BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

A Tallink liner with numerous defects !

TALLINN - A Tallink-owned passenger and car ferry was barred from setting sail from Sweden last week, sparking a row between the owner and a Norwegian firm leasing the vessel.

The Swedish Maritime Administration on Nov. 22 prevented the Fantaasia, which had been under repair in the port of Gothenburg, from embarking, according to reports.

An inspection of the ship found several technical shortcomings, including a missing backup bolt used to lock the bow visor, according to reports.

Rakvere to return to Estonia

TALLINN - The Maag Group, an Estonian-owned firm, announced it would buy Rakvere Piim (Rakvere Milk) from its British owners.

Roland Lepp, chairman of Maag’s supervisory board, said the acquisition was the biggest deal concluded by Maag so far.

“For us it was an expensive deal, I cannot tell you more,” he told the Aripaev business daily. The paper said the deal might cost as much as 150 million kroons (9.6 million euros).

First serious rift appears in coalition

TALLINN - The first serious rift has appeared in the ruling center-right coalition, apparently the result of a difference of opinion over who is to blame for Estonia’s fragile economy and how to finance a major highway.

Speaking in a recent interview to AFP, Economy Minister Juhan Parts lashed out at Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and the previous government for blowing the chance to keep inflation low, an obligatory requirement for joining the eurozone.

The seasonal sounds of Christmas Jazz

By Merje Jarv-Griffiths

TALLINN - As we draw closer to Christmas, it’s once again time to listen to the mellow sounds of the annual Christmas Jazz (Joulujazz) festival, which takes place from Dec. 4 - 17 in various locations around Estonia. This year’s main performer will be Ladysmith Black Mambazo from South Africa, and if you want to hear them book now – their first concert on Dec. 4 is already sold out.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male choral group that sings in the isicathamiya and mbube a cappella vocal styles, both of which originated from South African Zulu tradition. The eight-man group rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with Paul Simon on his “Graceland” album.
LBM was  formed  in 1960 by Joseph Shabalala, who still leads the group, and has become one of South Africa’s prolific recording artists, with releases receiving gold and platinum disc honors. 
The group’s name is derived from three words that are important to the musicians: Ladysmith is the name of their home town ; “black” refers to the strongest black oxen on the farms and the Zulu word “mambazo” means “axe” and refers to the group’s ability to “cut down” all the competition.  In fact, LBM is musically so good that they were eventually forbidden to enter competitions but were welcomed to entertain at them. The Grammy award winning group has recorded with top artists such as Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Josh Groban, and The Wynans.

Latvia slowing down - Property developer freezes project

TALLINN - One of Estonia’s largest property developers has suspended a project in Jurmala due to the drastic slowdown in the Latvian real estate market, according to reports.

The firm, Manutent, originally announced in February that it had signed preliminary agreements for the sale of one-tenth of apartments in a residential and recreation zone it planned to build in Jurmala, perhaps the priciest property market in all the Baltics.

Estonia : A 20% rise in salaries year on year

TALLINN - Gross monthly salaries in Estonia in the third quarter averaged 10,899 kroons (696 euros), up 20.2 percent, the Statistical Office announced. Average hourly pay was 66.7 kroons for the quarter, up 22.7 percent.

This year average gross monthly and hourly wages have risen roughly 20 percent year-on-year each quarter, the office said. Monthly wages rose most in agriculture and hunting (28.6 percent) and the least in real estate, renting and business activities (7.2 percent).

Estonia-Russia trade and economic ties “not so close”

WASHINGTON - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip admitted on Wednesday that trade and economic relations between Estonia and Russia were “not so close,” but demonstrated no regrets about it.

Estonia wants to have good-neighbourly, pragmatic relations with all neighbours, including Russia, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said here in reply to Russian reporters’ queries after a speech at the Washington National Press Club.

However, “there is space for improving relations” with Moscow, the prime minister stressed. Questions focused both on economy and politics, but he narrowed them down to trade and economic relations between the two neighbouring countries. He stressed that these ties “are not so close,” but demonstrated no regrets about it.

Speaking about the economic consequences of the recent row around the dismantlement of the monument to Soviet Soldier Liberator in Tallinn, Ansip said that following the row Russian-Estonian trade “has declined by over 40 percent,” but this cost Estonia only 0.5 to one percent of GDP growth.

