BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

President of Republic of Latvia to make a state visit to Estonia

President of the Republic of Latvia Valdis Zatlers together with his wife Lilita Zatlere will be in Estonia for a state visit from 7-8 April. The president will be accompanied by Latvian Minister of Defence Imants Viesturs Lieģis and Minister of Culture Ints Dālderis.

President Zatlers will meet with President of the Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip.

The official welcoming ceremony will take place at the Presidential Palace in Kadriorg on Tuesday, 7 April at 11.45. During the meeting, topics will be Estonia-Latvia bilateral relations, the economic crisis, energy and security policy, matters related to Eastern Partnership, and the five years that both countries have spent in the European Union and NATO. On the evening of 7 April, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Mrs. Evelin Ilves will host a formal dinner in honour of their guests at the Bank of Estonia.

During his visit, President of the Republic of Latvia Valdis Zatlers will lay a wreath at the Memorial for Teachers and Students Perished during the War of Independence at Tallinn Secondary Science School, open an exhibit dedicated to the Latvian deportations of 25 March 1949 at the Occupations Museum, visit the Latvian Embassy, and meet with representatives of the local Latvian community.

Latest news releases from Stat.ee

31.03.2009	General Government's consolidated budget stayed in deficit According to preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, the Estonian general government sector deficit was 3% and the gross debt level was 4.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008. The general government budget¿s deficit remained within the limits set out in the Maastricht Treaty.
	In February the decrease in retail sales accelerated According to Statistics Estonia, in February 2009 compared to February of the previous year the retail sales of goods of retail trade enterprises decreased 18% at constant prices.
	Industrial production decreased by a third in February According to Statistics Estonia, in February 2009 compared to February of the previous year, the production of industrial enterprises decreased 30%.
30.03.2009	In autumn the pilot census of the 2011 Population and Housing Census will take place Statistics Estonia will organise the pilot census of the 2011 Population and Housing Census in nine local governments of Estonia in autumn 2009. About 10,000 persons and their dwellings will be enumerated during the census.
26.03.2009	In January exports and imports of goods declined sharply According to Statistics Estonia, in January exports of goods in current prices totalled 7.2 billion kroons and imports 8.8 billion kroons. Compared to January of the previous year, exports declined by 29% and imports 36%. The decrease in value of exports and imports began already in November 2008.

The cabinet approved the deadline for the adoption of the euro

Stenbock House - At the meeting held today, the members of the government cabinet listened to the information presented by the Minister of Finance regarding the economic forecast for the spring and found that the joining of Estonia with the euro zone will be possible on 1 January 2011 at the latest.

According to Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, the economic forecast gives reason to believe that fulfilling the criteria to join with the euro zone this fall is realistic, which would allow Estonia to adopt the euro at the beginning of 2011.

“With the current knowledge, 1 January 2011 is a sufficiently feasible deadline for joining the euro zone,” Ansip said. “The establishment of a deadline is necessary for relaunching practical preparations. The preparations by companies and banks for the adoption of the single European currency should start 9-12 months before the adoption of the euro.”

Although the main scenario prescribes joining with the euro zone on 1 January 2011, it was decided to leave open the possibility to join it on 1 July 2010 as well. For this, the expert committee working at the Ministry of Finance was assigned the task of working through the practical issues of joining in the middle of the year.

The members of the cabinet admitted that the critical factor in the achievement of this goal will be the amount of deficit in the budget of the government for 2009. Considering the tense situation with the budget, the Minister of Finance was given a task to present a proposal to the 9 April meeting of the cabinet regarding the extent of the changes required in the budgetary position.

Recession drives down Estonia current account gap

Estonia's current account deficit, which surged in recent years due to a consumer-led boom in imports, fell in 2008 to its lowest for seven years as demand for foreign goods slumped, data showed yesterday.

After a credit-fuelled boom, the small country has hit recession, which is driving down demand for imports and caused the current account deficit to shrink to 9.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) last year.

'The sudden deepening of the global economic crisis and a rapid easing in domestic demand had a considerable impact on the current account deficit of the balance of payments for 2008,' the central bank said in a statement.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, the gap was 5.5% of GDP, the lowest since 4.7% in the third quarter of 2004. The deficit hit a high of 23.9% in the first quarter of 2007 and was 18.1% for the whole of 2007.

