BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Bankruptcy of "AS Otepää Golf"

Tartu county court announced bankruptcy of AS Otepää Golf, Andres Hermet, a trustee in bankruptcy said that the functioning golf club should find new owner pretty fast, ERR News reports.

Reasons for the bankruptcy are high loan burden and dispute over paying the damage after the club was on fire in April.

“Otepää Golf has debts in amount of nearly EEK 45 mln, assets are functioning golf centre, building leases and possible claims,” he said.

Hermet said that previously there was a plan to restructure company, but GMP Projekt Levi OÜ contested the restructuring plan and investors weren’t willing to invest money. ERGO insurance refused to pay compensation in amount of EEK 10.5 mln for the fire.

“Monthly payment for insurance was unpaid due to the restructuring process and insurance company took it as termination of contract,” Hermet said.

He said that Otepää Golf keeps operating and it already has potential buyers.

Meeting of creditors will take place on August 17 in Tartu.

Estonian Foundation : Pildid Jõekääru Perepaevast

There has been added a new photo album to the ESK website containing the photos of the Jõekääru Family Day, held on July 26th.

http://www.estonianfoundation.ca/gallery

The photos were taken by Prof Peeter Põldre.

Children put together a fantastic performance, which will be remembered for a long time!

Wednesday, July 29th : Levadia Tallinn (Est)-Debrecen (Hun)

After a hard fought match against Swedish side Kalmar, Hungarian Champions Debrecen, under the management of former Austrian international Andreas Herzog, travel to Estonia to play Levadia Tallinn.

This match is Tallinn’s reward for pulling off potentially the shock of round two by knocking out Polish side Wisla Krakow, after beating them away after draw 1-1 at home.

Dublin earns European Poker Capital nod

Year two for Dublin as European Poker Capital!

This is the second year in a row that the city of Dublin has been named as the European Poker Capital – quite simply, the best all around city in Europe for finding and playing the game of poker.

London took second place in the ranking, which was done courtesy of Bluff Europe Magazine, and Vienna, Tallinn and Galway all got nods, but point for point none could top Dublin in terms of game presence, player focus and all around enthusiasm for the game.

The magazine may not have included cities often ranked with poker in the minds of the players, but the reason for that was in the best interests of the game; they discounted cities that have a reputation for unfair rake in cash games and that have governments unfriendly to poker.

You can get to Ireland to play poker this October in Killarney, thanks to Ladbrokes Poker and their satellites for the upcoming Irish Poker Festival, playing for a 900 euro prize package.

Call for urgent action to cut pensioner poverty

Government urged to do more as new statistics show that 30% of over-65s in the UK are living on incomes far below the national average.

Reform of the pensions and benefits system is urgently needed to tackle pensioner poverty in the UK, which is among the worst in Europe, campaigners said today.

The call for action came after European commission statistics showed that 30% of over-65s in the UK were living on incomes far below the national average. That was the fourth highest level in Europe, according to the figures, with pensioners in Romania, where 19% fell below the poverty threshold, among those faring better than in the UK.

Only pensioners in Cyprus (51%), Latvia (33%), and Estonia (33%) came out worse. The EU average was 19%.

The figures came ahead of the work and pensions committee's review of government efforts to tackle pensioner poverty, which is due to be published on Thursday.

Michelle Mitchell, charity director for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said the report demonstrated that even in the years of growth before the recession, many older people were being left behind.

Estonian Goliath Wind to sell wind energy to China

Juhan Tere

Estonian start-up Goliath Wind develops energy-efficient wind turbines and claims its technology has been spotted by curious eyes of Chinese buyers, the Tigerprises reports.

Goliath offers a low cost solution for high power wind turbines. The technology originates from Durham University, Great Britain, writes LETA.

According to a general rule 1MW wind energy production capacity needs an investment of one million euros (at least). With Goliath, approximately 50% lower cost and 50% lighter weight is achieved by simpler conversion system with no gearbox and modular design that allows components to be delivered by containers. General Manager of the company Lars Mach says that Goliath's turbine also looks much cooler than the other ones and shows much better sustainability.

Goliath has taken and combined good qualities from two of the already avalible technologies – light turbines with gearboxes that have high operation costs and sustainable, but very heavy turbines.

Mach says that a 250kw prototype is ready and is being tested now. 2,5-3MW prototype with diameter of 10-12 meters will soon be in progress. The tests are supposed to be due by 2011. And in case they turn out to be successful, it is likely that Goliath will establish a wind turbine factory in Estonia.

The world market of wind power generators is increasing 15% annually, even during the time of crisis. We are speaking about the market segment with annual turnover close to 40 billion euros a year.

SEB : 31% of pension funds’ customers in Estonia plan to continue payments

Juhan Tere

According to a poll commissioned by SEB Pank in Estonia, 31% of the customers of the second pillar pension funds plan to continue making payments even after the State will suspend them in 2010, writes Postimees Online/LETA.

33% of 3,040 customers of SEB who were polled in the beginning of July do not plan to continue making payments. 48% of Russian-speaking customers in Estonia do not indent to continue making payments.

