BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Police busts international drugs operation

TALLINN -- The Estonian Central Criminal Police has arrested a large group of people suspected of operating a team of around 30 cocaine traffickers operating between Europe and South America, according to the Postimees newspaper.

The alleged ringleaders are believed to have been arrested several weeks ago after months of surveillance but police and the prosecutor's office have remained tight-lipped about the case for fear of endangering the case against the suspects.

Estonian drug smugglers started to be caught carrying cocaine in South America a year ago. An average of six to seven Estonian drug traffickers were previously caught in foreign countries per year, but this year as many of 30 have been uncovered.

Seven perople have been detained on arrival in Europe and 23 in South America : 12 in Venezulea, five each in Argentine and Peru, two in Ecuador and two each in Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.

Narva Line OÜ has decided to stop operations on Sillamäe-Kotka shipping line

Dear client, partner !

We hereby let you know that Narva Line OÜ has decided to stop operations on Sillamäe-Kotka shipping line. Unfortunately a number of objective circumstances did not allow us to create a suitable economical environment for a long-term operation of the shipping line.

The last trip on Sillamäe-Kotka line will take place on October 19th, 2007, from Kotka to Sillamäe, after which the ship will stay at Sillamäe harbour. All the tickets bought in advance as well as all prepayments will be reimbursed by Narva Line OÜ according to real expenses.

We wish to thank you for your trust and cooperation and hope that our partnership will be re-established when better economical conditions and conditions for the logistics of the line emerge.

Tallinn : Concerts before the end of the year

2.11.2007	BRYAN FERRY	TALLINNA LINNAHALL	350.00-
			850.00
28.11.2007	ACE OF BASE	TALLINNA LINNAHALL	395.00-
			795.00
2.12.2007	Legends Of Rock / ALICE COOPER, FOREIGNER	SAKU SUURHALL	395.00-
			1495.00
5.12.2007	BRYAN ADAMS	EESTI NÄITUSTE MESSIKESKUS	450.00-
			550.00
6.12.2007	JOE COCKER 'Hymn 4 My Soul'	SAKU SUURHALL	790.00-
			2490.00
21.12.2007	ALPHAVILLE	TALLINNA LINNAHALL	220.00-
			1290.00

Starting today : Tallinn FoodFair 2007

Time : 31.10. - 02.11.2007
Organiser : Profexpo Ltd
Project Manager : Tiina Laikre
Phone : +372 626 1347
Fax : +372 626 1348
e-mail : [email protected]
Homepage : www.profexpo.ee

Main topics :
* Foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco products
* Food processing machines and equipment, raw materials
* Shops & restaurant fittings
* Kitchenware and equipment for large kitchens
* Packaging machines, equipment and materials
* Storage equipment
* Transport - deliver, logistics
* Training and educational services, consulting

Estonian Fairs Ltd

Pirita Road 28,
10127 Tallinn, Estonia
Phone : + 372 613 7337
Fax : +372 613 7447
E-mail : [email protected]

Estonia has been successful in the fight against tuberculosis

Tallinn – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Special UN Envoy to the Stop Tuberculosis Partnership, Jorge Sampaio, agreed at a recent meeting that Estonia has been successful in the fight against tuberculosis.

The Prime Minister noted that both the tuberculosis monitoring system and a tuberculosis register used in Estonia were of good quality. In addition, the state supplies the means required for treatment. “Our treatment results are very good and we are at a respectable position worldwide,” said Ansip, adding that, unlike other countries, we have adopted an integrated treatment approach and are not giving patients the runaround between different healthcare institutions.

If approximately ten years ago 48 new first-time tuberculosis cases were diagnosed in Estonia per 100 000 people, then the figure last year fell to 28 cases per 100 000 people. “If you continue your current activities you will be able to achieve even better results,” said Jorge Sampaio.

Georg premieres in Estonia

Renars Kaupers acts in Estonian movie

Renars Kaupers, the lead singer of the internationally acclaimed Latvian band Brainstorm, plays one of the leading roles in the full length feauture film 'Georg'. The movie is about the famous Estonian singer Georg Ots who enjoyed massive success in the former Soviet Union. Renars plays the character of the choreographer Cezar, who is a good friend of Georg. The premiere of the movie was held on the 5th of October in Tallinn, Estonia. The film will be screened in Estonia, Latvia, Finland and Russia.

Renars Kaupers  has been on the Eurovision stage on 3 different occassions. He is the lead singer of Brainstorm, a band that has a huge fan following in the Baltics. Brainstorm had the honour to be the first ever Latvian  Eurovision representatives at the  2000 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Brainstorm took Europe by storm with their song My Star which achieved an honorable 3rd place.