The 2008 figure was the lowest full-year number since 2001's.

- Easy credit from Nordic banks fuelled the credit boom, leading to high levels of consumer spending.
- The credit flows started to ease in 2007 and then fell dramatically, in line with the global credit crunch.
- The current account deficit has been falling from the middle of 2007 as Estonia economic growth slowed, led by falling domestic demand,' the central bank added.

The bank expects the 2009 current account gap to be 6.5% of GDP.

Latvia Cuts Cost Of Baltic Express Service

From April 1st 2009, the Latvian postal service is to lower tariffs on its 'Baltic Express' service. In some cases, the reduction in consignment fees is being reduced by as much as 44%.

As well as price cuts, there will be changes to delivery times with parcel delivery in Tallinn and Vilnius receiving a next working day service, but the rest of the Estonian territory, deliveries made within two working days.

Decision to invite Lukashenka to EU summit hasn’t been adopted yet

The Charter’97 press-centre has been informed about that by Andrei Sannikov, leader of the civil campaign “European Belarus”. He is taking part in the high-level conference in Tallinn.

The international conference dedicated to the memory of the first Estonian president Lennart Meri is taking place in Tallinn under the auspices of Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves. Foreign Ministers of the European Union countries, high-ranking European officials and leading experts are taking part in the conference. Belarus is presented at this prestigious forum by the leader of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Andrei Sannikov and the leader of the civil initiative “We Remember” Iryna Krasouskaya.

As said by Andrei Sannikov, it turned out at the conference that no official decision on invitation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka to Prague had been adopted. “It was decided to continue discussion on this issue. Much is to depend on how actions of the Belarusian authorities, and in particular, the situation with human rights, would be estimated by governments of all the EU countries and the European civil society. Europeans are also interested by the opinion of pro-democracy forces of Belarus on the processes taking part in the country,” Sannikov said.

The politician has also noted in a positive key that a session dedicated to the situation in Belarus is to be held at the conference in Tallinn, as it was at the recent Brussels Forum.

As we have informed, on March 28 Radio Svaboda informed that Alyaksandr Lukashenka was invited to Eastern Partnership to Prague. According to the report of the radio, under a secret understanding an invitation was to be passed to Lukashenka, but he personally wouldn’t come to Prague on May 7. He is to send Foreign Minister or other official instead of him.

Estonia finance minister cuts 2009 GDP forecast to - 8,5%

Estonia's economy will shrink by 8.5% this year, the Finance Ministry said in new, gloomy forecasts on Tuesday.

The outlook was a revision down from the previous forecast of a drop of 3.5 percent this year and would come after a gross domestic product (GDP) fall of 3.6 percent in 2008.

'Estonia is undoubtedly going through a difficult time,' Finance Minister Ivari Padar said in a statement.

The ministry saw inflation this year slowing to 0.4 percent. In 2008, the annual average rate of price growth was 10.4 percent.

Estonia, like neighbours Latvia and Lithuania, is expecting sharp falls in the economy due to a slide in domestic demand and weak exports due to the global crisis.

"Estonian Music Days" festival

by Niamh

Tallinn will host Estonian Music Days Festival this year from 16th - 24th April. The event aims to present a mixture of new music and long-forgotten but valuable compositions of Estonian classical heritage.

The festival will feature talented Estonian and international composers. They will perform their new compositions at the Estonia Concert Hall, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, St. Nicholas Church, amongst other venues.

The main performers include the Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen (Denmark), Collegium Novum Zürich (Switzerland), Silver Ainomäe, Jan Lehtola (Finland) and many others. Tickets will be available from Piletilevi and one hour before the concert in the venue.

For more information on the festival click here

Armenia battle back to hold Estonia

Substitute Gevorg Ghazarjan scored a late equaliser to give Armenia a 2-2 draw against Estonia in a 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ qualifier.

Referee Luc Wilmes awarded Armenia the 88th-minute goal after linesman Antonio de Carolis ruled Ghazarjan's effort had crossed the line in mid-air before goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko palmed the ball away.

Striker Henrikh Mkhitaryan had put Armenia ahead just past the half-hour but Estonia equalised within three minutes through Konstatin Vassiljev and went in front when substitute Sergei Zenjov scored with 23 minutes remaining.

