BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Lenna Kuurmaa and Piret Järvis to host Eesti Laul semifinals

The semifinals of the 2011 Eesti Laul, Estonia's national selection for Eurovision, will be hosted by Piret Järvis and Lenna Kuurmaa. They both tried to represent the country last year - Piret with the group Disko 4000 and Lenna with her own band.

Piret Jarvis recalls her participations in the Estonian national finals, and shares her feelings about the new role she is going to play at Eesti Laul: "I've taken part with Vanilla Ninja in former Eurolaul and with my new band in Eesti Laul. Now it's a good opportunity to let the others take part and contribute to the most important local song contest".

In her opinion, the list of participants is varied, interesting and the two semifinals system makes the whole competition more exciting.

According to Lenna Kuurmaa, the offer by the organisers to host the show was a pleasant surprise and she is willingly ready to take the challenge.

The first semifinal of Eesti Laul 2011 will be held on February 12, while the 2nd semifinal will take place on February 19th. The 5 songs getting the most votes in each show will qualify for the final, scheduled to be held on February 26th at the Nokia Concert Hall.

All the participating songs can be listened to and voted on Eesti Laul's official website. You can also pick your favourite here.

Thanks to Märten for the submission of the information.

Prisoners attempt to commit suicide

Two inmates in Tartu Prison attempted to commit suicide in seperate incidents last week. Guards managed to save both.

One inmate lost consciousness due to heavy blood loss after cutting his wrist with a shaving razor on January 24. Officials applied first aid and helped the man regain consciousness, after which an ambulance transported him to the hospital for an operation. The man was later relocated to a high-security ward.

On January 28, Tartu Prison guards caught another inmate attempting to hang himself with a bed sheet.

The Ministry of Justice also reported several incidences of disorderly conduct last week.

Estonia has five prisons. Tartu Prison has a maximum inmate capacity of 924.

Eesti Pank presented the first euro collector coins on Monday

On Monday, 24 January, Eesti Pank presented a collector coin series consisting of two coins, which are dedicated to the changeover to the euro. The series consists of a €10 silver coin decorated with a diamond application and a €20 bimetal coin. A coinset consisting of Estonian euro circulation coins also was presented.

Because of high interest, the sale of new collector coins and of the new coinset took place on Monday 24th from 12:00 to 15:00 in the Independence Hall of Eesti Pank (entry through the main entrance of the central bank).

The new products will also be sold at the e-store. Starting from Wednesday, 26 January, it is possible to purchase collector coins from the Eesti Pank Museum during its regular opening hours.

The €10 silver collector coin is decorated with a diamond application and named Estonia's future. It shows Kalevipoeg, the hero of the Estonian national epic, and Vanapagan, a character from Estonian folk tales, dancing the national dance Kaerajaan under the blue sky of Estonia. The reverse of the coin displays the denomination €10. The obverse of the silver coin shows the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Estonia, the words EESTI VABARIIK and the year of issue 2011. The silver collector coin has been designed by the sculptor Simson von Seakyl. The coin is of pure silver (Ag 999.9) and of Proof finish quality. It weighs 28.8 grams and is 38.61 mm in diameter. The mintage of the coins is 30,000 and one coin costs €40.

The €20 gold and silver bimetallic collector coin is named Estonia's accession. On the coin the designer has depicted the single currency system as a mechanism of a clock's cogwheels. The reverse of the coin displays the denomination €20. The obverse displays a freely drawn Coat of Arms of the Republic of Estonia, which symbolises Estonia's development. The obverse also shows the words EESTI VABARIIK and the year of issue 2011. The edge lettering shows alloy symbols Ag 999.9 and Au 999.9. The bimetallic coin has been designed by Priit Pärn. The coin is of pure silver (Ag 999.9) and gold (Au 999.9) and of Proof finish quality. It weighs 14.6 grams and is 27.25 mm in diameter. The mintage of the coins is 10,000 and one coin costs €350.

Estonia avoids spending slump after Euro entry

Estonian consumers haven’t significantly reduced spending since the Baltic country adopted the euro on Jan. 1, retailers said, following earlier concerns of a slowdown and price growth after the currency changeover.

Consumer spending so far this month has been on par with or exceeded last year’s levels at Estonia’s largest grocery chains, A-Selver AS, Maxima Eesti AS and Rimi Eesti Food, a unit of Solna, Sweden-based ICA AB, officials at the companies said.

“We were prepared for the possibility that the euro entry would make consumers more cautious,” said spokeswoman Annika Vilu of A-Selver, a subsidiary of the country’s biggest listed retailer Tallinna Kaubamaja AS.