The prime minister also noted that the lion share of direct foreign investments in Estonia, about 80 percent, comes from Sweden and Finland, while Russia’s share is only 2.5 percent. He said Estonia welcomes all investments in its economy, but it does not like such investments, which make it possible to manipulate political decisions.

Doudou Diene, U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance recently spoke about signs of discrimination against Russian-speaking population in Estonia. Ansip, however, denied that. “International organizations have made no offers to Estonia to change our policy,” he said.

In reply to an Itar-Tass query about prospects for Estonia’s joining the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, the prime minister said his country would join the treaty as “new member” no earlier than it was ratified by all present participants.

He said Tallinn would discuss limits on the number of forces and armaments “first of all with NATO partners, and only then with third parties”.

Black Nights ride again

TALLINN - People already familiar with the Black Nights Film Festival will be happy to hear that the main program is about to kick off – Nov. 30 marks the opening of the ten-day mega-event.
For those newcomers who haven’t heard of the POFF, as the locals abbreviate it, here’s what you need to know : It’s by far the Baltics’ biggest film festival, showing over 200 international feature productions – nearly all with English subtitles – plucked from the worldwide festival circuit; it’s in its 11th year ; it involves screenings in Tallinn, Tartu, Viljandi, Narva, Johvi and Kardla.

The festival opens at Tallinn’s Russian Drama Theater with a concert by the Michael Nyman Band. Some of the most famous works of the film score composer, who is best known for his contribution to Peter Greenway films, will be performed alongside some of his more experimental music. Though the event is by invitation only, festival organizers said spare seats may be available for sale last-minute.
The main attraction of course is the films themselves, and each year two countries are picked for special attention at the festival. This year’s event will highlight productions from Belgium and South Korea, though POFF director Tiina Lokk points out that the films are from just about everywhere, including countries like Ukraine and Iraq – not typically considered powerhouses of the cinema world.

Baltic stocks hit year-low on fears

TALLINN - Baltic stocks sank to their lowest level in a year in the week ending Nov. 23 as foreign investors cut their exposure to risks connected with a possible devaluation of a local currency or a “hard-landing” in the region’s overheated economies.

The Baltic Benchmark Index of blue-chip stocks fell 4.63 percent over the five trading-day period to 680.7, though it recovered slightly on Nov. 23 to reach 683.2.

Marimekko’s Estonian supplier calls halt to cotton purchases from Uzbekistan

Difficulties will always exist in monitoring the entire production chain.

The Estonian textile factory Krenholm, located in Narva, has put a stop to its purchases from Uzbekistan following suspicions of the use of child labour, reported Martti Haarajoki, the CEO of Krenholm, on Tuesday.
      On Monday, the textile and clothing design company Marimekko, one of Krenholm’s most significant Finnish customers, announced that it would stop buying cotton products from Krenholm, following Swedish reports that the factory is using cotton that comes from Uzbekistan, where child labour is being used in cotton harvesting.
      
Approximately one-fifth of Krenholm’s turnover comes from Finnish customers.
      "Of course we do not accept the use of child labour”, commented Haarajoki.
      Krenholm has asked all its international suppliers to provide it with a certificate which guarantees that their cotton has not been bought from farms using child labour.
      "This problem applies to the entire cotton industry. In addition to Uzbekistan, child labour may be used in a number of other countries", said Haarajoki.

Estonia's salaries are rising

Salaries in Estonia have risen 20 % over last year. This is good news according to the Estonian news portal, but it also sees problematic aspects such as the unequal distribution of the country's wealth among its different regions. "People in the countryside live in a different world to those living in cities like Tallinn. The labour market is very dynamic at the moment, which is why workers are making high demands.

If you don't get a pay rise you just move on to another job. This is exacerbating the labour shortage and leads to more demands for higher pay, but only in certain branches and regions. ... Salaries in Estonia will approach levels in Western Europe because you can't cook two soups in one pot.

But within Estonia, the wage gap is continually growing."

Ansip still optimistic about euro

By Mike Collier

TALLINN - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has re-asserted his country’s commitment to adopting the euro at the earliest opportunity.

Speaking during a visit to Slovenia, Ansip said : "We would like to join the euro zone as soon as possible. It's a great dream for Estonia... we will continue with our strong fiscal policy."

Slovenia became the first Eastern European state to adopt the euro, replacing its indigenous currency, the tolar, on January 1, 2007. Its path to euro-adoption has been closely studied by other countries wanting to join the eurozone and the parallels with Estonia are clear. Both countries are small but investing in education and hi-tech industries while concentrating on economic efficiency.
 