Both teams are in the bottom two places in European Zone Group 5 after five matches, Estonia with two points and Armenia on one.

Finland vs. Estonia ....

Find the error ...!

VOICE : The Glenn Beck program presents more truth behind America's march to socialism.

GLENN : That's right. Look in your rearview mirror, gang. It's France. Socialism and communism are the only way to utopia. The bigger the government, the better. And I won't listen to anybody who says differently. I mean it. It's not like there's 50 years of evidence to look at and say socialism doesn't really work, I mean unless, unless you count let's say a recent interview with Mart Laar. He is the former president of Estonia. He made the following statement, quote : In 1939 it was hard to find two more similar countries as Finland and Estonia. They are very similar in language, culture and living standards. Our economies were more or less the same. Then in 1940 Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and Finland successfully protected its independence.

So now what does it look like at the end of a 50-year period of communism in Estonia and relative freedom in Finland? Well, the countries were almost identical before one went communist. There are over 5 million people in Finland, now less than 2 million in Estonia. The average female in Finland lived almost five years longer. The average male in Finland lived more than seven years longer. Astonia's infant mortality rate was four times that of Finland. Finland's GDP was almost nine times that of Estonia. GDP per capita was three times as high in Finland. And in Estonia there were only 25 telephones for every 100 people, less than half the amount in Finland. Personally I think these are all a coincidence. I mean, I don't see any patterns here at all. By the way, Estonia freed up their economy and now it is rated as the 12th most economically free country in the world. Since then they average 6% GDP growth per year. That average is higher than our growth rates during the dot-com boom. But you know what we should do ? We should totally try socialism out. I mean, what could possibly go wrong ?

VOICE : That was even more overwhelming evidence that we are destined to be a bunch of socialist pigs very, very soon on the Glenn Beck program.

Death of Arnold Meri on March 27th

Arnold Meri, 89, a decorated Red Army veteran charged with genocide for deporting hundreds of his Estonian countrymen to Siberia in 1949, died Friday. He was 89.

Meri, a former Communist Party official and the cousin of the late Estonian President Lennart Meri, died at his home in Tallinn, Estonia, his family said Saturday.

In 2007, Estonian prosecutors charged Meri with genocide, claiming he oversaw the roundup and deportation of 251 civilians on the island of Hiiumaa, 90 miles west of Tallinn, in March 1949.

During that month, Soviet authorities organized large deportations in Estonia and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Lithuania of people considered to be enemies of the Soviet Union.

During his trial, Meri acknowledged taking part in the deportations but pleaded not guilty to genocide, claiming he was just carrying out orders as a civil servant. The case had not been completed at the time of his death.

Hundreds of listeners and a handful of protesters attend publication of book on Estonia

What a circus - and for one book !

      About 300 people, mostly men, were on hand at Helsinki’s Sanoma House when writers Sofi Oksanen and Imbi Paju spoke about their new book Kaiken takana oli pelko (“Behind Everything Was Fear”). The writers spoke about Estonia’s hidden past, and the audience listened in complete silence.
      Also attracting people was the prospect of seeing a demonstration by the Nashi movement, also known as the “Putin Youth”, who saw the indictment of the Soviet occupation as an attack on Russia. The handful of demonstrators were the focus of attention for about 40 representatives of the media. Even the Putin youth themselves photographed each other as if they were on a summer excursion.
      A few shy-looking demonstrators, with their flags and their “stop facizm” (sic) masks slipped in among the listeners. “Go home and grow up a bit”, said an older man.
      
About 15 Estonian and Russian demonstrators showed up with flags and signs.
      They were supported by long-bearded representatives of the Finnish Islamic Party and a lone man who shouted antifascist slogans. He said that he represented a “people’s protection association”.
      There was also a small counterdemonstration led by Kai Pöntinen, who is running for the European Parliament on the ticket of the National Coalition Party.
      “It is irritating people come here from abroad to tell us what she should talk about. We don’t limit debate, research, or writing here”, said Pöntinen.

Second application round of the technology investment support programme for industrial enterprises

On March 25, 2009, EAS opened the second application round of the technology investment support programme for industrial enterprises. The budget of this programme that supports buying modern technology to companies is 320 million kroons and the last day for submitting an application is May 4, 2009.