Estonia this month became the first former Soviet republic to adopt the euro, with Estonian kroons converted at an exchange rate of one euro for 15.6466 kroons.

“This didn’t happen and sales in January have exceeded comparative figures from the last two years, which probably shows rising confidence and proves that Estonians adapt quickly,” Vilu said today in an e-mailed response to questions.

Estonian consumer confidence improved in January to 1 from minus 6 in December, the best result since July 2007 before a local property bubble burst, the Estonian Institute of Economic Research said on Jan. 25.

The country’s recovery from the second-deepest recession in the 27-member European Union in 2008 and 2009 depends on how domestic demand recovers in coming quarters as demand for exports may slow, the central bank and Finance Ministry said in November. The national statistics office is due to report January retail sales figures on Jan. 31.

I would be a better prime minister than Ansip : Mikser

"I understand better (than Andrus Ansip) what is wrong in Estonia and, if confronted with a painful question, I will not look for statistics showing that Estonia is third in EU in something. I am ready to believe that we have things that are not as well as they should be.” This is the view of Sven Mikser, the new chairman of Social Democrats.

Mikser says in his interview to Eest Ekspress that his party has a good chance to form a two-party coalition with Ansip’s Reform Party since IRL has become too populist and too inconvenient for the Reformers.

However, he admits it will not be easy decision to make for the Reform Party since Social Democrats would like to introduce progressive income tax by taxing income up to 1,000 euros at 21% and everything above at 26%, reduce the maximum parental benefit level by 33%, increase monthly child allowances from 19 euros to 60 euros, reduce VAT on food from 20% to 5% and introduce 10% corporate income tax.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Cereal production in Estonia was 23% less in 2010

According to the preliminary data of Statistics Estonia, the cereal production was 670,000 tons in 2010, which was 23% less than in the previous year.

Of the total cereal production, 25,100 tons of rye, 324,400 tons of wheat and 252,500 tons of barley were produced. Compared to the previous year, the production of rye, wheat and barley decreased. The sown are of cereals comprised 275,100 hectares, the average yield per hectare was 2,435 kilograms of cereals, of which 1,993 kilograms of rye, 2,712 kilograms of wheat and 2,413 kilograms of barley.

The yield of rape and turnip rape seed was 129,600 tons, which was 5% less than in 2009. In 2010, rape and turnip rape were sown on 98,000 hectares. The average yield was 1,322 kilograms of rape and turnip rape seed per hectare.

The production of potatoes amounted to 153,700 tons, which was 10% more compared to the year earlier. In 2010, potatoes were sown on 9,100 hectares. The average yield of potatoes was 16,966 kilograms per hectare.

In autumn of 2010, 60,500 hectares of winter wheat, 11,900 hectares of rye and 6,900 hectares of triticale were sown for harvesting in 2011.

Winter baroque music is coming to town

TALLINN - During the second half of the 16th century European sensibilities towards art, including music, began to change. There is no universal agreement, though, when the Baroque era began, and no evidence to suggest that it occurred as a synchronic development.

Baroque music describes a style of European classical music extending from 1600 to 1750. It is said that this era in music had begun after the Renaissance, and was followed by the Classical era.
The word Baroque was borrowed from architecture to describe the elaborate music of the day.  Baroque music is full of confidence and is very complicated. It is also lively, engaging and it seems to always be in motion.
In the late 18th century, a period during which the dominant style stressed elegance and simplicity, writers used the word baroque to describe earlier music (as well as painting, sculpture and architecture) that seemed to them to be distorted by a profusion of unnatural ornamentation.

The word “baroque” came from the Portuguese word “barroco,” meaning “misshapen pearl,” a strikingly fitting characterization of the architecture of this period. Later, the name came to be applied also to its music. Baroque music forms a major portion of the classical music canon, being widely studied, performed and listened to. It is associated with composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, Claudio Monteverdi, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Henry Purcell.

The baroque period saw the development of functional tonality. During the period, composers and performers used more elaborate musical ornamentation, made changes in musical notation, and developed new instrumental playing techniques. Baroque music expanded the size, range, and complexity of instrumental performance, and also established opera as a musical genre. Many musical terms and concepts from this era are still in use today.

Many instruments reached the peak of their development at the height of the Baroque era. The baroque era in music was crucial to the development of the modern musical language. The codification of tonality and the establishment of the tempered tuning system were of vital importance. Equally important, though, is the fact that the prolific composers of the era left works that continue to speak eloquently over a distance of centuries.

