BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Baltia Air Lines executes agreement to buy Boeing 747

Start-up Baltia Air Lines Wednesday announced that it has executed the final Aircraft Purchase Agreement for its first Boeing 747.

New York-based Baltia aims to become the leading U.S. airline flying between major U.S. cities and Eastern European cities, such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Tallinn (Estonia), Minsk (Belarus) and Kiev (Ukraine).

The airline announced a letter of intent to buy a 747 on Aug. 4.

Baltia actually dates to 1989, but its financing collapsed with the disintegration of the Soviet Union two years later, according to an account on the Airline Blog. The blog has more details on what Baltia's been doing for the past two decades and also reports the start-up will buy the 747 from an unnamed American carrier.

Hartig wins men's discus at worlds

By Patrick Mcgroarty

BERLIN — Robert Hartig came up with a huge throw on his final attempt to win the men's discus Wednesday at the world championships, then ripped off his shirt in celebration.

Trailing Piotr Malachowski of Poland since the first round, Hartig stepped into the pit on this sixth attempt and hurled the discus 69.43 meters to best Malachowski's toss of 69.15.

"I couldn't allow someone else to win here," said the Berlin native, who was a silver medalist in 2007.

After ripping off his shirt to celebrate Germany's 50th all-time gold medal at the world championships, Hartig lifted the championships' mascot, a brown bear, off the ground -- by its feet.

Malachowski, working with an injured index finger on his throwing hand, had one attempt left to reclaim the top position after Hartig took the lead, but could only manage a throw of 67.33 and had to settle for the silver.

FIND MORE STORIES IN : Olympic Games | Gerd Kanter

"After the first throw I really thought I was going to be the champion, and then like always I ended up second," said the Pole, who took silver at last year's Beijing Olympics. "It was a good competition. It didn't end as I wanted it to, but it's OK."

Olympic and defending world champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia finished third with a best throw of 66.88.

Hartig said it might take a while for his achievement -- a season's best on his first throw, and personal best on the toss that brought him the world championship -- to sink in.

"I think I need a few days," the German said. "Of course, I'm extremely happy."

Town square celebrates its long history

By Ella Karapetyan

TALLINN - While walking along the streets in Tallinn, there is a good chance that you will see the colorful and attractive posters all around the city, inviting people to take part in the opening night celebrations of Vabaduse Square, which has been recently reconstructed.

The history of Vabaduse valjak (Freedom Square) goes back to Medieval times, when this square served as a hay and wood market, from which cattle were led through Karja (‘herd’) Gate into the Old Town. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Russian rule in 1910, the square was named Peetri plats (Peter Square) and a bronze statue of Peter the Great was erected. Peter was pulled down during the early years of Estonian independence, and that is when the square was renamed Freedom Square. The base of the statue was used to mint the new republic’s five-cent coins.

Most of the buildings on the square date back to the 1920s and 1930s. On the south side, the Gloria Palace Cinema (1926) with its sculpted wreaths, grapes and lions, is now the Russian Drama Theater. The grimy Palace Hotel, unofficial headquarters for foreign diplomats during the early 1990s, was built in the mid-1930s. The clinker-clad, expressionist-style City Government building, with lantern carriers on the facade, raised brick patterns and sculpted foliage, is stunning at night when the central stairwell is illuminated.

Estonia, the place to be for football lovers

Estonian football is enjoying a surge in interest, and with a big European tie to look forward to, we check on the football scene south of the Gulf of Finland.

Estonia's football awakening is proceeding apace this year, after long years of toil as the whipping boys in almost every qualification group they've entered. Having collected five points from their World Cup qualifying games so far, putting them four points clear of Armenia in Group Five, they look sure to avoid the wooden spoon.

They recently hosted
Kaka-mania, when the Brazilian national team visited Tallinn to help celebrate the Estonian FA's centenary. A spirited and physical performance from the Estonians rattled Brazil, who held on to win via a Luis Fabiano strike.

More importantly, with Levadia Tallinn and Flora Tallinn making impressive progress in European club competitions, their clubs have now been more successful in European competition than the Finnish sides that competed this year.

