BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Border checkpoints in Narva receive 2.5 Million euro makeover

Checkpoints on the Estonian-Russian border in Narva and neighboring Ivangorod have been allocated 2.5 million euros for renovation while another 1.4 million euros go for the reconstruction of the Värska-Pechory highway.

According to Minister for Regional Affairs Siim Kiisler, renovating the border checkpoints will first and foremost improve the border crossing conditions. "In addition, joint projects between Estonia and Russia help to create new jobs by promoting travel and bringing about new business opportunities," said Kiisler.

In the course of the Värska-Pechory highway reconstruction project, parking zones will be established near the Pechory Monastery and near the Kunichina Gora border checkpoint. Select stretches of the highway, notably from Värska to the Koidula checkpoint and from Kunichina Gora to the Pechory Monastery on the Russian side will also undergo reconstruction.

The projects for renovating the checkpoints in Narva and Ivangorod and for improving the traffic and border crossing conditions on the Värska-Pechory highway will receive 7.4 million euros and 4.7 million euros, respectively, from the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument 2007-2013 Estonia-Latvia-Russia Cross Border Cooperation Program, implemented by Minister for Regional Affairs. The leading partners in the investment projects are the Ministry of the Interior and the Road Administration.

According to the preliminary proposal approved by the European Commission, a total of 12.1 million euros will be invested in renovating the border checkpoints in Narva and Ivangorod and improving the transport link between Värska and Pechory.

Sigrid Maasen

Estonia has to comply with recommendations from the EC and OECD

The board of the Confederation of Trade Unions stated on Tuesday that Riigikogu will have to start making sure before decision-making that proposals put on vote would be in compliance with the recommendations to Estonia for guaranteeing balanced socio-economic development, writes Äripäev.ee/LETA.

The trade union leaders convened on Tuesday in order to discuss two decisions that were adopted in Riigikogu last week – on lowering income tax and abolishing land tax on land property that is under homes. The first of which was stated to be directly in opposition to the European Commission’s positions and the second is not in line with recommendations from OECD to Estonia.

In the beginning of June, the European Commission recommended Estonia to first and foremost lower the tax burden for people with low and medium-sized incomes and to decrease social taxes so that the budgetary revenue would not decline.

“If the income tax for all people is to fall uniformly, by one per cent, employees earning high wages would gain the most from this move while revenue to the State budget would fall significantly,” noted the chairman of the Estonian Confederation of Trade Unions Harri Taliga. He pointed out that the subsistence of low-income citizens will not improve due to that step while they would suffer from the decline in the volume of social services that are financed from tax revenue.

Carmen-Kass by Peter Farago

Facebook is the most popular social networking site in Estonia

A recent survey revealed that Facebook is by far the most popular social networking portal in Estonia, writes LETA/National Broadcasting. Rate.ee, on the other hand, has lost much of its importance.

66% of Estonian residents between the ages of 15 and 74 use social media and 41% spend at least an hour a day on it.

Iivi Riivits-Arkonsuo, the research director of Turu-Uuringute AS that carried out the poll, added that if the users aged 9-14 were also to be added, the number of users of social media in Estonia would grow to 760,000.

The most popular site is Facebook, used by 32% of Estonian residents. Ranking second is Youtube with 26%. Odnoklasniki.ru, which is mostly popular among the Russian-speaking population, is third with 9%. Only 6% of respondents admitted to using Rate. The advertising agency Taevas Ogilvy that commissioned the survey estimated that Rate’s popularity ratings indicate that the former flagship of social media in Estonia has lost its importance.

The poll also revealed that only 4% of Estonian residents blog and the number of Twitter users is rather marginal – only 2%.

In the age group 15-19, social media users account for nearly 100%. In comparison to those aged 30-39, it also clearly appears that younger people use different sites.

Riivits-Arkonsuo emphasised that among persons younger than 19 years of age, as many as 41% believe social media more than traditional media.

Juhan Tere

Number of flats for sale in Tallinn is growing in June

In mid-June 2011 there were 7,300 flats in Tallinn looking for new owners, writes LETA/Äripäev.ee, citing the real estate portal City24.ee.

The number of flats that are put up for sale has grown by nearly a thousand in comparison to the first few months of this year.

As of June 17, the average asking price for a square metre in a flat in Tallinn was 1,287 euros. This was by 34% lower than the peak price level during the boom years.