A large part of tax debts in Estonia is hopeless

The total tax debt of Estonian taxpayers is around 6 billion kroons or 383.5 million euros and a large part of it is hopeless debts with which the state has to decide whether to annul them or not, LETA/National Broadcasting reports.

"A very large part of it is so-called hopeless debt where entrepreneurs with their management decisions have reached a situation where the chance of getting that debt is hopeless or very slim,” said Tax and Customs Board director general Enriko Aav.

There are 360 companies in Estonia that mediate fuel while in Finland there are just about ten. VAT fraud forms 85% of tax revenues that the state is deprived of and that figure indicates that the lifetime of freshly created fuel firms tends to be rather short. The scheme is simple: a few months of tax free operating, then bankruptcy and a new company.

Tax and customs board deputy director general Egon Veermäe said that the problems of the fuel sector are systematic and serious.

“The uncollected VAT in one sector is over 700 million kroons (around 44.7 million EUR), thus this shows that there is something wrong in that sector,” he said, adding that the system of financial guarantees should regulate that market considerably and bring more honest competition. If the parliament approves of the corresponding law amendment, fuel companies will be demanded a guarantee to trade.

Naturally fuel sellers are not the only VAT fraudsters, tax officials have a lot of work with scrap metal and real estate businessmen. Customs are fighting illegal cigarettes business which is thought to amount to 19% of cigarettes market.

Estonia collected 104% planned budget year revenue in 2010

According to the Estonian Ministry of Finance, the state budget received 87.8 billion kroons (5.61 billion euro) of revenue in 2010, which is 103.8% of the amount planned, Äripäev.ee/LETA reports.

Spending from the state budget amounted to 87.6 billion kroons (5.6 billion euros) – 95.8%% of the amount planned for the year.

The main reason for the higher income than planned was considerably better revenues from selling pollution quota than planned and better collection of VAT. The lower than planned use of expenses was caused mainly by not fulfilling the foreign means payment plans, by lower volumes of operating costs and investments.

Estonia collected 87.8 billion kroons (5.61 billion euros) in the budget – 63.4 billion kroons (4.1 billion euros) in tax revenue (102.7% of annual plan) and 24.4 billion kroons (1.6 billion euros) in non-tax revenue (107.1%).

In December, 8.2 bln kroons (523 million euros) or 9.7% of the annual volume was collected. Spending in December amounted to 10 billion kroons (636.8 million euros).

Of the 87.6 billion kroons (5.6 billion euros) spending in 2010, the biggest spending article was principal social benefits – a total of 37 billion kroons (2.4 billion euros).

Suspect In bomb scare convicted and sentenced in 24 hours

The man who phoned in the bomb threat to Tallinn Airport on January 24 was sentenced to six months in prison on January 25.

The swiftness of the justice may have been partly due to the fact that Elmu Normak, a 35-year-old resident of Lääne-Viru County, was also on probation for previous offenses, including robbery.

Harju County Court also sentenced Normak to over two years that had previously been suspended.

Most ethnic Estonians glad to be back in the western club

Relations between ‘locals’ and ‘incomers’ in the European Capital of Culture are not always smooth.

THE UFO that appeared above Tallinn on New Year’s Eve surely helped convince any doubters that 2011 would be a special year for Estonia.

When dawn broke on January 1st, the shining disk and its “alien” pilot may have disappeared from the crane that suspended them over Tallinn, but it was still a changed city – it was now a European Capital of Culture and the euro was its currency.

If the reintroduction of the kroon in 1992 marked Estonia’s escape from the Soviet Union and its rouble the previous year, then its replacement with the euro signifies the latest stage in the Baltic state’s march away from Moscow and towards deeper integration with Europe.

Despite a crushing recent recession, the vast majority of ethnic Estonians are glad to be back in the western “club” they see as their natural home, and feel no nostalgia for four decades of Soviet rule that brought oppression, purges and a militarisation programme that made much of the country’s Baltic coastline off-limits as a sensitive border zone.

Occupation also brought an influx of people from other parts of the Soviet Union, under a resettlement programme that Josef Stalin hoped would dilute Estonian resistance to his rule.

For those people and their descendants, Estonia’s break with Moscow and its dash into the EU, Nato and the euro zone is a more ambiguous journey.

Russians make up about a quarter of Estonia’s population and almost 40 per cent of Tallinn residents, and while their language is heard alongside Estonian everywhere in the capital and Russian visitors feel comfortable here, relations between “locals” and “incomers” are not always smooth. Many Russians complain about discrimination and bemoan a citizenship law that requires them to show knowledge of Estonia’s constitution and a grasp of its tricky language. The upshot is that about 8 per cent of Estonia’s residents – some 100,000 people, the vast majority of them ethnic Russians – have no citizenship and cannot vote in state elections or hold certain jobs.