3 years later Renars was back on the  Eurovision stage, but this time as the co-host  of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest in Riga. He was accompanied on stage by the 2002 Eurovision winner Marija Naumova, who gave Latvia its first Eurovision victory with her song I wanna. In 2005  Renars  co hosted  the special Congratulations show in Copenhagen, Denmark with Katrina (winner of the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest).

Brainstorm have  released several albums which have reached the top of the charts both in Latvia and abroad. Their albums have been released in Hungary, Hong Kong, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Turkey and Finland. They have toured around Europe several times thus gaining fame, name and recognition throughout the continent. In 2006 Brainstorm won the MTV Best Baltic Award.

Find out more about the film here.

Carmen Kass´“Dior J’adore”

Carmen

For those who still wish not to forget glamour of the first days of the 3rd millenium.

 

 

Producer price indices in September 2007

* According to Statistics Estonia, in September 2007 the percentage change in the producer price index was 1.0% compared to August 2007 and 9.0% compared to September 2006.

In September 2007 the percentage change in the export price index was 0.9% compared to August 2007 and 9.0% compared to September 2006.

In September 2007 the percentage change in the import price index was 0.1% compared to August 2007 and 2.9% compared to September 2006.

Statistics Office of Estonia

Estonian city largely undiscovered by tour crowd

By Charlie Price

TALLINN, Estonia — Sixteen years removed from Soviet rule, Tallinn, Estonia, teeters on the brink of another occupation. This time, though, the invading hordes carry cameras and backpacks.

Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. The country, occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944 and annexed as part of the Soviet Union until 1991, has emerged from one-half century of foreign domination with Tallinn as its crown jewel.

Although it's almost impossible to avoid the legions of cruise ship holiday makers who huddle closely to their shore excursion guides, now may be the best time to visit this Baltic capital before its old town charms, friendly locals and reasonable prices transform it into another tourist-choked medieval Disneyland.

A July visit to Tallinn delivered the expected: a charming medieval town nestled under fortified towers and city walls. It also did not fail to surprise with a vibrant, modern city just across the street but seemingly worlds away from the seasick sightseeing swarm.

EU to allocate $5 million to cope with Russian border jams

RIGA - The European Parliament upheld Thursday a decision to allocate 3.5 million euros ($5 million) to build waiting areas and help relieve congestion on Russia's borders with Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

If the project is successful when implemented in 2009-2010, the EU will allocate further funding to modernize border checkpoints.

Earlier this month the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania called for the EU to discuss truck congestion at border crossings at the next EU-Russia Summit, to be held in Mafra, Portugal, on October 26.

Increased trade between Russia and the EU combined with the limited traffic capacity at border posts have made such jams routine in the EU's eastern states.

The number of trucks depends on the road conditions in neighboring countries, as well as on the season. The most serious jams usually occur in August-September, as companies begin to increase their international carriage as the vacation season comes to an end.

Spanish police arrest Estonian pensioners in credit card scam

TALLINN - Spanish police have arrested three Estonian pensioners suspected of using cloned credit cards to defraud 14 foreign banks, Estonian media reported Friday.

The media said referring to the Typically Spanish Web site that the three pensioners, aged between 69 and 71 years, were all Estonian nationals suspected of defrauding 12 banks in the United States, one in Sweden and another in Finland using cloned credit cards.

The pensioners were arrested during a raid at a house in Orihuela Costa, a resort city in Spain's eastern province of Alicante. In the search police discovered forged passports and other documents, firearms and ammunition, bank machine parts, cloned credit cards and imitation weapons.

During the raid the police also found a car stolen from Madrid, which had license plates belonging to another stolen car.

Urmas Paet: Azerbaijan is an attractive country for Estonian investors

یاشاسین آذربایجان

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet interviewed by APA

- How do you value the relations between Azerbaijan and Estonia in political, economic and social spheres ?

- Relations between Estonia and Azerbaijan are good, but ties between our nations could be stronger. During the visit, we would like to expand our treaty base and sign the Convention between Estonia and Azerbaijan for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion.

- Are you going to discuss during your visit to Baku the process of opening the embassies in Azerbaijan and Estonia? How soon are they going to be opened ?

- The developing of our foreign representations is depending on our resources. At the moment, our ambassador to Azerbaijan resides in Turkey.

- Is Estonia interested in Azeri energy resources? Are there any exact projects which you are going to discuss? Are you interested in joining the Odessa-Brody-Plotsk-Gdansk project ?

-The EU is supporting new pipeline routes from the shores of the Caspian Sea to Europe. Completing the construction of Odessa-Brody-Plock-Gdansk oil pipeline that would allow supplying oil to the Baltic Sea region and it would be an important step forward. Estonia can only benefit from diversified energy supply and benefits from getting access to an even bigger market.

