BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Estonia's pollution bill to reach millions

* THE COST of cleaning up pollution left over from Estonia’s Soviet era may reach 400 million kroons, or 25.6 million euros.

The Estonian Environment Ministry has begun planning a clean-up of over 30 industrial and military areas which were badly polluted during the Soviet period, the daily newspaper Eesti Paevaleht has reported.

The ministry hopes the 400 million kroon bill will be footed by the European Cohesion Fund, a grant system that assists the poorer members of the European Union.

More than 300 polluted areas have been identified across Estonia, and include old asphalt plants, airfields and fertilizer storage facilities.

It is feared the pollution may affect water quality, which would potentially drawn EU sanctions.

Seeking business openings in Estonia

* SCOTTISH Development International has appointed a permanent representative post in Estonia, on a pilot basis. The post will be based at Scotland House in the capital, Tallinn.

Martin Togneri, chief executive of Scottish Development International, said: "SDI welcomes the expansion of Scotland House in Estonia and is always keen to encourage private sector initiatives that support the international business growth of Scottish companies.

"The pilot project in Estonia will allow SDI to evaluate business opportunities in Estonia and other new EU member states."

WW II monument vandalized in Tallinn, suspect detained

TALLINN  - A World War II monument was vandalized in Tallinn early on Sunday. The monument depicts a Soviet solider as the liberator of Tallinn from Nazi Germany during World War II.

Blue and white paint, the colors of Estonia's blue-white-black state tricolor, were splashed on the monument at about 1:30 a.m., local time, on Sunday.

The suspected vandal has been detained, and the paint has been washed away from the monument, local media reported.

The act of vandalism followed a crowded unauthorized rally of local national-radicals, who gathered near the monument on Saturday to demand the removal of what they called "Bronze Soldier" from the city.

Recognise SS as heroes, say Estonian MPs

* ESTONIAN MPs are trying to have men who fought for the SS in the Second World War officially re-classed as freedom fighters. When German forces marched into Estonia and its neighbouring Baltic states, Lithuania and Latvia, in 1941, many treated them as liberators as the countries had been occupied by the Soviets a year before and tens of thousands of people massacred by the Red Army.

Thousands later joined the German army and ended up in SS units. After Estonia's absorption into the Soviet Union, they were branded traitors. Now Estonia's right-wing Fatherland Union and Respublika parties want to see the former SS members recognised as heroes.

One MP, Trivimi Velliste, said: "Thousands fought for the Estonian republic then. The least we can do is recognise their struggle for liberation."

Seafaring bear booms tourism

* The tiny Estonian island of Ruhnu was expecting its population to double on Friday, as tourists headed to the island on the trail of an adventurous bear.

"Tomorrow about fifty tourists will come to the island to look for the bear," said Kaarel Lauk, who owns a campsite on the island.

The latest bear-following figures put Ruhnu's population at 70.

The saga began in April, when fishermen reported spotting a bear drifting into the Gulf of Riga on a floating chunk of ice. The animal disappeared in fog and was thought to have drowned.

Then paw-prints were seen on Ruhnu, which lies in the Gulf of Riga, 37km from the nearest land. The reports alarmed locals.

"The bear could be dangerous for our children," said Lauk. "We want it taken away."

Specialist hunters from Estonia?s ministry of the environment were sent to Ruhnu to bring the bear back - alive - but their efforts were hampered by weather and curious locals.

"The hunters put out bait .......

Thomson pioneers next generation telecoms in Ukraine and Estonia

PARIS  -- Thomson (Euronext 18453) (NYSE:TMS - News) today announced that its Cirpack voice over IP softswitches have been selected by two new providers in Eastern Europe - Telegrupp in Estonia and Datagroup in the Ukraine.

Estonian service provider Telegrupp has just launched one of the world's first fixed-mobile services using Thomson's Cirpack softswitches. Telegrupp is already successfully using the system in house and is now marketing a full set of fixed mobile convergence features for mobile operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to provide their customers with both mobile and fixed IP networks connectivity bundled with unique converged voice features. The VoIP market is gaining rapid ground in Estonia with a seven-fold increase in the number of subscriber lines reported for the year 2005 according to a report from analyst group Dataxys.