Estonia promotes itself as Scandinavia’s largest industrial park

Estonia is hoping to attract foreign investors by advertising itself as the largest industrial park in Scandinavia and a network of subcontractors, writes Äripäev.

Most recently this approach was used in Elmia Subcontractor, Scandinavia’s largest subcontracting tradefair that was held in Sweden in November and included 14 Estonian exhibitors.

One of the Estonian participants was Interconnect Product Assembly that supplies Siemens and Bombardier with multifunctional train air conditioning units that it developed together with Saku Metall and Radius Machining from Estonia.

Toomas Hõbemägi

 Wrong translation, I suppose Estonia would like to brand itself as 'the largest Scandinavians' industrial part'. It cannot be 'Scandinavia's largest' because it is not in Scandinavia in any sense. Estonia, one day maybe in 20 of 30 years, could become 'a Nordic' country, like Finland did in thirties. But when are you going to get it that you cannot become 'Scandinavians' because the Estonians are not Scandinavians. Neither are the Fins. When are you going to get it, our dear Baltic brothers? It is rather sad when a frog is dreaming of becoming a prince or vice versa, but it is not destined to happen.

~Privincialas [27.01.2011, 20:13]

Sean Connery immortalized with estonian bust

He's been honored with an Oscar and British knighthood. As of Thursday, Sean Connery can count a bronze sculpture in the Estonian capital among his tributes.

The bust of Scotland's most famous actor was unveiled by British Ambassador Peter Carter outside Tallinn's Scottish Club, whose members include Estonians enamored with Scotland and a handful of expatriate Scots.

"Sir Sean Connery is, without a doubt, an icon," Carter told dozens of invited guests. "He is variously known as James Bond or the sexiest man of the century. He's a great British actor, a great Scot actor and a great symbol for Scotland."

The Scottish Club, which started as a whiskey sampling society in the early 1990s, got the idea of honoring "Scots who have made a difference" a few years back, said president Mart Haamer. It already has a bust of 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Haamer read a brief statement from the 80-year-old actor, who won an Academy Award for a supporting role in "The Untouchables".

"One cannot help but be flattered by the Scottish Club's gesture. My best wishes to the members of the club and to all the people who made this possible," the statement said.

A vocal supporter of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, Connery lives in the Bahamas and has said he will not live in Scotland again until it gains independence from the United Kingdom.

However, Carter noted that "the fact that he has accepted knighthood, suggests that he is also a great supporter of the queen."

Connery was knighted in 2000.

The euro10,000 ($14,000) bust by Estonian sculptor Tiiu Kirsipuu was financed through private donations and depicts a bearded Connery at a mature age.

"I think the older he gets, the more charming he becomes," Kirsipuu said.

Banks in Estonia earn 70 million Euros in net profits

Banks earned 70.5 million euros in net profits in 2010, with the 23.4 million euros in the last quarter amounting to only one-half of the third-quarter figure.

Profitability was undercut significantly by impairments on investments into subsidiaries, although the writedown was only a fraction of what it  was a year ago.

Greater net profit from interest supported higher profitability prior to the impairments.

The volume of loans and leasing granted to Estonian individuals and companies dropped by 126 million euros in December, to 15.1 billion euros, a drop of 0.8 percent compared to November. Over 12 months, the size of the loan and leasing portfolio shrank by close to a billion euros - 6.3 percent.

About 70 percent of the drop in loan volume stemmed from the business sector, where construction and real estate companies accounted for the greatest share. The individuals' loan portfolio was hit by a significant drop in shorter-term loan products such as consumer loans and car leasing. The volume of housing loans was more than two percent lower in late 2010 compared to the year before.

Estonia will build National Museum as planned

Despite doubts of foreign experts, the Estonian state will build the Estonian National Museum’s new building in the Raadi district of Tartu, culture minister Laine Jänes confirms, as reported by Postimees/LETA.

European Investment Bank expert group Jaspers has completed the analysis of the museum project and its final report notes, among other things, that the building is planned to be too big and recommends building it in two stages to cut costs. The report also doubted the expected number of visitors, saying that the 170,000 visitors a year to be achieved by 2018 is very optimistic as it is nearly three times more than two years ago and needs major efforts as it is located 2.5 hours driving away from Estonia’s capital which is the main destination of tourists.

