BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Finnish Copterline seeks damages from Sikorsky

HELSINKI - Finnish helicopter operator Copterline is seeking damages of $60 million from helicopter maker Sikorsky over a fatal helicopter crash last year, Copterline Chief Executive Kari Ljungberg said on Sunday.

A twin-engine Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, on a regular commercial flight by Copterline from Tallinn to Helsinki, slammed into the Baltic sea minutes after takeoff in August 2005, killing 14 people.

At the time, officials called it Estonia's worst aviation accident.

Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Sunday that Copterline was seeking compensation from Sikorsky, a unit of United Technologies Corp <UTX.N>, through a U.S. court in New York.

"It (the news report) is correct," Ljungberg told Reuters, adding at this stage he would not comment further.

France on the decline

Not news anymore but we have to start facing it ... Such a country so proud of herself, but proud of going and getting backward.

Politicians, whoever you may be, you may carry on playing with your citizens since they never will force themselves to understand anything of our world, and as you know they just wish to carry on living in their cocoon, refusing to face and to live with others, just like "shy kids". So carry on your manipulation but don´t ever think that this will bring you glory to the world visage.

Non, nein, no : Europe turns negative on the euro.

Matthew Campbell, Paris

A FRENCH diplomat who spent the festive period at his weekend home in rural France was astonished last week when a man in a DIY shop presented him with a bill in francs, rather than in euros, with the excuse : “I am sorry, monsieur, most of my clients prefer it that way.”

In a world apart from the euphoria with which 12 nations — excluding Britain — switched to the euro on New Year’s Day in 2002, hostility towards the single currency is growing as a wider malaise over an expanding Europe takes hold.

"I suppose in some places the euro has just never really caught on,” said the diplomat. “I feel very pessimistic about the future.”

Slovenia will drop its tolar tomorrow in favour of eurozone entry, but in “old Europe” the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the euro will be more an occasion for bitter reflection than fanfares.

The high denomination notes may be popular among criminals, but one poll released last week showed that 52% of French people believe that “the euro is a bad thing”, blaming it for inflation, and 57% felt that the euro had been bad for them “personally”.

Corruption in Central Europe : Getting back toward socialism and authoritarianism !

Bill Steigerwald

* Central Europe's four-pack of liberated former Soviet colonies — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — have been drifting away from free markets and democracy and back toward socialism and authoritarianism.

According to Marian L. Tupy, a policy analyst with the Cato Institute, Central Europe's liberal political parties (i.e., free market parties) have been losing out at the polls to populist parties that combine left-wing economics with right-wing social attitudes. I talked to Tupy, who has an article about the rise of illiberalism in Central Europe in the January Reason magazine, by telephone recently from his offices in Washington.

Q : Generally, how have Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic done economically, politically and socially since the end of communism ?

A : I have no doubt that the current social and economic situation in Central Europe is better than it was in the dying days of communism. Standard of living judged by income per capita adjusted for inflation and purchasing power parity is at historical highs. Longevity is up. School enrollment is up. The people of Central Europe enjoy more material goods, and, of course, they are free. So both from an economic and a political perspective, it seems to me that the past 17 years have been pretty successful.

Q : How do you define these new populist parties ?

Estonia in in top pension rankings

* Two countries that joined the EU only in May, 2004 - Estonia and Latvia - rank among the region's top four for pensions provision, according to the latest annual European Pensions Barometer rankings from Aon Consulting, the pensions and benefits consultancy.

Both Baltic states relegated the Netherlands and the UK to fifth and sixth place respectively in the survey.

Denmark emerged as the best placed country among the 25 EU members to provide its citizens with adequate pensions.

Portugal, ranked top ranked last year, slipped to 13th place this time due to improvements in demography and private pension provision by other countries and the inclusion of new EU countries in the survey.

The British pension system ranks sixth out of 25, even though the UK has the least generous state pension system in the EU.

Estonian soldier wounded in Afghan insurgent attack

* An Estonian soldier was hurt in Afghanistan's troubled southern Helmand province as insurgents attacked troops from the Baltic state who are part of the NATO-led ISAF force, officials said.

"The Estonian soldiers came under handgun and mortar fire attack Wednesday evening in Helmand province when a unit was returning to base from escorting a convoy," the Estonian defence forces said in a statement issued in Tallinn.

"The life of the soldier is not in danger," the statement said on Thursday.

The attack came on the same day as two soldiers from neighbouring Latvia lost their lives in an attack in Iraq.

Estonia has 132 soldiers serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, making it the largest foreign mission for forces of the Baltic state of just 1.33 million people.

Smirnov takes charge at Tallinn

* Vjatseslav Smirnov has been named as the new head coach of 2005 Estonian champions FC TVMK Tallinn.