Datagroup, Ukraine's leading provider of integrated telecommunications services, provides fixed, mobile and satellite communication services for telephone and mobile operators. Datagroup's decision to offer a wider spectrum of user-friendly services via a new network management system means that Thomson's Cirpack softswitches will be at the heart of the construction and development of Datagroup's next generation network throughout Ukraine. The number of Ukrainian broadband subscriber lines is rapidly increasing and grew by almost 500% during 2005, according to Dataxys' Quarterly Broadband Residential Market Analyses. This particular contract signature marks the beginning of a vast VoIP project as Datagroup are planning growth both geographically and in the range of services they provide.

Bruno Fabre, Vice President, ......

TOURIST AND HANDICRAFT MARKET

* May 27-28 – If you’re still trying to figure out how to fill in your weekends during the long summer ahead in Estonia, you may want to visit the home tourism and handicraft fair “EHE 2006” at the Tallinn Open Air Museum. Several handicrafts will be on display. And there will be several nature bums there to tell you about the country’s eco-tourism possibilities.

More info : tel. (+372) 6549 100

How French women do things .... !

* TALLINN - “The elegance is lost,” sighs Triin Teramae. “Women today are very different...Unfortunately I think ladies have changed.” Film stars used to have a style and grace, Teramae is saying. But all that is absent in today’s generation of celebrities. Teramae, the head of Femme Fatale, a film festival that celebrates French stars of the 1960s and 70s, is determined to remind the world of a time when a different class of women ruled the silver screen.

This week the festival takes over Kino Soprus, an art house cinema in Tallinn’s Old Town, with nightly screenings of films that capture the style of the era.
“The films exemplify the golden age of France in the 60s and 70s, when [the country] was an example of fashion and music and intellectual thought,” Teramae says.

“We don’t have any classical art house films available here. We only see contemporary films. It’s very important for Estonian people to see classic films also, and in a cinema, of course. It’s very different watching something on DVD than in a cinema.”
Most of the original 35mm prints of the films were sent from cultural centers in Paris, but a few of the prints are no longer available and must be shown from a DVD.

Teramae’s personal favorite film in the festival is Brigitte Bardot’s 1963 classic “Contempt,” which begins with Bardot in bed with ........

Survey on the non-Estonian speaking population

* Nearly one-third of Estonia’s native Russian-speaking population cannot understand the national language, according to a new survey commissioned by the Estonian Migration Foundation.

The survey of non-ethnic Estonians found only 19 percent were fluent in the language, while just over 30 percent could communicate and understand Estonian. Only 2 percent of Russian residents said they could fluently converse in Estonian, while 34 reported no comprehension.

Non-ethnic Estonians said they believed learning the language was important in order to get a promotion or find a better job, while others believed it was necessary to participate in society. The survey interviewed 980 people aged 18 to 74.

Klementi moves into black, eyes eastern expansion

TALLINN - The Tallinn-based garment maker Klementi posted a small profit of 465,000 kroons (29,710 euros) for the first quarter despite a 3 percent drop in sales. The company announced that first quarter sales amounted to 31.1 million kroons, while retail sales jumped 14.1 percent to 16 million kroons. Retail sales in Latvia alone soared 76 percent.

Wholesale turnover dropped 17.6 percent compared with the first quarter of 2005 since the company has not been selling output on a wholesale basis in Sweden and Norway since the second half of 2005.
Meanwhile, sales efficiency of retail areas rose 24 percent in comparison with the first quarter of 2005, the company said. At the end of March the Klementi concern operated 11 stores with a combined sales area of 2,588 square meters.
CEO Peeter Larin said the company has expansion plans for Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia, in addition to Estonia and Latvia, though it would not enter any new markets this year. There are several possibilities for financing the expansion such as borrowing and increasing stock capital, he added.

However, CFO Marianne Paas said the company needed to demonstrate its stability to banks in order to procure a loan, which Klementi has struggled to do in the past but has been able to as of late. The firm’s loan burden currently stands at around 20 million kroons (1.2 million euros).
Larin told reporters that Klementi did not plan to drop production. “Not a single reason for this exists at the moment – neither logistically nor relating to price advantages,” he said. Right now, he added, expansion of production is hindered by a shortage of labor.