- There is still no direct flight from Tallinn to Baku. When is it going to be opened and which company will be doing it ?

- Hopefully, as economic relations between the two countries tighten, we can also experience better connectivity between Estonia and Azerbaijan.

Estonia insists on retired Russian servicemen’s deportation

* Estonia will bring up the issue of deportation of six Russian retired military servicemen, who are illegally staying in Estonia, at the upcoming EU-Russia summit in Portugal, Interfax quoted Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet as telling a news conference in Tallinn on October 24.

The pensioners received vouchers entitling them to receive housing in Russia in the 1990s but, citing various pretexts, are refusing to go to the places where housing should be given to them under international programmes, Paet said.

“The matter involves so-called voucher-holders, who have been given vouchers designed for Russian servicemen, but who have still not left Estonia,” Paet said. Russia is failing to fulfill a readmission agreement in relation to these people, despite the fact that Tallinn has sent relevant requests to Moscow, he said.

Russia insists that its readmission agreement with the EU will take force only after the conclusion of relevant bilateral agreements, Paet said. “Negotiations with Estonia on this issue have not been started, and the readmission agreement has not actually come into effect,” Paet said.

Long road to success for Lepmets

It's been, quite literally, a long road to success for Marelle Lepmets.

In 2005, the Garden City Community College setter made a giant leap of faith, moving 5,041 miles west from her hometown of Tallinn, Estonia, to play volleyball for a group of coaches she'd never even met in person.

"You just have to have connections, and they have to find you somehow," Lepmets said of the international recruiting process. "I just wanted to experience America. I'm not really sure how I ended up in Garden City, but I'm really glad I did."

The Lady Busters are no doubt happy to have her.

Lepmets currently ranks seventh in the nation in assists-per-game with 11.81 and 11th in overall assists with 1,420 on the season. On top of all that, the sophomore ranks third on the team in digs with 274, fourth in kills with 165 and has been an integral part of Garden City's 23-10 record this season.

"She's changed her perspective on volleyball," Lady Busters coach Nikola Petrovic said. "If you look at her stats and everything else, they've just upgraded so much. She's moving up so quick. Almost every other match she has a triple double."

The European Union Reform Treaty was approved in Lisbon

Lisbon – At an unofficial summit of the European Union in Lisbon, a political agreement was reached with regard to the text of the Reform Treaty, early this morning. With the Reform Treaty, a new legal framework will be established for the European Union, which allows the Union to act even more efficiently than previously.

“It is great that the leaders of the European Union were able to reach a consensus on such an important treaty,” said Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who attended the summit. He expressed his satisfaction with the approved Reform Treaty containing all significant innovations that had already been agreed upon in the preparation of the European Constitutional Treaty.

With the Reform Treaty, the existing host contracts will be amended – the Treaty of the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community. The aim of amending valid treaties is to intensify the activities of the European Union and make these even more democratic.

“As a result of the Reform Treaty, decision making in the European Union will be made easier, faster and more citizen-oriented,” noted Ansip. The Prime Minister referred to the growing role of the European Parliament in the decision-making process of the Union, as well as the increasing opportunities of the Parliaments of the Member States to participate in the work of the European Union.

Prime Minister Ansip is an active user of the ID-card and now, the Mobiil-ID as well

Stenbock House – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip started using the Mobiil-ID service, which enables the user of e-services to safely verify their identity with a mobile phone, for example, log on to an internet bank and supply a digital signature. The Mobiil-ID service is an analogue of the ID-card in a mobile phone.

The Prime Minister said he uses the electronic functions of the ID-card every day and recommends everybody else do the same. “It is very simple and convenient,” said the Prime Minister, and after using the Mobiil-ID for the first time, he said the same about this service. At the moment, almost 1 million people in Estonia have an ID-card, but there are only around 90 000 users of its electronic functions. A sudden increase in the number of card users appeared after the e-voting in March and as a result of the activities of the Computer Protection 2009 initiative.

A pan-Baltic cooperation project, the aim of which is to establish a common digital signature standard, has also been launched on the basis of the Mobiil-ID. “In everyday life this would mean, for example, that the Lithuanian Prime Minister signs a document, e-mails it to the Estonian Prime Minister, for example, who can check whether the digital signature on the document is valid, signs the document digitally after checking, and e-mails it back to his colleague,” said Andres Aarma, coordinator of Computer Protection 2009.