Ansip said inflation was the only obstacle remaining to Estonia's drive towards the euro.

"The rate of the Estonian kroon is pegged to the euro and when you control the exchange rate you cannot [also] control the level of interest rates and the volume of money on the market." Ansip explained.

BRUSSELS GETS TOUGH ON CRIMINALISATION

The European Commission says it has decided to send reasoned opinions to Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom for failure to adopt national legislation on penalties against those responsible for polluting discharges at sea.

The move is in support of a controversial directive requiring EU member states to impose criminal sanctions for allowing “polluting substances” into the when committed with “intent, recklessness or serious negligence”. Brussels has come under considerable criticism, particularity for its use of the term “serious negligence”.

Brussels has taken the action days after the EU's Advocate General Kokott gave an opinion at European Court of Justice reviewing of the validity of EU Ship Source Pollution Directive 2005/35/EC which broadly supported the EC's position. The case was brought by a coalition of shipping organisations including Intertanko.

In her detailed Opinion Advocate General Kokott has supported the coalition's argument that outside territorial seas the Community has no power to apply laws of its own which go beyond MARPOL. She has also agreed that the Directive was clearly intended to do this, as it prescribes "serious negligence" as an additional test of liability. However she has suggested that the Directive would not be invalid if the term "serious negligence" is interpreted restrictively, to mean no more than the MARPOL test of recklessness. She has also proposed that this narrow interpretation should not apply in the territorial sea, where she considers that the Community is not bound by MARPOL, and where she recommends that "serious negligence" should be given a broader meaning.

Third DTT mux for Estonia

Chris Dziadul

The Estonian transmission company Levira will open a third multiplex on the country’s DTT platform this week for FTA public and commercial channels. It will cover almost 100% of the country, as opposed to the 93% reached by the two current ones, which are given over to the 20-channel ZUUMtv pay service.

The public broadcaster ETV will be transferred to the new multiplex and the independent sports channel Kalev Sport launched on it. It will also carry the new commercial channels TV6 (Viasat) and Kanal 11 (Schibsted), due to be launched in the next few months, and may also distribute Viasat’s and Kanal 2’s primary analogue channels. ETV aims to launch a second channel named ETV2, only in DTT, in the autumn of next year.

EU to propose tightening rules on asylum

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS - The European Commission said on Monday it would propose tightening rules on minimum standards for treatment of asylum-seekers, saying existing EU regulations were being applied haphazardly.

Asylum requests to EU states have fallen consistently in the recent years, but national differences in policy have led to so-called "asylum shopping" by refugees who target those countries seen as likely more warmly at application.

The EU executive found in a report that seven EU states -- Britain, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Luxembourg and Cyprus -- were not applying minimum EU standards laid down in 2003 legislation to detention centres used for asylum-seekers.

Austria did not apply it to transit zones, while a number of states were not complying with a requirement for them to issue asylum-seekers with a document stating their name and status within three days of applying for asylum.

Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said in a statement he would make proposals next year to tighten rules "with regard to the level and form of material reception conditions, access to employment, health care, free movement rights and identification of care of vulnerable persons".

Estonia dismisses rumours of devaluation

TALLINN - The Estonian central bank denied on Monday that the Baltic country faces any likelihood of a devaluation of its currency after some parts of the country's Russian-speaking started to panic sell Estonian kroons.

Making its second statement on the issue in two weeks, the central bank said it "dismisses all rumours" and urged people not to believe any talk of possible devaluation.

A spokeswoman at the Estonian central bank said the statement was issued in response to what it called "misleading information" posted on a Russian language web site.

Unusually long queues formed at currency exchange booths at several down town locations in the capital Tallinn. The daily Postimees's website quoted foreign currency exchange companies' officials as saying that some booths had run out of foreign currency. They added there was a rise in kroons selling the kroons already on Friday evening.

"Estonian crowns exchange rate to the euro is still 15.6466 and that rate will stay until adoption of the euro," the central bank said in a statement.

Carmen Kass´interview in June 2007

Jonathan.L

Carmen Kass has gone on to become one of the world's most successful models, fronting campaigns for Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Chanel, Donna Karan, Givenchy, Fendi, Michael Kors, Guy Laroche, Krizia, Versace and also General Motors.
Kass is well known for her work for Sephora, one of the world's leading cosmetics retailers, and the Christian Dior perfume, J'adore.
She was awarded by Vogue as "Model of the Year" at the 2000 VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards.