Klementi’s 12 stores, seven in Estonia and five in Latvia, are operating under the PTA trademark. The parent company of the concern intends to change its name to PTA Group, which would own a ......

TVMK leave it late to lift cup

by Margus Luik

A late goal by substitute Vladislavs Gabovs won the Estonian Cup for FC TVMK Tallinn as they defeated FC Flora 1-0 in the final. The 18-year-old Latvian winger had only been on the field three minutes when he struck to secure TVMK's third victory in the competition.

Teleš to the rescue
In front of a disappointing crowd of 350 at Tallinn's Kadriorg Stadium, Gabovs was introduced late to the fray by TVMK coach Vyacheslav Bulavin and from Vladislav Gussev's clever pass into the area, he belatedly broke the deadlock. TVMK were also grateful to goalkeeper Vitali Teleš who made fine saves from Martin Vunk, Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko and Jarmo Ahjupera either side of the interval. The victors' only real threat before the goal had come from Viktors Dobrecovs.

Passengers allowed on Sillamae-Kotka route

* The Sillamae-Kotka shipping line has started taking passengers, says the Saaremaa Shipping Company subsidiary Narva Line. According to OU Narva Line project manager Karl Kolk, people’s interest in the route has been growing since the beginning of March. Daily cruises that depart Sillamae last for about six hours.

Estonia March current account deficit highest for two years at EUR 185 millions

* Estonia's current account deficit in March was 2.9 bln kroons (185 mln eur), up 57 pct year-on-year, the BNS news service reported citing the Estonian central bank. The last time the shortfall reached this level was two years ago, when it hit 3.36 bln kroons in April 2004, it said. In February of this year the deficit was 1.55 bln kroons

Customs officials accused of accepting bribes

Police have accused customs officials on the Estonia-Russian border of accepting bribes of at least 1.5 million kroons, or 96,000 euros.
The tabloid newspaper SL Ohtulet has reported that seventeen officials at the Koidula checkpoint on the southeast border systematically received bribes to ignore a smuggling racket.
Bribes ranged in price from 1,300 to 40,000 kroons, and fluctuated with the cost of the cargo.
A police investigation carried out over 15 months tracked at least 1.5 million kroons in illegal payments from smugglers to the customs officials, the report said.
The question is : Why do we talk about it now, when it has been known for so many years ... ! and not only customs officials at Koidula ...

Victim’s families seek fresh investigation into Estonia tragedy

By TBT staff

TALLINN - Families of the victims of the Estonia ferry disaster have demanded the wreck be made available for fresh investigations.

In a letter signed by several victim organizations in Estonia and Sweden, relatives of those who died in the 1994 maritime disaster have requested that an international agreement to leave the sinking site in peace be annulled.
The countries that ratified the agreement - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Sweden and Great Britain among them - have been presented with copies of the letter.
Scrutiny of the ferry wreck has been impossible because of international treaties to leave the site untouched.

But victims groups believe fresh evidence could be harvested to give clearer insight into the disaster, which claimed more than 800 lives.
Despite several investigations, both by governments and private groups, questions still remain about the cause of the sinking, for which no-one has been held accountable.
In their letter, the organisations have demanded that a panel of independent experts be given the power to launch a new public investigation.
The Estonia sank on September 28 1994 during a night-time voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm.

Ballens - Tout est prêt pour recevoir les chanteurs de l’Aubonne

Raymond Darioly

* Le village de Ballens (CH) va célébrer l’art choral les 19, 20 et 21 mai prochains. Abondamment décoré pour la circonstance, il a tout préparé pour que ses visiteurs gardent un souvenir inoubliable du 29e Giron des chanteurs de l’Aubonne. Le site qui accueillera les participants est idyllique, entouré d’arbres et de champs en fleurs, face au Jura et aux Alpes françaises.
Le concert de gala sera donné par le chœur de l’Université de Tartu.