Finnish difficulties

Let’s recap the Finnish difficulties. Inter Turku were knocked out of the Champions League by Transdniestran outfit Sheriff Tiraspol, HJK fell at the first Europa League hurdle against Lithuanian team Vetra, while both FC Honka and “Jari Litmanen's FC Lahti” at least got to the second qualifying round before succumbing to Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag and Belgian Club Brugge, respectively.

Lahti came close to causing an upset and advancing further, with a one goal aggregate defeat, but Finnish football lovers this summer have discovered that Tallinn can provide top class European football too. Flora Tallinn got a tough Europa League draw against Brondby, but upset the odds to earn a 1-0 victory in the first leg in Copenhagen.

Retail sales plunge in E. Europe

RIGA — When the Sky & More mall opened in Riga in 2007, retailers hoped its expensive boutiques and upscale supermarket would draw well-off Latvians on their way home to the pine-forested neighborhoods on the capital's north side.

Today, the mall's foot traffic has dwindled, and its shop-lined upper floor is as quiet as a library — a token of the breathtaking collapse in retail spending that is hammering stores in Eastern Europe.

The region's severe recession sent retail sales down an outsized 29 percent in Latvia in June compared to a year ago, 20 percent in Lithuania, 17.8 percent in Romania, and 10.5 percent in Bulgaria.

For the entire 27-member EU, retail was up 0.1 percent, a figure that underlines the disproportionate impact the recession is having on the European Union's newer, eastern members.

Some analysts think retail statistics look so much worse than in the West in part because some hard-pressed retailers are moving sales off the books to avoid taxes — meaning those sales don't show up in the totals.

Still, there's no question demand has plunged.

On the upper floor of Sky & More, darkness seems to spill out of the vacant shops. Mara Drozda, who runs a boutique of high-end Italian clothes, looks around apprehensively at the eerie solitude.

"I'm afraid we're not going to make it," she said. "I see the sales figures, and they're not good."

Along the Calea Victoriei, Bucharest's Victory Avenue, even the bright summer sun fails to penetrate the gloom. Stores are shuttered, and many windows are plastered with political posters and signs offering fire-sale discounts of up to 90 percent.

Florina Manta, whose shop sells British and French porcelain and Venetian glassware, said business is getting "worse and worse."

"Everyone is affected by the crisis, and anyone who tells you they aren't is lying," said Manta.

Eastern Europe is getting a cold shower after years of heady growth fueled by cheap bank loans and the euphoria of EU membership in 2004. Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary and the Baltics are struggling, while Poland and the Czech Republic are faring relatively better.

Estonia and Latvia want Russian answers on ship 'hijackers'

Estonia and Latvia on Tuesday urged Russia to shed light on claims that six men from the two nations were among the eight arrested for the mysterious hijacking of the ship Arctic Sea.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said he was surprised to have learned from the media that four Estonians had been detained at sea, along with two Latvians and two Russians, after the Russian navy took control of the ship at an undisclosed location believed to be off the west coast of Africa.

"We contacted the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow, the Russian embassy in Tallinn, the Russian border guard, the FSB, the Interpol mission in Russia, and so on," Paet told reporters.

"But we have not obtained any confirmation of who -- and whether -- any persons from Estonia have been taken into custody," he added.

Latvian authorities also said they wanted answers.

"We've asked the Russian Federation for an official confirmation that Latvian citizens have been arrested, but we have not received a reply," Latvian foreign ministry spokesman Gints Jerohimovics told AFP.

Under international law, Russia has three days to inform Estonia and Latvia if it is holding their citizens.

However, its use of "Estonians" and "Latvians" may be a misnomer, because both countries are home to large ethnic-Russian communities whose presence is a legacy of Moscow's settlement drive when the Baltic states were ruled by the Soviet Union.

Swedbank upbeat about Baltic nations as it plans rights issue

By Andrew Ward in Stockholm and Miles Johnson in London

Swedbank, the biggest lender in the troubled Baltic countries, yesterday reported signs of stabilisation in the region even as it announced a SKr15bn ($2.1bn) rights issue to shore up its battered balance sheet.

Michael Wolf, chief executive, warned that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were still going through "extremely tough times" but said growth in impaired loans was slowing slightly, compared with the first half of this year.