In spring 2007 the average asking price for flats in Tallinn was 1,953 euros per sq metre.

Juhan Tere

Estonian Air's 20th anniversary!

Blue1 pulls out of Tallinn

Do you want more? Here, it comes...

Just eight months after opening its Tallinn-Helsinki route, Finnish airline Blue1 announced the service's closure.

The news of closure, effective from August, comes less than two months after Estonian Air stated its aim to buy the dormant Finnish enterprise Copterline, which operated regular flights between the two cities until 2005.

Blue1, however, cited its wish to focus on servicing inland routes as the main reason for stopping flights to international destinations, with Berlin, Munich, Paris and Amsterdam following in line after Tallinn. 

The company has announced that it will contact customers who have bought tickets directly from the airline to arrange alternative flights. Those who wish to be refunded instead will be asked to submit an application.

Blue1 is based at the Helsinki Airport in Vantaa and operates 12 planes.

Erkki Sivonen

Another Estonian tour operator goes out of business

Estonian tour operator Estour that mainly sells holiday packages to Turkey, Greece and Egypt, said on Friday that it was unable to continue, writes Äripäev.

By using the company’s mandatory 200,000 euro security deposit, the authorities have now helped 274 customer of Estour to return from Turkey and Greece.

The company’s owners have said that because of the recession, they were forced to sell holiday packages at 40% discounts and had to cover the difference.

They also said last year was the toughest ever in the company’s 8-year history, with the Icelandic ash disruptions, shark problems and riots in Egypt and rise in cost of air travel.

According to its annual report, the tour operator that belongs to B-Info, Jemiilia Konstantinova and Anatoli Lipinski ended 2009 with a profit of 166,000 kroons at revenues of 128 million kroons.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Is everything as good as they say it really is in Estonia, these days! People have reasons to doubt....

 

Commission asks five member states to comply with eu waste framework directive

The European Commission is asking five Member States to comply with the EU Waste Framework Directive. The Member States concerned are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece and Poland. These Member States have failed to inform the Commission about the transposition of this legislation into national law, which should have happened by 12 December 2010. On the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Potoänik, the Commission is sending a reasoned opinion. The Member States have two months to comply. If they fail to do so, the Commission may refer the cases to the EU Court of Justice and ask the Court to impose financial penalties, without having to return to the court for a second ruling.

The EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC sets the legal framework for waste treatment in the EU. It introduces waste management principles such as the "polluter pays principle" and lays down a binding waste hierarchy that requires Member States to manage their waste in the following order of priority: prevention, reuse, recycling, other recovery and disposal.

Member States had to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by 12 December 2010. As the Member States concerned did not notify the Commission of all the implementing measures in time, a letter of formal notice was sent. Since the legislation has still not been adopted, the Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion.

Under a new policy, in cases where Member States have failed to transpose EU legislation into national law within the required deadline, the Commission may ask the Court for financial sanctions to be imposed at the first referral to court. This policy was adopted in November 2010 and entered into force on 15 January 2011.

In brief : 17-06-2011

- It is 19 year (17/06/1992) since Estonia introduced its own currency, the kroon, that replaced the Soviet ruble. The then prime minister Tiit Vähi announced on TV that in the course of the monetary reform, everybody will be able to exchange 300 kroons. Although Estonia now officially has euros, that are still about almost 900 million kroons in circulation.

- Estectus Ltd., a subsidiary of SEB, has acquired Scala City office building in Tallinn for 5.57 million euros. The starting price set by the bankruptcy trustee of the developer Aldingaare Ltd. was 4.7 million euros. Estectus manages 15 million euros worth of property in Estonia.

- Estonian Business School, a private higher-education institution based in Tallinn, will begin teaching 25 students this fall at a new branch in Helsinki. The international college will initially offer courses only to undergraduates, which will be conducted using distance learning methods, but plans to eventually expand the program to include postgraduate studies.

- Estonian courts are using Facebook and Google to find people that they need to bring to justice, but cannot find because they don’t have a valid place of residence. According to a representative of Tartu County Court, the first time only about a fifth of the people that are summoned to court receive the official documents.

- The Estonian police have determined that the ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak nor his family members have any hidden assets in Estonia such as bank accounts, property, etc. The investigation was part of a pan-European police operation.