Long association
After former Russian international Sergei Yuran's unexpected departure from the job at the end of November, TVMK held negotiations with several foreign coaches but finally settled for Smirnov. The 49-year-old has signed a one-year deal with TVMK, although he has already been working there for more than 20 years in a variety of roles, from player and coach all the way up to club president.

Bulavin returns
Smirnov's only trophy with the club was the 1993 Estonia cup win, though he does have a collection of six Meistriliiga bronze medals as a coach. After the 2002 season, he was released as head coach but remained at the club in various other capacities. Vyacheslav Bulavin, who led TVMK to the title in 2005, has also returned to the club as a consultant to the coaching staff.

Russia uses energy to squeeze EU : Estonia president

* Estonia's president on Friday slammed Russia for using energy to bring pressure on its former satellites and the entire European Union, and urged the EU to forge a united policy towards Moscow.

"Russia has used energy as a foreign policy instrument against Estonia for 15 years and will continue to do so," Toomas Hendrik Ilves said in an interview published Friday in the Postimees daily.

"A very clear danger to us (from Moscow) comes from exerting pressure by using energy," he said.

North Europe to ring in New Year with ice-free Baltic Sea

TALLINN - Northern Europeans were poised to celebrate the passage to the New Year in a way that is out of the ordinary for them : with an ice-free Baltic Sea.

"It's quite unusual that we welcome the New Year with no ice in the Baltic Sea," Tarmo Kouts, senior researcher at the Estonian Marine Institute, told AFP.

Temperatures in Estonian coastal waters are warmer by one degree Celsius (around three degrees Fahrenheit) than at the end of last year, Kouts said.

"The temperature of 1C in the Bay of Parnu means conditions are ready for ice formation, if only we had at least a week of sub-zero temperatures," Kouts said.

"But the forecast shows mild weather continuing into the New Year."

Still, he assured, the sea could freeze this winter.

"It would take up to 10 days of freezing temperatures and we would see ice forming in the coastal areas," Kouts said.

Scania sells 65 city buses to Tallinn

* Amidst keen competition, Scania has landed its largest single order for city buses in Estonia. The municipal bus operator Tallinn Bus Company is buying 65 low-floor Scania OmniLink type buses. "This is an order than further reinforces our already strong presence in the Estonian city bus market," says Ken Tarnstrom, Sales Director of Scania Omni.

The Tallinn Bus Company, which dominates city bus services in the Estonian capital, has long experience of Scania buses and today has about 200 of them in its fleet.

It was Scania OmniLink's very good fuel economy, with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology, and very good service and parts support that decided the matter.

The stable environmental pressure of Estonia is a negative tendency

* According to Statistics Estonia, in spite of the fact that there were no major changes concerning environmental pressure in 2005, the continuing of the present trends shows the accumulation of pollutants in the environment.

From positive environmental pressure trends it is noteworthy that energy production from renewable sources in Estonia is increasing — in 2005 11% of the consumed energy was produced from renewable energy sources. The main source of renewable energy was wood.

Although the use of passenger cars is continuously increasing, the cars are newer and the amounts of air pollution decrease. In 2005 compared to 2000, the number of first registrations of passenger cars almost doubled and the use of motor fuels increased by one third. Despite the growth in the number of passenger cars air pollution from mobile sources has not increased.

The amounts of unpurified wastewater to environment decrease compared to the previous years. 1.9 million cubic meters of unpurified wastewater were released to environment in 2005. Due to the increased canalization and purification of wastewater, the release of unpurified wastewater into environment has decreased about three times compared to 2000.

In 2005 compared to 2000, the gross felling has decreased by 45%, whereby felling from private forest has decreased 50%.

Estonia trade deficit widens in October

* Estonian trade deficit amounted to 3.9 billion kroons in October, the statistical office said Wednesday. In September, trade deficit totaled 3.3 billion kroons.

Exports of goods rose 7.5% annually to 10.2 billion kroons. On monthly basis, exports dropped 2.4%. Meanwhile, imports climbed 11.7% on yearly basis and improved 2.5% on month. Imports amounted to 14.10 billion kroons.

*******

* According to preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, in October 2006 the value of Estonia’s foreign trade was 24.3 billion kroons*. The value of foreign trade increased only 10% compared to the same month of the previous year. Compared to September 2006 the value of foreign trade remained on the same level.

In October 2006 exports of goods was 10.2 billion kroons (42%). Compared to October 2005 exports increased 7%, compared to September 2006 it decreased 2%.

In October 2006 imports of goods was 14.1 billion kroons (58%). Compared to October 2005 imports increased 12%, compared to September 2006 imports increased 3%.

The trade deficit was 3.9 billion kroons (in October 2005 it was 3.1 billion kroons and in September 2006 — 3.3 billion kroons).

In October the share of EU countries in exports was 66% and the share of CIS countries in exports was 13% of total exports (in October of the previous year the indicators were 80% and 8%, respectively). The main destination countries in exports were Finland (16% of total exports), Sweden (12%) and Latvia (10%).