„Taking into consideration the feedback we received from companies, we changed the criterions for receiving the subsidiary together with the Estonian Leasing Association a bit more flexible. When in the first round only the down payment of a leasing was subsidised, then now it is the whole sum,“ Pille-Liis Kello, the head of the Enterprise Capability Division said. „In the second round, we would also focus more on the companies’ realistic plans of action and adapting to the current market situation in their niche instead of focusing on ambitious growing plans,“ Kello added.

The aim of this subsidiary is to promote investments that help to grow the output capacity and export potential of a company, find new marketing possibilities and create jobs with a bigger added value. The subsidiary decisions of the first application round were approved at the end of last year. This subsidiary co-funded by the European regional development fund was received by 49 enterprises in a total sum of 259 million kroons.

Estonian Air and SAS take cooperation to regional flights

Estonian Air will start code sharing with SAS on the following flights operated by Estonian Air Regional, the subsidiary of Estonian Air.

From 29 March 2009 flights OV663/664, 667/668, 683/684, 685/686, 687/688 between Tallinn and Stockholm, from 9 April 2009 flights OV661/662 between Kuressaare and Stockholm and from 30 April 2009 flights OV671/672 between Pärnu and Stockholm.

So far SAS shared its code with Estonian Air only on Estonian Air operated flights between Tallinn and Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo.

- Adding the SAS code on Estonian Air flights operated by Estonian Air Regional is an acknowledgement of the standard of work of the Estonian Air subsidiary. The cooperation will significantly simplify the purchase of combined flight tickets and will widen our current sales network,“ says Rauno Parras, acting Estonian Air Vice Presiden Commercial.

The cooperation will give the customers more options when travelling to or from Estonia. The late evening flight departing 23:05 from Stockholm gives the Estonian business customers an opportunity to plan a full day business trip in Europe.

Members of the EuroBonus customer loyalty programme can earn and redeem bonus points on all Estonian Air flights operated by Estonian Air Regional.

Ice cricket world cup took place in Tallinn

Estonia decided kept on to the tradition and organized the Ice Cricket World Cup, EstonianFreePress reported.

With six teams from Australia, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Estonia, North Indies and South Indies involved, the 2009 edition of the international competition took place in Tallinn between January and March declaring South Indies the new World Champion of one of the most unusual and bizarre sports ever played.

Organized in peculiar places, such as an old soviet missiles factory or the lake Harku, the competition managed to catch the eye of CNN, which dedicated part of iReport to the event most of the people never heard about, and which might contribute to somehow changing the general perception of Estonia.

Tee-time in Tallinn

Just two-and-a-half flying hours away from the UK is one of Europe’s few remaining ‘undiscovered’ golf destinations.

Estonia may be the smallest of the Baltic countries but it has plenty to offer visitors, as many Brits have discovered in the last few years.

The cobbled streets and the Renaissance, baroque and classical buildings of the capital, Tallinn, belie a 21st century offering. Oh, and there's the Estonian Golf & Country Club, just 25 minutes from the medieval capital to consider as well.

One of just eight official PGA European Tour courses in Europe – alongside the likes of Quinta do Lago, in Portugal, and the PGA Golf de Catalunya, Spain - Estonian G&CC offers 27 holes of golf located within a beautiful natural setting: the 18-hole Sea Course and the nine-hole Stone Course.

Both layouts are USGA spec and were designed by the respected Finnish course designer Lassi Pekka Tilander.

On the doorstep of one of Europe’s most attractive cities, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, the Estonian Golf & Country Club is ideally situated for a getaway for UK golfers and the club is offering some outstanding spring and summer savings, with packages from €371 per person including three nights’ city-centre accommodation, three rounds of golf and transfers.

For more info about packages to Estonia and the Estonia Golf & Country Club, visit www.egcc.ee. 