The culture minister said that European experts have made a lot of conclusions in their report and some of them Estonia can agree to but some are fundamental and cannot be agreed to. “To build the Estonian National Museum in Tallinn is not a recommendation that can be taken seriously. The Estonian National Museum has been in Tartu for a hundred years and will remain there,” said Jänes.

The museum building is planned to cost 63.1 million euros, of which 32 million euros is planned to be European support. Laine Jänes said that the Estonian state will build the museum irrespective of what the European Commission decides in regard to funding.

Sweden becomes Estonia's largest export partner

In November 2010, Estonian exports amounted to 861 million euros which is 48% higher than a year earlier. November imports increased 38% in a year to 901 million euros at current prices.  Trade deficit decreased, but was still at 40 million euros, according to Statistics Estonia.

Estonia’s exports increased by 32% and imports 26% during the period of January–November compared to the same period in 2009.

In November, the first place among Estonia’s export destination countries was held by Sweden which now accounts for a fifth of Estonia’s total exports, followed by Finland (17%) and Russia (10%).

Compared to November 2009, exports to Sweden increased more than twofold or by 97 million euros. Exports also increased significantly to Finland (31%) and Russia (47%). Electrical equipment and wood and products thereof were mainly exported to Sweden, electrical equipment and furniture to Finland, and mechanical equipment and beverages and alcohol to Russia.

Hospitals ban visitors due to flu

West Tallinn Central Hospital has now banned visitors to patients in connection with the rise in flu cases.

The latest ban affects the West Tallinn Central Hospital facilities of Pelgulinn maternity clinic, Pelgulinn hospital, the infectious disease center, and the Seamen's hospital.

 

Guests are also forbidden or encouraged to postpone visits at Tartu University clinics, the East Tallinn Central Hospital, Tallinn Children's Hospital, and the North Estonia Medical Centre.

Bombardier makes airplane-handover to Estonian Air

Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace will hand over a much-awaited plane to Estonian Air on January 24.

The airplane will cross the Atlantic to Estonia on the following morning, and will make its maiden commercial flight on January 27, from Tallinn to Stockholm. 

"Updating our airport to modern, more environmentally friendly and less fuel consumption airplanes will help us increase traveler numbers and improve Estonian Air's competitiveness,“ said Estonian Air president Andrus Aljas. 

Of the three new airplanes ordered by Estonian Air - to begin making flights to Stockholm, Moskva and Brussels - another will also be ready before the end of the month, and the third in 2012.  

After two years of setbacks, Estonian Air signed a contract to buy the airplanes from the Canadian producer on September 9, 2010. As soon as the deal was made, the Estonian government arranged to buy back the portion of the company owned by the Scandinavian airline, SAS.

Official-use emails off limits for employers in Estonia

The Data Protection Inspectorate enforced a mandate, prohibiting employers from reading their employees' work-related emails without consent, and the agency now requires candidate workers to be informed before a background check is conducted.

In Finland, even internet searches made with the intent of checking an employee's or jobseeker's background is illegal, the data protection agency's director general, Viljar Peep, told Postimees. "[In Estonia] use of search engines is allowed, but the employee needs to be informed that those data are being collected of him because internet searches can lead to misleading information. The employee and the job searcher need to be informed of the public information search and be given a chance to disprove it," said Peep.

Regarding public information, an employee in Estonia has the right to know what information has been gathered and where it comes from. In general, an employer only has the right to information that is work-related. A potential employee's health, drug-use and private life are off limits during the hiring process.

Investors heading to Estonia

Estonia’s accession to the euro region and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has attracted a wave of foreign-investor interest, a government official said.

The national business promotion agency EAS is working with potential investors on 112 projects, compared with about 50 projects a year earlier, Krister Kalda, the head of EAS’s investment and trade development unit, said in an e-mailed response to questions today.

“It is a safe bet that euro has had a positive effect as Statoil mentioned it when making a big investment here,” Kalda said. “We also know of other companies who’ve said that. Certainly there’s also been a boost from general increase in publicity due to Estonia’s capital Tallinn becoming the European capital of culture this year, and joining the OECD.”

Euro adoption removes currency risks and exchange costs for exporters and investors. The former Soviet Baltic republic is relying on foreign investment and shipping goods abroad as it catches up with western European living standards amid weak domestic demand because of high private debt and unemployment, at 15.5 percent in the third quarter.

Estonia on Dec. 9 became the 34th member of the Paris-based OECD, a grouping of the world’s most advanced economies and the 17th euro nation on Jan. 1.