- 53-year-old Üllo Laaneoja, driver of the South Estonia police prefect, has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling arms. Laaneoja was arrested in connection with the same investigation in which one security police office was killed in a police raid.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Baltics lead EU in employment growth

TALLINN - The latest figures from Eurostat have revealed that Estonia and Latvia top the EU in employment growth figures, standing in sharp contrast to the situation last year.

Estonia saw by far the largest growth in employment compared to the year before, with the first quarter figures up by a staggering 6.5%. Latvia saw the second highest growth at 3%, while Lithuania was slighty above average with 1% growth.

The statistics mark a drastic turnaround from this time last year, when the three Baltic states were grappling with the largest drop in employment rates in the EU.

Eurostat, the EU's official statistics agency, found that overall emoployment rates in the EU were slightly up at +0.3% and exactly even when compared to the previous quarter.

Greece suffered from the largest drop in employment year-on-year, with employment down -5%. Bulgaria had the second largest drop at -3.5%, followed by Romania at -2.7%.

At the top of the list, Sweden and Slovakia followed Latvia with +2.8% and +2.2% respectively.

Sagadi Mõis : Try it !

- Red tiled roofs, whitewashed arches, a bell tower, and other pink and white buildings arranged with German precision;

- Bright green lawns, stately park trees, roses, and a pond as a symbol of love;

- The sounds of the forests of Lahemaa and of the sea, nature trails, and the other beautiful manor complexes located just a stone’s throw away.

The history of the Sagadi manorial estate dates back more than 500 years.Today, the former granaries, stables, dairy house, carriage house, cow barns, and other buildings have new functions. Sagadi is the site of a forest museum, a manor museum, a nature school, a hotel, and a restaurant. The Sagadi manor complex is an architectural monument of national importance, and it is rare due to its completeness.

The past wealth of the barons of Sagadi was based, in part, on the forests. Sagadi manor is still managed by foresters, namely the State Forest Management Centre. Our interest in and love for the forests and nature in general is an important part of all of our activities.

For centuries, Sagadi manor has expected and received guests. Nowadays, tens of thousands of visitors arrive at the manor complex each year. Come and experience the wonder that is Sagadi manor!

This summer, visit Saaremaa

The Estonian Island of Saaremaa from VisitSaaremaa on Vimeo.

Most crimes in Tallinn committed in city centre

According to a new report on crime, the city centre remains the most crime-infested area in Tallinn, writes Postimees.

However, official statistics show that in five months the police registered 6,578 crimes in Tallinn which is 20% less than a year earlier.

About a third of all crimes (2,134) registered in Tallinn was committed in the central area, followed by Lasnamäe (1,386 crimes), North Tallinn (885) and Mustamäe (885).

Notably, five-month number of criminal offenses against property have fallen from 5,588 a year ago to about 4,200, there have been more criminal offenses against persons, from 776 to 818. This includes 11 manslaughters and murders which is 2 more than last year.

Toomas Hõbemägi

If in Tallinn and want to buy groceries, fly to Germany ...!!

Eesti Ekspress weekly writes that it is actually cheaper to fly to Germany to buy groceries than to go to a store in Tallinn, provided that one is prepared to buy food in large quantities. Pretty sure that everyone knew about that .. but as for everything else, no one will never discuss it!

Roughly speaking, food in German discounters cost about twice less than in Tallinn, writes the paper. However, it isn't only Germany that is cheaper ...! Retailers in Estonia are simply just too greedy.

For instance, the cheapest Emmental cheese in Tallinn costs 4.72 euros per 500 grams, while in a German discounter you get a 400-gram pack for only 1.99.

A kilogram of Gouda cheese in Lidl costs 4.59 euros, about twice cheaper than in Estonia (Põltsamaa Gouda).

The cheapest sliced salami in a Rimi store in Tallinn costs 0.73 euros per 80 grams. In Germany, 200 grams of such salami costs 0.89 euros.

A kilo of sugar in Lidl costs 65 cents, about twice cheaper than in Säästumarket in Tallinn.

Estonia wages & salaries rose In 2010

Wages and salaries of Estonian employees increased in 2010, after falling in the previous month, data released by Statistics Estonia showed Friday.