“Estonia is one of the first countries in the world where the Mobiil-ID service has been taken up. At the moment, only EMT provides this service but, in the near future, other mobile operators are also expected to provide the service,” Aarma added. With the help of Mobiil-ID, it is possible to log on to, for example, hanza.net, U-net, eMaksuamet, the State Portal and several other e-services. And just like with the ID-card, it is possible with the Mobiil-ID to supply your digital signature which is equal to your hand-written signature.

According to the Prime Minister, the state must guide the people towards the safe use of e-services. “We cannot put the reliability of our e-services and the well-being of our citizens, as well as trust towards the public sector, at risk,” said Prime Minister Ansip.

Estonia and capital punishment

The last execution for murder was that of Rein Oruste, who was shot in the back of the head on the 11th of September 1991.

The death penalty was totally abolished on the 18th of March 1998. Estonia signed up to Protocol No 6 on the 18th of March 1998.

In the Russian Federation : The Russian Federation has not formally abolished the death penalty although its last execution for murder took place on the 2nd of August 1996 when an unnamed man was shot with a single bullet to the back of the head. Between 1962 and 1990, it is thought that some 21,000 people executed, including 3,000 in 1962 alone for “economic” crime under the Soviet system. Protocol No. 6 has yet to be ratified by Russia.

Estonia's CTO speaks out on cyberattacks

Tom Espiner

* Speaking to ZDNet.co.uk at the RSA Conference Europe 2007 in London, Mikhel Tammet, director of the Estonian communication and information technology department, said he believes forces within the Russian government may have initiated and sponsored attacks against his country's critical national infrastructure earlier this year.

In May this year the Estonian critical national infrastructure (CNI) came under sustained cyberattack from perpetrators whose identity remains unknown. However, Tammet said he suspected the forces behind the attacks to be linked to the Russian government.

"It was a political campaign induced by the Russians; a political campaign designed to destroy our security and destroy our society," said Tammet on Tuesday. "The attacks had hierarchy and co-ordination."

Tammet added that, while it was not possible to put a face to the attackers nor to prove any direct connection to the Russian authorities, all previous attacks with a political aim emanating from Russia had their roots in government action.

"It's been that way in Russia for centuries," said Tammet. "The attack was 50 percent emotions, 50 percent something else, but we can't define what that something is. There was an organisation behind it, but we can't [definitively] say if it's the government or criminals, or both."

Selling wine into oil

by Mike Ratcliffe

* It was with a sense of trepidation and a hint of excitement that I recently flew into Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia on the shores of the Baltic ocean between Latvia and Russia.

Trepidation only because it is a place that is certainly not considered a mainstream destination for a budding winery operator hoping to peddle his wares. The history of Estonia is chequered and violent and it is a tribute to the spirit of the people that it has risen above these tribulations to lead the pack amongst the former Soviet states that line the Baltic.

It would not be possible to say the same for neighbouring countries like Latvia and Lithuania that have had a very similar experience both having been occupied by Russian and German forces on at least two occasions in the last century. Estonia has embraced democracy and free market principles to establish a capitalistic society, as entrenched as possible, given its close proximity to the former Russian motherland.

In an unlikely twist, it is perhaps this proximity to Russia which has fostered a Western culture as America seeks trading partners to bolster its pool of allies against a Russian state intent on consolidating power and flexing its military muscle.

Estonia denies visas to Russian television crew

* Two journalists from the Russian English language TV channel Russia Today were denied Estonian visas one day before their planned trip to Tallinn. The reporters, according to an emailed press release distributed by the channel, were "investigating problems related to neo-Nazis activism in the former Baltic States."

The two men who were denied entry to Estonia, according to the release, were director Artem Somov and correspondent Alexander Lucha­ninov. The Estonian embassy did not provide any reasons for the denial, Russia Today said. A third member of the crew, a camera operator, was granted a visa.

Alexander Luchaninov told The Moscow News that the decision came as a complete surprise for him as he had visited many European countries, including Estonia, and never had had any problems with the law.

Luchaninov added that this was the first time in Russia Today's two years of reporting that any its journalists were denied a visa.

Speaking about his previous visit to Estonia in early June of this year, Luchaninov said that he had covered touchy issues, like the relocation of a Soviet monument to soldiers who died in World War II, but always presented his stories from both sides. Estonian authorities were duly represented in his reports.

This time around, the channel planned to make a short documentary devoted to education reform and Estonia's planned entry into the EU. He said he planned interviews with opposition politicians, but as always they were planned to be balanced with viewpoints from Estonian officials.

The documentary had been in preparation for at least three weeks, and the visa denial canceled the project, the journalist said.

The Estonian embassy was not available for comment at press time.

Russian-Estonian relations remain strained, mainly over conditions for the Russian-speaking population of the Baltic republic.