 41.5 pct a year ago.
Construction group Koger & Partnerid sells 66 pct of road-building co
Estonian construction group Koger & Partnerid has sold 66 pct of its wholly-owned road-building subsidiary Koger Teedeehitused to Sun Invest and Scandikal. “We sold the holding because road-building has never been our core business,” said Andres Koger, CEO and Chairman of Koger & Partnerid whose turnover in 2004 was EEK 660 mln and the profit was EEK 5.8 mln.
EESTI PÄEVALEHT
British presidency of EU was a total failure - column
Ahto Lobjakas writes in his column that the British presidency of EU was a major failure and its only success was starting accession negotiations with Turkey. At the same time Tony Blair failed in most other important issues such as the budget, constitutional treaty, economic reforms and opening of the service market. “To come to Tallinn now to force us to accept cuts in EU aid is an insult,” writes Lobjakas about Blair’s visit to meet Baltic leaders.
Estonia has used 14 pct of EEK 6 bln in EU aid - FinMin
Estonian Ministry of Finance admits that Estonia has so far used only 14 pct of around EEK 6 bln that has been made available to it between 2004 and 2006. However, the Ministry says that the funds in question are available until end of 2008 and expects by that time Estonia to have used 90 pct of the EU aid made available to Estonia. An adviser to the Ministry of Finance say that since Estonia is unlikely to use 100 pct of EU aid, it could in principle accept smaller aid proposed by Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Sandor Liive who took over as Chairman of Estonian state utility Eesti Energia today will meet with Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas in Tallinn. The men will discuss Estlink power cable that links Estonia with Finland, Lithuania-Poland power cable, possible cooperation in developing a nuclear power station, etc. According to some sources, the two men will also discuss the failed attempt of Eesti Energia to privatise Lithuanian power grid RST.
Security police may close criminal case of Estonia’s richest expatriate businessman
Security police are ready to close the criminal case into claims that Harry Männil whose main residence is in Venezuela and who is widely believed to be the richest Estonian in the world was a high-ranking Nazi during WWII. Männil has denied all accusations. Männil’s extensive business operations include manufacturing of armed vehicles in Venezuela received Venezuelan citizenship in 1952.
POSTIMEES
Tallink’s IPO likely to be oversubscribed
The initial public offering of Tallink, Estonia’s largest ferry group, is likely to be subscribed many times over, say analysts. The subscription ends this afternoon and is likely to attract thousands of small investors from Estonia and Latvia as well as large institutional investors.
Parties oppose Tony Blair’s proposals to cut EU aid to Estonia
Estonian political parties demand that Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip rejects the proposal to accept a 10 pct cut in EU aid that the Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to table today at a meeting with Baltic leaders in Tallinn. Accepting the proposal means that Estonia would lose around EEK 700 mln in EU aid a year for seven years.
Estonia’s EU policy faces a lithmus test
EU policy experts say that today’s visit of Tony Blair to Estonia and his alleged proposal to accept a cut in EU aid will put the Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip is a difficult position : while it is important to preserve good foreign relations and help to move the EU budget from the gridlock, Estonia must fight for its interests and not allow old EU countries to benefit at the expense of poorer Eastern Europe.
Average household member earns EEK 50,000 a year
Although average annual income of a household member is around 50,000 kroons, there is a major gap between the average annual income in Tallinn and in South Estonia. While a household member in Tallinn earns over 65,000 kroons a year, the figure is only 30,000 a year or a few thousand kroons a month in South Estonia.
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