* Carmen, how are you ?

Carmen Kass : Great, thanks for asking.

* This year you've got eight campaigns only for the spring/summer collection. What is the key of such a huge success ?

Carmen Kass : I have been working in the business rather successfully for 14 years and yet it is impossible to predict what season will be good and what less good. I guess I have proved to the clients in the business that I have a value that sells with a combination of pleasant and uncomplicated work time. I never complain, treat everyone equally and always give my best when at work.

* How was it like for you to leave Estonia and move to the big fashion cities at a young age ? Have you had to overcome any unusual obstacles or hardships in the beginning of your successful career ?

Carmen Kass : Perhaps the most difficult times were to deal with new cultures and languages. One may get a chance in a high fashion just for outer beauty but to continue successfully you must master communication skills.

Estonia has smallest national debt and third largest budget surplus in European Union

Eurostat released more detailed data on government sector debt and budget deficits in European Union member states in 2006. According to Eurostat, Estonia’s budget surplus is the third largest in the union after Denmark and Finland. The average government sector budget deficit among the 27 member states was 1.6 percent of GDP, while the average debt was 61.4 percent of GDP.

The smallest state debt in 2006 was in Estonia.

A government sector surplus of between 0.4 and 4.6 percent of GDP could be found in ten European Union member states. Estonia’s was 3.6 percent, making it the third largest after Denmark (4.6 percent) and Finland (3.8 percent). The largest budget deficit was in Hungary, at 9.2% of GDP. Also failing to fulfil the Maastricht criterion in terms of budget balance (with the deficit exceeding 3 percent of GDP) were Italy (-4.4 percent), Portugal (-3.9 percent), Poland (-3.8 percent) and Slovakia (-3.7 percent). The EU’s average budget deficit decreased in 2006 from 2005 by 0.8 percentage points, with Estonia’s surplus growing year-on-year by 1.7 percentage points.

In comparison with previous years, Estonia’s government sector surplus has increased considerably both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP – in 2004 and 2005 the surplus was 1.8 and 1.9 percent of GDP, respectively. For the first time, all of the levels of the government sector – the central government, social insurance funds and local governments – were in surplus in 2006, mostly due to more favourable macro-economic developments than were expected.

Paet : more successful neighbourhood policy nations merit more cooperation opportunities

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet participated in a European Neighbourhood Policy conference (The Baltic States and the EU Neighbourhood Policy) in Riga on Friday, 23 November. Cooperation between Baltic States and the receiving nations of the ENP was discussed.

In his speech, Foreign Minister Paet emphasized that Estonia supports European Union enlargement that is based upon common values. “We no longer think about whether a nation is fit for democracy,” said Paet. “We know that become fit through democracy,” he emphasized. According to the foreign minister, we need to provide nations aspiring to join the European Union with a concrete outline and framework for this perspective.

The Estonian foreign minister confirmed that it is essential to approach each aspiring nation on an individual basis. “The ENP countries making more rapid progress should be offered an advanced level of cooperation – the possibility of expanding the four freedoms, deeper economic integration, and visa facilitation,” said Paet. “We also support the setting up of the Neighbourhood Investment Fund as part of the ENP, and we wish to participate in the facility’s trust fund,” he added.

The Neighbourhood Investment Fund (NIF) has been one of the European Commission’s primary initiatives for strengthening the Neighbourhood Policy since 2006. It would enable more investments to be made in ENP receiving countries.


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Amphetamines are not enough ... Estonia has highest HIV infection rate in Europe, as we already also knew

* TALLINN : Estonia has the fastest rate of new HIV infections in Europe, with most of the new cases in drug users, European Union experts said Friday.

Some 504 new HIV cases per 1 million residents were registered in 2006 in the Baltic state, nearly five times higher than the average in Europe, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said.

Ukraine, Russia and Portugal followed Estonia as the European countries with the highest infection rates, the report said.

Zsuzsanna Jakab, director of the disease control agency, said Estonia, a nation of 1.3 million, needed to improve HIV surveillance and testing procedures. She pledged EU assistance in these areas.

A total of 86,912 new HIV infections were reported in 50 European countries last year. More than two-thirds of these were in ex-Soviet Union republics, she added.