Les chorales se réuniront vendredi soir déjà, dès 20h, pour une chantée. Le lendemain matin, le chœur mixte de Ballens fêtera ses 50 ans. Il a invité pour la circonstance les anciens du chœur, dont une septantaine ont répondu à l’appel. Les anciens directeurs n’ont pas été oubliés. Cinq d’entre eux dirigeront un des chants qui avaient marqué leur période de direction. A 16h15, un cortège emmené par les Cuivres du Mont-Tendre réunira le chœur de Ballens, les vétérans et les six chœurs d’enfants participant à la fête.

A 20h30, ce sera au tour du chœur de l’Université de Tartu (Estonie) de présenter son concert de gala. Philippe Hügli, notre directeur, s’était approché de l’ambassade d’Estonie pour obtenir la traduction d’un chant, explique Georges-Henri Werly, président. La démarche a été le départ d’une aventure qui nous a conduits en Estonie, en 2004, où nous avons participé à une grandiose fête de chant. Nos liens avec l’Estonie se prolongent avec la venue de cet excellent chœur de l’Université de Tartu.

Le dimanche réunira les chœurs du ......

Cruise ships about to invade Saaremaa from Germany

* After a week, the first cruise ship with nearly a thousand German tourists on board will arrive in Saaremaa. Local citizens are certain on one thing – everything is about to change. The cruise ship will make 10 trips to Saaremaa this summer.

The owner of Panga Cliff and Kaali Crater, dolomite businessman Alver Sagur, is unhappy ; environmentalists prevent him from building a parking lot, restrooms, a museum and a cafeteria near Panga Cliff.

According to Sagur, about 40,000 tourists visit the cliff every summer and they do not even get an opportunity to use a toilet !

Eurovision 2006 : Sandra from Estonia

* Late this afternoon, it was time for Sandra who is representing Estonia to rehearse, for the second time, with her entry Through my window. The presentation came over as very slick, with her four female backing singers and her boyfriend Jacob, also as a backing vocalist, they alll looked very smart and co-ordinated, and received a positive reaction from many in the auditorium.

Afterwards she faced the obligatory press conference, and esctoday.com managed to obtain a short interview with her following the official session. You will be able to see this interview on the site soon.

The session started with the presents from OGAE Greece to Sandra and the head of delegation Juhan Paadam. In addition a Turkish fan gave her a present of some Turkish delight, all were gratefully received.

There were compliments about the outfits and the whole co-ordinated effect. Sandra remarked that at the first rehearsal, where performers have to wear the footwear they will use in the final performance, so that height of microphones stands, and  camera shots can be set and so forth, that she tried to put on a pair of jeans, but that they wouldn't slip over the shoes, so she had to grab something that would slip over them, and therefore ended up with the white hot pants she wore.

Given that many song contest winners in recent times ........

Government gave EUR 0.34 mln to preserve gene samples

* The Estonian government decided to give 5.294 million kroons (EUR 0.34 mln) for preserving during 2006 the tissue samples collected by the Estonian Genome Foundation.

When the Estonian Genome Foundation was established it was set out under law that the government would cover the costs related to preservation and scrapping of the samples.

In February this year the government gave one million kroons to preserve the samples. In all, the Ministry of Social Affairs is seeking 6.9 million kroons for preserving the samples this year.

The Estonian Genome Foundation has accumulated tissue samples from about 10,000 residents by now, whereas the original goal was to have the gene samples of at least 100,000 people.

On April 20 this year the Cabinet agreed to a proposal of Social Affairs Minister Jaak Aab to wind up the Estonian Genome Foundation and hand over the assets to Tartu University.

Declared incomes grew by 1/4 in Estonia y-o-y

* The total sum of incomes declared to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board for 2005 was 49.9 billion kroons, 26 percent more than was declared for 2004.

The total sum of incomes shown in tax returns for 2004 had been 39.5 billion kroons. "The Estonian economy has grown and a lot of incomes have been brought out of the shadow," the director general of the Tax and Customs Board, Enriko Aav, said.

The average income per tax return grew 17.6 percent to 99,864 kroons, corresponding to an average monthly income of 8,333 kroons (EUR 533.00).

The Tax and Customs Board is refunding taxpayers 1.06 billion kroons this year in overpaid income tax. It has made refunds worth some 920 million kroons by now.