Rahvusooper : 04-2009

April, 2009         Performance Date Time Genre Venue MY FAIR LADY 01.04.2009 19:00 Operetta, musical Theatre hall   UN BALLO IN MASCHERA 02.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   LA DAME AUX CAMÉLIAS 03.04.2009 19:00 Ballet Theatre hall   THE FORMULA OF LOVE 04.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS 05.04.2009 12:00 Ballet Theatre hall   THE FORMULA OF LOVE 08.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS 09.04.2009 19:00 Ballet Theatre hall   RESURRECTION 11.04.2009 19:00 Other Concert hall   THE FORMULA OF LOVE 16.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   WIENER BLUT 17.04.2009 19:00 Operetta, musical Theatre hall   UN BALLO IN MASCHERA 18.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   WIENER BLUT 19.04.2009 18:00 Operetta, musical Theatre hall   THE THREE MUSKETEERS 23.04.2009 19:00 Ballet Theatre hall Premiere! UN BALLO IN MASCHERA 24.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall   THE THREE MUSKETEERS 25.04.2009 19:00 Ballet Theatre hall   MY FAIR LADY 26.04.2009 12:00 Operetta, musical Theatre hall   THE THREE MUSKETEERS 29.04.2009 19:00 Ballet Theatre hall   RIGOLETTO 30.04.2009 19:00 Opera Theatre hall http://www.opera.ee/2144

Buratino, the Son of Pinocchio

The directorial debut of 26 year-old Estonian filmmaker Rasmus Merivoo, has been playing on domestic screens since March 13.

The family film is loosely based on Alexsei Tolstoy’s renowned children’s book, The Golden Key, itself based on the children’s classic Pinocchio. Merivoo’s version, based on a script he co-wrote with Kristin Kalamees, is aimed at older children, however.

It tells the story of 15-year-old Buratino, who has the usual teen problems, not to mention the fact that he is made of wood. Challenged by the evil Carabas Barabas, he will have to grow up and become a man to save the world.

“Buratino is a trash-comedy, full of explosions and songs, targeted first and foremost at those suffering in their teens,” said Merivoo, who studied filmmaking at Tallinn University and directed ten short films before making his feature debut.

The €1.1m film was produced by Estonia’s production/distribution company Estinfilm, with Marvofilm, in co-production with Russia’s Planet Kino. The film was supported by the Estonian Film Foundation, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian public broadcaster ETV, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the MEDIA Programme.

The Cross of Liberty was lifted onto the top of the memorial

Yesterday, at 16.30, the cross section of the victory memorial of the War of Independence was lifted onto the top of the memorial.

Although it was discovered in the morning that the cross weighed 2.7 tonnes more than the expected weight, it did not halt the installation of the cross or the continued assembly of the memorial. Jaanis Kuld, the Estonian representative of the Czech company Sans Souci, said that there was no doubt that the cross will be installed on top of the memorial by evening. “However, before we started installing the cross, we wanted to determine the cause for the differences in weight. It was determined that the lighting solution for the memorial had not been calculated in the memorial’s estimated weight,” said Kuld.

The final finishing work of the memorial is continuing, and the entire structure will be covered with temporary scaffolding until its formal unveiling in June.

The Cross of Liberty was established by the Provisional Government on 24 February 1919, and it was designed by the acclaimed Estonian artist Nikolai Triik. The Cross of Liberty had three classes with three ranks in each class. 1st class - bestowed to give recognition for military services, 2nd class - bestowed to give recognition for personal bravery, and 3rd class - bestowed to give recognition for administrative and civil services.

The Cross of Liberty was the most estimable of Estonia’s decorations and its recipients were entitled by law to a number of privileges and benefits. A total of 3132 Crosses of Liberty were conferred from 1919 to 1925, nearly a third of the recipients were foreign citizens who contributed to Estonia’s War of Independence. 

European Council agrees on "European Economic Recovery Plan"

The European Council that ended today in Brussels agreed upon the funds for the recovery of the economy in the amount of EUR 5 billion.

According to the agreement, the funds will be directed to energy, internet and rural life projects.

“The agreement that has been reached is very important for Estonia,” Prime Minister Andrus Ansip commented. “It is important for us that the European Union has contributed to the establishment of energy communities everywhere in Europe. With the pan, Estonia and Finland have been allocated EUR 100 million for the development of the undersea electricity cable Estlink 2.”

At the same time, the European Council agreed on the further directions of the development of the energy security policy and the implementation of the Baltic Interconnection Plan is seen as one of the priorities in this area.

At the summit of the European Union, the messages that the European Union will take to the G20 summit of leading industrial countries were also harmonised. At the G20 meeting, options will be discussed for overcoming the global financial and economic crisis.

According to Ansip, Europe, with its positive example, has been a leading force in the process of handling the crisis.