He echoed widespread concern that economic turmoil in the Baltic region could, if left unchecked, cause "ripple effects" across eastern and central Europe but voiced confidence that the European Union would prevent an escalation in the crisis.

"The EU would definitely like [the Baltic countries] to succeed," he told the Financial Times. "In relative terms, supporting these countries is not very costly."

His comments came after Swedbank announced its second rights issue in the past year in a bid to break free from a government loan guarantee programme set up to protect Swedish banks from Baltic bad debts.

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EGO Golf Tournament

On Saturday, September the 19th, the EGO Golf Tournament will take place, presented by EGO (Estonian Golf Club of Ontario) and NEFC (National Estonian Foundation of Canada), at Mill Run Golf Club (269 Durham Road 8, Uxbridge).

Registration deadline is August 21th.

The registration forms including payments should be sent to Sven Lilleoru, 67 Elmwood Ave, Toronto, ON, M2N 3L8. Fees: $140 ($95 for youth under 25).

Contact: [email protected]

Swedbank issues stock to bolster bottom line

By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON

Swedbank, one of the largest Nordic lenders, announced Monday that it was issuing preferred stock to raise about 15 billion kronor ($2.1 billion) as loan losses continue in the eastern Baltic.

“The aim is to strengthen our competitive position in our four home markets; that is, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,” Michael Wolf, chief executive of the bank, said in a conference call.

Mr. Wolf said that the bank would be better able to support its main clients with the infusion and that the funds would help Swedbank return to independence. It currently depends upon a guarantee from the Swedish government to borrow money from other banks.

Almost half of the offering was taken up by existing shareholders, with the rest guaranteed by its underwriters, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and the Credit Suisse Group.

The capital increase, Mr. Wolf said, “means we have full control over our own fate, and can put capital where the need is greatest and where it can generate the most profit.”

This is the second share issue Swedbank has made in the last year.Last fall, the bank issued 12.4 billion kronor.

Swedbank invested heavily in the Baltic states during their years of heady growth, but now those economies are in trouble. The share offering will increase Swedbank’s Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of fiscal health, to 12.1 percent from 9.8 percent at the end of June.

“The financial system has stabilized to some extent,” Mr. Wolf said last month, “but the recession is now making itself more visible, and all signs are that the downward trend will continue for some time.”

In its second-quarter earnings report, released in July, Swedbank said its bad loans totaled nearly 30 billion kronor, or $4 billion, of which the Baltic states accounted for 22 billion kronor.

It also announced it would cut 3,600 jobs by next summer, most of them in the Baltics and Ukraine.

Swedbank advises continuing to contribute to the second pension pillar

The goal of the pension reform completed in Estonia in 2002 was to guarantee a financially secure retirement for future pensioners. This goal will not change now that the state is temporarily suspending contributions into the second pension pillar. It is still clear that the first pension pillar alone is not enough to guarantee a secure retirement.

The pension reform was successful – approximately 600,000 Estonians have understood their role in securing their future. This autumn, people who are saving for their retirement will have to decide whether to continue making contributions into the second pillar or whether to suspend them temporarily. The state will suspend the contributions from 1 June 2009; contributions will resume partially in 2011 and fully in 2012.

Why should you continue making contributions to the second pension pillar?

It is important that you continue with the contributions when you consider the reason why you joined the pension system in the first place – to guarantee yourself a respectable pension. Saving for retirement is a long-term process that calls for regularity and patience. People also need to understand that the economy is cyclical and the current situation on the financial markets will one day be a thing of the past.

The good thing about the second pension pillar funds is that people invest small amounts of money over a long period. It is well known that small amounts also grow in time and suspending the contributions would therefore have a negative effect on the end result. 2.5 years will pass between the suspension of contributions and their resumption in full and many analysts believe that it is a good investment period for people who save for the long term.

Indrek Neivelt : running for euro is risky for Estonia

Juhan Tere

Indrek Neivelt, the former chairperson of the Estonian Development Fund's supervisory board, said that Estonia shouldn't try to join the euro zone since currently it is too risky, BBN/LETA reported.

Still, the politicians stick the opposite opinion.