Compared to October of the previous year, there was an increase mainly in the exports of mineral products (by 369 million kroons), of transport equipment (by 200 million kroons), of metals and products thereof (by 191 million kroons), of agricultural products and food preparations (by 134 million kroons) and of miscellaneous manufactured articles (by 132 million kroons). At the same time, there was a remarkable decrease only in the exports of machinery and equipment (by 846 million kroons).

The Estonian Model

* The disturbing return of socialism and authoritarianism in the former Soviet bloc

Is Liberalism Dead in Central Europe ?

Given these institutional weaknesses in the post-communist countries, some economists, including the Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, have argued that liberalization should have been slowed down. But the cost of postponing reforms, whether in terms of subsidies to inefficient producers or of forgone economic growth, would have been immense.

Moreover, Oleh Havrylyshyn, the former deputy director in the Office of Internal Audit at the International Monetary Fund, shows in her new book, Divergent Paths in Post-Communist Transformation, that by virtually all the relevant criteria, from growth rates to corruption, Central European nations have performed significantly better than formerly communist countries that took a more gradualist or haphazard approach to reform, such as Russia and Ukraine. Central Europe, in turn, is outperformed by Estonia, the most fervent liberalizer in the post-communist world.

Estonia began to liberalize at the end of 1992. The government eliminated import tariffs and instituted a flat income tax. Corporate taxes on reinvested profits fell to zero. To arrest inflation, the government established a currency board, which tied the exchange rate of the Estonian kroon to the deutschmark and, later, the euro. State enterprises were sold off in a transparent fashion ; unlike in Central Europe, Estonian privatization favored the highest bidders regardless of their political connections. Foreign investors were welcomed, though Russian firms were treated with suspicion due to national security concerns.

Pour réserver votre nuit d'hôtel, appelez l'Estonie : C´est moins cher !

Ville de bord de mer située entre la Finlande, la Suède et la Russie, Tallinn, la capitale de la République d'Estonie n'est pas appréciée seulement pour le charme pittoresque de son vieux centre-ville ou l'hospitalité de ses Tallinnois. C'est dans cette ville peuplée d'un peu moins de 400 000 âmes que les hôtels Hilton ont décidé d'implanter l'un de leurs deux centres d'appels européens. Il faut dire que le lieu ne manque pas d'atouts...

Estoniens, Russes, Allemands, Suédois, Finlandais, Hollandais, Français, Canadiens, Allemands, Italiens, Espagnols, Japonais, Suisses, Turcs, Lettons, Néo-zélandais... Ils sont 300 (payes **EEK 7700,00 bruts/mois seulement - ou a peine EUR 500,00 bruts/176 heures pour un travail en equipe jusqu´a 22 heures, par des journees d´hiver ou il fait moins 20 degrees, passant a EEK 9200,00 bruts/mois apres la periode d´essai ou EUR 588,00 bruts mensuels. La majorite de ces exploites sont etudiants, il va de soi), venus des quatre coins du grand continent européen pour exercer à Tallinn – capitale de l'Estonie – leur art... de la réservation de chambres d'hôtels. Une auberge espagnole en mer baltique, sur le littoral du golfe de Finlande, quelle drôle d'idée !
Certains travaillent à temps plein, d'autres viennent ici le temps d'un été passer trois ou quatre mois afin de découvrir la région et en profitent pour optimiser leur séjour et leurs anglais en travaillant à temps partiel en tant que chargés de clientèle.

L'auberge espagnole à la mode estonienne

« Nous recrutons des personnes qui ont un bon niveau d'anglais et parlent une autre langue couramment. Il n'est pas nécessaire de parler estonien car les formations sont dispensées en anglais. D'ailleurs, toute l'équipe parle anglais », explique Tatjana Antonova, l´actuelle Resourcing coordinator d'Hilton Reservations and Customer Care (car le poste lui-meme se trouve des remplacants relativement souvent) qui affirme que « si une expérience en centre d'appels est appréciée, ce qui compte avant tout est le niveau de langue ». A leur arrivée, les candidats retenus suivent une formation intensive d'un mois, qu'ils aient ou non déjà travaillé dans la relation clientèle. Au programme : cours théorique et exercices pratiques. Aucune exception à la règle : même les saisonniers venus pour trois mois renforcer les équipes pendant la période estivale très chargée doivent suivre cette formation aux techniques de la relation client haut de gamme.

Merry Xmas to all

From Tallinn

British label heads for Paris

* The acceptance of Boudicca, the British fashion label, for the prestigious haute couture season in Paris is a radical step towards modernising and revitalising the ancient French business, writes Hilary Alexander

Boudicca, the avant-garde, London-based fashion brand, has been invited to show at the prestigious haute couture season in Paris in January, 2007.