36% of customers have not yet decided whether or not to continue their payments.

The most usual reason for continuing payments into pension funds is the wish to continue stable growth of their pension assets during the difficult times as well – this reason was named by 48% of customers who intend to continue making payments.

15% estimated that as they are unable to withdraw funds from the pension funds, they would much rather continue making payments. 14% stated that the second pillar is their only pension investment. Another 14% said that 2% of gross pay into the second pillar pension funds is a small amount which would not bring much financial gain anyway.

The most usual reason for not continuing payments was that there is no sense in making payments into the pension funds when the State will not contribute anything in it. This reason was named by 49% of customers who plan to continue making payments. 61% of Russian-speaking customers stated this reason.

CEO of SEB Estonia’s Life and Pension Insurance subsidiary Indrek Holst estimated that after the decision to suspend payments, the State needs to take extra steps to restore the confidence in the pension system.

Estonian vessel Sakala to join the NATO mine-clearance squadron

The Estonian Navy’s mine-clearance vessel Sakala departed for the NATO mine-clearance mission during the weekend, writes EPL Online/LETA.

From the beginning of July, the Estonian Navy vessel Sakala is a part of the NATO NRF-13 forces and will on August 1st join the NATO first permanent mine-clearance squadron SNMCG 1, in the framework of which it will carry out mine-clearance operations and training sessions in different locations across the world.

EML Sakala will return to Estonia in the beginning of December and will maintain the NATO NRF readiness until January 5, 2010.

The General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces reported that as a member of the NRF-13, the vessel needs to be prepared to fulfil military tasks within two days in the location determined by NATO.

Before it was appointed into the NFR-13, Sakala went through an evaluation process applicable for all NATO countries’ navy vessels.

Illegal smuggling on the rise in Estonia

TALLINN - The Chief of the Russian Border Guarding Service, army General Vladimir Pronitshev chief of the Russian Border Guard has stated that both illegal immigration and the smuggling of drugs and alcohol have increased into Estonia.

Pronitshev reported that citizens of Afghanistan are prepared to pay 5,000 – 6,000 U.S. dollars to be able to escape the war in their home country and move to the European Union. Estonian border guards have caught citizens of Afghanistan who do not have the right to enter Estonia on the Koidula border crossing point.

Afghan nationals have also been apprehended on ships bound for Stockholm.

Estonian Minister of Internal Affairs Marko Pomerants said that Estoniais merely a stopping point and not a destination for illegal immigrants.

Estonia a stark example of environmental hazards of oil shale

By David O. Williams

Looking for further evidence that oil shale production is — or at least should be — a nonstarter on Colorado’s Western Slope until oil and gas companies radically refine the massively water-intensive process?

Conservationists say there’s no better example than Estonia.

The world’s leading producer and consumer of oil shale — generated by superheating organic kerogen trapped in rocks in sand — Estonia has seen some serious environmental problems over the course of 80 years of production, according to a study published in the journal of the London-based Royal Society of Chemistry.

Besides “voluminous dewatering,” the chief concern in arid Colorado, oil shale production in Estonia leaves huge heaps of residual limestone, ash piles and semi-coke, and the power plants that consume oil shale emit above-average amounts of carbon dioxide, while “the groundwater regime, and often also the water quality, are altered in mined-out areas.”

Estonian Air boosts market share of regular flights to 51.5%

by Ozgur Tore

Estonian Air has robustly increased its market share at Tallinn Airport in the regular flights segment, achieving the highest market share in recent years, 51.5%.

The most popular destination from Tallinn airport was Copenhagen.

In the first six months the market share of Estonian Air in the regular flights segment at Tallinn Airport was 45.8% which is 0.8 percentage ponts higher y-o-y. The total market share (regular and charter flights) was 42%, which is 0.5 percentage points higher y-o-y.

In June the market share of Estonian Air in the regular flights segment at Tallinn Airport was 51.5%, which is 5 percentage points higher y-o-y. The total market share (regular and charter flights) was 45.3%, which is 3.2 percentage points higher y-o-y.

In the first six months Estonian Air carried altogether 277 756 passengers, 251 292 of these on regular flights. The total number of passengers decreased 26.2% y-o-y, on regular flights 26%, while Tallinn Airport passenger number decreased by 26.8 in both categories respectively.

In June Estonian Air carried 57 867 passengers, 54 659 of these on regular flights. The total number of passengers decreased 21.9%, on regular flights 20.4%, while Tallinn Airport passenger number decreased by 27.2 and 28.2% respectively.

08-2009 - Amazing Grace - Vanity Fair - Italy

"A Tutto Colore" - Photos: Ryan Michael Kelly

Grace .... Curvi Line - 08/2009

Amazing Tiiu

Carmen like a bird in "Numero" 105 of 08/2009

SmartPost to sell its self-service post-office pack to Italy

When the state-owned Estonian Development Fund announced about a year ago that it will make its first seed investment into “self-service post office” solution provider SmartPost some people were truly amazed, the others kind of dissapointed.

They doubted if that qualifies of being “Estonian Nokia” everybody were looking for.