"If we adopt euro in 2011, life won't improve in 2012, or in June of 2011, for instance," Neivelt said. Here, there must be quite a few missing words ... !! Ask Juhan !

Former Ministers of Finance of Estonia, Aivar Soerd and Taavi Veskimagi, said that euro goal supports conservative monetary policy and gives positive signal to foreign investors.

Ivari Padar, the former Minister of Finance of Estonia, noted that the plan of joining euro can't be abandoned.

Jarvi to rejoin Estonian orchestra

Neeme Jarvi, who in May stepped down from his position as the music director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, will take charge of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, where he began his career in 1963 before fleeing Estonia, a former Soviet republic, Agence France-Presse reported.

Mr. Jarvi, who arrived in the United States in 1980, appeared with many American orchestras and is now chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague. He is to take over at the Estonian orchestra from the conductor Nikolai Alexeev in 2010.

Baltic presidents urge residents to participate in "Heartbeat for Baltics" relay race

The three Baltic States' presidents urge the residents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to put aside their daily chores to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way by taking part in the "Heartbeat for Baltics" unity run, as President's Press Office informed LETA.

The symbolic 24-hour relay from Vilnius and Tallinn to Riga will once again manifest the unity of the Baltic nations, the presidents point out.

The start signal for the run will be given by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite in Lithuania and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Estonia, whereas Latvian President Valdis Zatlers will receive the participants of the relay race in Riga, where the run will finish at the Freedom Monument.

Zatlers underlines that 20 years ago, the people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined their hands in the Baltic Way, and the power of unity of the three nations is remembered in the world as unique evidence of the Baltic singing revolution.

As reported, marking the 20th Anniversary of the Baltic Way, the Baltic unity run "Sirdspuksti Baltijai" (Heartbeat For Baltics) will take place on August 22-23.

The twenty-four-hour run will start in Tallinn and Vilnius, and the finish of the run will take place at the Freedom Monument in Riga at 8 p.m. on August 23.

The 671-kilometre distance will be divided in one-kilometer long relay run, and every inhabitant of the Baltic States will be called to join the leading relay runners in their chosen kilometer.

The Baltic unity run will be held to revive the unity between the Baltic nations and to remind about the joint fight for freedom and aspirations to prove the vitality of the national consciousness.

Passengers flock to ferries between Finland and Estonia

The current economic downturn has not taken a toll on cruises, indicate figures released by ferry companies on Monday. Especially the route between Finland and Estonia has been busy, although currently operated by two companies less than one year ago.

The July passenger traffic between Helsinki and Tallinn of Estonia's Tallink Grupp and Finland's Viking Line were up by 25 per cent and 10 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

Finnish Eckerö Line has also experienced an increase of around twenty per cent year-on-year in its Estonian traffic throughout the May-July period.

The Baltic chain – the wind of change

 

Join us on the 23th of August 2009 in Mini-Europe and help us to make a huge human chain through the entire park at the occasion of the inauguration of a reproduction at scale 1/25^th of the Baltic chain which is offered to Mini-Europe by the cities of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.  The Baltic chain was a human chain over a length of more than 600kms which occurred exactly 20 years ago across the three Baltic States.

The Baltic chain – the wind of change

The Popular Fronts of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania organized the Baltic Chain mass "arm-in-arm" manifestation extending through three Baltic states on August 23, 1989 that marked 50th anniversary of August 23, 1939 when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which resulted in the forcible incorporation of these three states into the Soviet Union and the loss of their independence.
This protest was one of the longest human chains in history (over 600 kilometers).  Within two years after this demonstration, the independence of all three Baltic states was recognized by most western countries.

‘Mini-Europe’ commemorates the 'Baltic Way'

The Brussels miniature park ‘Mini-Europe’ will this Sunday (23 August) organise an event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the “Baltic Way”, the longest ever human chain which in 1989 became a potent symbol in the independence struggle of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the then Soviet Union.

Six hundred people - for whom the entrance to the park will be free of charge on a first-come–first-served basis by registering online - will form at 3 p.m. on Sunday (23 August) a human chain through the park, symbolically recreating the 600 km-long human chain from Tallinn via Riga to Vilnius, formed twenty years ago.

Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in Brussels, at the foot of the Atomium, where replicas of 300 famous buildings and historical sites from the 27 EU member countries are gathered, on a scale of 1/25.

The park wants to commemorate this important symbolic action as part of its own twentieth anniversary celebrations, its management told EurActiv.

For this occasion, the cities of Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn have also provided 200 miniature dolls which will link together those cities in Mini-Europe, represented by the Great Coastal Gate and Fat Margaret's Tower in Tallinn, Riga’s Freedom Monument and Vilnius’s University campus.

The inauguration of this miniature “Baltic Way” will take place at 2 p.m., in the presence of the mayor of Tallinn and organisers of the original 1989 ‘Baltic Way’.

The flags of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will also be flown at the top of the Atomium.

Those wishing to join the human chain in ‘Mini Europe’ were still able to register when this article was published.

Background :

Tallinn–Riga – the privileged route for Estonians in July

Juhan Tere

In July, Riga has become the privileged destination in terms of passengers served by Tallinn Airport. With 15 834 passengers travelling on the Tallinn-Riga route in July, Riga has overtaken Copenhagen (13 167 passengers).

As airBaltic improves transit via Riga and offers increasingly more destinations, with attractive prices, in Western Europe, Scandinavia, Mediterranean and the CIS, the number of Estonian travellers via the Latvian capital continues to grow. The number of passengers of airBaltic has grown 68 % on the flights to/from Estonia in the first seven months of 2009 when the airline carried 99 055 passengers. The number of passengers stood at 58 754 in the same January-July period in 2008.

airBaltic has introduced a total of eleven new destinations from its home base in Riga this year – Turku (Finland), Tromso (Norway), Linkoping (Sweden), Palanga and Kaunas (Lithuania), Tartu (Estonia), Pskov (Russia), Warsaw (Poland), Geneva (Switzerland), Dushanbe (Tajikistan), Frankfurt (Germany).

This year airBaltic has introduced two new routes originating from Estonia. On July 3, airBaltic started operations on the Tartu-Riga route that offers excellent connections to destinations such as Berlin, Zurich, Venice, Vienna, Moscow, Tashkent, and others. On October 1, the first flight will be operated on Tallinn-Turku, which is the first new route of airBaltic that links Estonia and Finland, and improves travel between the two European Cultural Capitals of 2011.

UFO punches hole in cloud above turbines

Michael Cohen

Photographer Avo Siim was taking pictures of wind turbines near the town of Virtsu on Estonia’s western coast when he noticed a most unusual cloud formation overhead. Something was blowing a hole in the cloud from above and sending out pieces of the cloud in a spiral underneath it.

Mr Siim made sure to take shots of the formation and returned home. After developing the photos (above), to his astonishment, he noticed a UFO hovering above the turbines and just beneath the cloud at the very spot where the formation occurred.

‘I did not see the UFO with my eyes so it must have been fast’ noted Mr Siim.

UFO experts in Estonia have examined the photo and declared it genuine. They have also attested to Mr Siim’s good character. The story was picked up by 'Ohtuleht', Estonia's second most widely read daily newspaper.

This UFO event might be of interest to researchers looking for clues relating to Britain’s recent wind turbine UFO event and the O’Hare International Airport sighting where a UFO was also reported to have punched a hole through a cloud.

Are aliens monitoring our attempts to repair the environment we have so destroyed prior to letting us loose on the galaxy?

Brazil ill-treated by Estonia !

SAO PAULO — Some of Brazil's star players were unhappy with the physical play of Estonia in this week's friendly between the teams.

Brazil won the match 1-0 in Tallin on Wednesday, but Brazilian players left Estonia heavily complaining of the rough play of their opponents. The match ended with Brazil midfielder Kleberson in a hospital with a serious shoulder injury following a ball dispute.

"It was clear someone would get injured," Brazil playmaker Kaka said.

Kleberson went down awkwardly and will likely need surgery that could keep him sidelined for up to four months, according to Brazilian doctors.

"They really hit us a lot," Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar said.

With the Estonians playing hard, Brazil also began to get physical and the match was filled with hard fouls from both sides. Several brief scuffles also took place.