The acceptance of Boudicca, the brainchild of life and business partners, Brian Kirkby and Zowie Broach, is a radical step towards modernising and revitalising the ancient French couture business which has seen its clientele diminish and its couturiers dwindle since its heyday in the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Boudicca is only the fifth British fashion label accepted for the Paris couture season since the industry was founded by an Englishman, Charles Frederick Worth, the imperial dressmaker, in the mid-to-late 19th century.

Previous British designers who have wielded the golden scissors as Paris couturiers are John Galliano, who next year celebrates his tenth anniversary as couturier at the house of Christian Dior ; Alexander McQueen and the Welsh-born Julien Macdonald who have both previously served as creative directors of the house of Givenchy ; and the knitwear designer, Adam Jones who is also an "invited member" of the industry’s governing body, the Chambre Syndicale de la haute couture.

Estonian government is satisfied with the outgoing year

* In the opinion of ministers from Estonia’s ruling coalition parties, the outgoing year was successful and also cooperation within the government was smooth.

Economic growth has created opportunities to solve significantly better the social problems facing the society, Prime Minister and leader of the Reform Party Andrus Ansip said at the government’s end-of-year press conference on Dec. 21. He expressed delight that the corporate and personal income tax rate had come down and tax-exempt income risen, and praised growing pensions and family benefits.

According to the prime minister, year 2006 was successful for Estonia also in foreign policy terms. “All the high-level visits to Estonia - British queen, US president - confirm that Estonia has become an equal partner to all our friends,” Ansip said.

Estonia has succeeded in being thrifty and not spending all the funds that could be used, and also the next year’s state budget is planned with a billion-kroon surplus, the premier added.

Eesti Telekom is Estonia's largest group of telecommunications and IT companies

* Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c47605) has announced the addition of 'Eesti Telekom Company Intelligence Report 2006' to their offering.

Eesti Telekom is Estonia's largest group of telecommunications and IT companies. Eesti Telekom's subsidiary, Elion Ettevotted AS (Elion Enterprises Ltd), maintains the leading position in the Estonian market for fixed-line telephone communications, Internet connections, as well as data communications solutions, and has also entered the IT and digital television reception markets. Eesti Telekom's subsidiary, AS EMT, is Estonia's largest mobile operator, which offers voice services as well as mobile data communications and content services.

As a result of an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in early-1999, institutional and private investors purchased 49% of the shares that had previously belonged to the Estonian state. Eesti Telekom became a public company with shares listed on the Tallinn and London Stock Exchanges.

After the IPO, Eesti Telekom went through a period of restructuring, in the course of which Sonera Oyj (formerly Telecom Finland), Telia AB, and Baltic Tele AB, exchanged their holding in Eesti Telefon and EMT for a 49% shareholding in Eesti Telekom. Telia and Sonera subsequently merged to form TeliaSonera AB in December 2002.

SEC freezes assets of Estonian firm implicated in hi-tech pump and dump fraud

* The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency asset freeze against an Estonian-based corporation accused of hi-jacking online brokerage accounts to conduct a hi-tech pump and dump scam.

The Commission charged Grand Logistic, a Belize corporation located in Tallinn, Estonia, and its owner, Evgeny Gashichev, a citizen of Russia, with conducting a scheme to artifically inflate the price of stocks by using funds looted from online brokerage accounts.

The Commission alleges that, between August and October, Grand Logistic and Gashichev made $353,609 in unlawful profits by conducting at least 25 separate manipulations, involving the securities of at least 21 companies.

The temporary restraining order granted by the courts freezes the defendants' assets and orders the repatriation of funds taken out of the United States.

Millions of British pounds from scam : Estonian jailed for 5 years

* A London court sentenced an Estonian citizen to five years in prison for his role in an Internet scam that netted tens of millions of British pounds.

Aleksei Kostap faced the Harrow Crown Court on Dec. 13 and was convicted for assuming a false identity and instigating fraud. He was sentenced alongside two accomplices, Anton Gelonkin of Russia and Romanos Vasilauskas of Lithuania, who were ordered to serve prison terms of six years and 18 months respectively. Kostap, 31, was found with a false passport carrying his photograph.

He pleaded not guilty, claiming he was set up by his co-accused. Police are still hunting a second Estonian, Vaino Kaljusaar, who is suspected of being the mastermind of the fraud operation.

Gaily paint for Pikaro´s office

* Center Party parliamentarian Koit Pikaro sparked outrage by suggesting that the Ministry of Social Affairs was repainting its office building to match the gay rainbow flag.

Pikaro said the ministry had a homosexual agenda because it had chosen to paint each of its six office floors in shades similar to the six colors of the rainbow.

He went a step further, saying that homosexuality was a “mental or health problem.” A ministry spokesperson called Pikaro’s comments “absurd and ridiculous.”