The annual average monthly gross wages and salaries increased 1.1 percent annually to EUR 792 in 2010. In 2009, monthly gross wages and salaries had decreased for the first time in 16 years. Monthly wages and salaries in mining and quarrying climbed 11.6 percent during the year, marking the biggest growth.

At the same time, hourly gross wages and salaries dropped 0.4 percent to EUR 4.78 during the year. Hourly gross wages and salaries in professional, scientific and technical activities rose 6.4 percent, while in real estate activities they fell 15.8 percent.

Tallinn : a Medieval jewel

Eight centuries ago, Tallinn was a marketplace and harbor with a wooden fortress on Toompea hill.

Today, Tallinn retains its Medieval feel with what seems to be an almost intact Old Town surrounded by stone walls and guard towers containing stories of multiple conflicts and defensive actions of this strategic location. Located on the coast of the Baltic Sea, the Estonian capital has always been a prime prize for any conqueror -- seeing multiple occupations, most recently by the Soviets.

The picturesque and compact Old Town is divided into two main sections -- the Lower Town and Toompea hill. All of the area within the fairytale stone walls is pleasantly enjoyed on foot, strolling along cobblestone streets, peeking into hidden courtyards, trying to fit in the narrow pathways and, eventually, sitting down for an energy boost at one of the dozens of cozy cafes and restaurants, some of which have authentic Medieval cuisine and interiors.

Spotting Toompea hill is an easy task with the onion-shaped domes of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and Pikk Hermann Tower of Toompea Castle dominating the landscape from afar. Climbing the way up can be done via either of the two lovely streets, called "Short" and "Long Leg" streets, lined with painters selling their artwork and musicians entertaining a crowd. Quite often the romantic, historic atmosphere can be interrupted by carloads of politicians and diplomats rushing to the top, where Estonian Parliament takes its seat.

Finns express skepticism over Estonian Business School

The Finnish Ministry of Education has its doubts over the Estonian Business School's aspiration to establish a branch in Helsinki because the institution is not locally accredited.

The Finns are less than thrilled about private colleges because the government only recognizes 16 higher education institutions that are specifically stipulated in the country's Universities Act, reported Helsingin Sanomat.

"The level of education might be quite all right, but college students need to understand that they will not receive a Finnish higher education degree from this type of institution," said ministry adviser Marjatta Linqvist.

Whether or not the student's degree is accepted by an employer after graduation depends on who's hiring, the official said.

The Estonian Business School began introducing its Helsinki program to students on June 17. It hopes to draw 25 students for this fall.

Riigikogu approves of reducing income tax rate in Estonia

The Estonian Riigikogu approved on Thursday of amendments to the income tax law that will reduce the income tax rate from 21% to 20% in 2015, LETA/National Broadcasting reports.

Reducing the income tax rate by 1 percentage point will reduce the income of the state in 2015 by 70 million euros as collection of private individuals income tax will fall by 57 mln euros and corporate income tax by 13 mln euros, LETA/Postimees Online said.

At the same time the law cuts the ceiling of tax concessions a private individual can subtract from his taxable income from 3,196 euros to 1,920 euros a year.

The bill also frees work-related training of fringe benefits tax in the future and allows private individuals to subtract forest management costs from forest selling income on certain conditions.

French minister urges patience in Lebanon kidnapping case

France is committed to helping Estonia free its seven citizens kidnapped in Lebanon but patience is required to solve the sensitive case, France's European affairs minister said Thursday in Tallinn.

"France as the country that knows Lebanon better than any other country in Europe has assisted and is assisting Estonia with all the means we have in the Lebanon kidnapping case," minister Laurent Wauquiez told reporters. "It might take time until it ends, but we do our best to help to free Estonians," Wauquiez assured, speaking in English.

Like the Estonian leaders he met Thursday, Wauquiez wore a yellow ribbon which in Estonia has come to symbolize hope that the men kidnapped in Lebanon on March 23 will come home. "Lebanon authorities have done a good job investigating the case and nine people have been arrested," Wauquiez told AFP after his talks with Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Foreign Minister Urmas Paet.

He added that since Estonia has no embassy in Lebanon, France was providing all the necessary logistical help on the ground in Lebanon as well as in Syria. "We work widely on (the) Estonians kidnapping case, not only in Lebanon but also with Syria where France has good contacts," Wauquiez said, stressing he could not provide more details for security reasons.