But now, a year later, SmartPost business idea kind of make sense. The start-up has established a country-wide parcel terminal network (30 terminals in different shopping centres) and offers a really handy parcel delivery service with good price.

Full-pack solution

That goes with a full-package-solution: hardware (parcel terminal), software, payment solution, network planning and operating system tools, client service and all. See the video!

CEO of SmartPost, Indrek Oolup says that the company is in negotiations to license the service-pack to a business client in Italy, that would then put up his own network there and start using an adapted business model.

A letter to the Administration of President Obama - Jaan Kaplinski

Dear President Obama,

After having read the open letter sent to you and to your administration by a group of high-level politicians and experts from Central and Eastern Europe including two persons from my own country I felt I must write a letter to you too. While there are many good ideas and propositions in the politicians' letter, there are some disputable statements in it. And there is something in the whole tone of the letter that it is hard for me to accept. In fact, the open letter was a petition to the only global superpower by politicians who have decided that the best guarantee of the security of their nations is becoming client states of the United States of America. Our politicians were asking you, President Obama, not to abandon them, not to forget America's most loyal servants. Such an attitude is humiliating to a citizen of a free and democratic country I really want to be.

The fact that the leaders of most CEE nations were willing to transform their countries into American client steates, became clear when, in early february 2003 a group of CEE foreign ministers signed a letter unconditionally supporting the imminent pre-emptive war of the US against Iraq. This unconditional support for the ........ (read it all here)

Your respectfully

Jaan Kaplinski

writer, former deputy of the Estonian Parliament

Estonian forest centre clocks up millions of kroons in sales

Estonia's State Forest Management Centre generated 524 million kroons (£29 million) in sales revenue in the first half of the year, it has been revealed.

According to the LETA news agency the centre made net profits of 18 million kroons over the same period, the Baltic Course reported.

Almost all of the sales revenue (96 per cent) was earned through the off-loading of 1.04 million cubic metres of timber.

However, the amount of timber produced was a fifth lower than in the same period last year.

Aigar Kallas, chief executive officer of the State Forest Management Centre, said: "Decreased market demand and the resulting price decline have forced the State Forest Management Centre to decrease the volume of cutting and sales."

Recently, Statistics Estonia revealed that the country's construction price index fell by 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year when compared to the same period in 2008.

It also fell by 8.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.

Alcohol consumption in Estonia

Alcohol consumption from 1960 onwards according to beverage categories (National data or data from World Drink Trends): According to the Estonian Institute of Economic Research total consumption of alcohol per capita in 2004 was 13,1 litres with 5% growth in one year. 

All of the republics in the European part of the former Soviet Union experienced marked improvements in life expectancy after the imposition of Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign in 1985.

There is now considerable evidence that these changes can be attributed to the reduction in traditionally extremely high rates of alcohol related death. However, these improvements were short lived and life expectancy in Estonia has fallen since 1989, accompanied by removal, or failure to enforce, controls on alcohol imports and production. 

Although only one measure of alcohol related mortality, rates of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis have the advantage of relative specificity, compared with other causes where the contribution of alcohol may be more variable, such as injuries, and can be used to give an idea of the scale of the problem. Between 1990 and 1995, age standardised death rates from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis doubled in Estonia.

Official statistics on consumption are often derived from official sales data. However, this is of limited value in situations such as those in Estonia where there is extensive smuggling and illicit production. According to the WHO the rate of consumption was in 1991 - 17,88 litres per capita. In 1996 it was only 6,43. From there it has grown to 13,1 in 2004. These statistical numbers in 90-s are not trustworthy. During the Soviet period the regime did not want to show the real situation so there is no proved data from that time of period. 

The use of spirits, wine and beer has constantly increased during the last 10 years among men and women. From 1999-2002 the spirits industry grew up to 88%.

Number of passengers of Eurolines Baltic grew by 33% in H1

Juhan Tere

The number of passengers travelling with MootorReisi AS that operates under the brand of Eurolines Baltic grew by 33% in the first half of the year 2009, writes Postimees Online/LETA.

Eurolines stated that in the first half of the year, MootorReisi AS carried 118,302 passengers with tickets. The operating volume – i.e. the number of route kilometres – was by 29% higher than a year ago.

The volume growth mostly came from extending the network of routes between Latvia and Lithuania. While in the first half of 2009, the transport volume between Riga and Vilnius and Riga and Klaipeda amounted to 670,000 route kilometres, in 2008 this number was only 42,000 kilometres.

Route traffic turnover grew by 35% in the year-on-year comparison, to 29.1 million kroons.

Net revenue per route kilometre grew by 5% in the first half of the year while costs per route kilometre did not change in comparison to the year 2008.

On the routes with comparable transport volume the number of passengers grew by 9% on the Tallinn-Riga route, by 32% on the Tallinn-St Petersburg route and by 35% on the Riga-St Petersburg route. At the same time, the number of passengers decreased by more than 50% on the routes between Riga and Kaliningrad and Riga and Warsaw.

In June 2009, the major shareholder of MootorReisid AS Hugo Osula acquired 40% of shares in the company from the German operator Deutsche Touring Gmbh and became the sold proprietor of the enterprise.