BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Funding to become Estonian Air’s main issue

Aviation expert Erki Urva who is former CEO of Estonian Air writes that the national carrier has announced bold plans for the future, but the big question if the airline has the funds to implement the changes.

Urva listed five threats facing the global civil aviation industry. These are the ongoing rapid decline of the civil aviation sector, the eurozone crisis that is affecting also Estonia, high fuel prices, airports’ interest to increase passenger fees to alleviate pollution charges and inefficient airlines.

“How is this all affecting Estonian Air? Although the airline’s growth in passenger number was only half of the Tallinn Airport growth, the company has taken a clear strategic decision and with the help of the government is implementing it aggressively. The airline is acquiring new aircraft, modernising customer service and has been announcing new destinations.

The key question is whether the airline has enough money because new aircraft and growth strategy demand deep pockets. Nothing would make me more happy if I could say in a few years that Estonian Air has become the first airline in Eastern Europe that has become successful in developing its own hub,” writes Urva.

He adds that the progress is impressive since the number of passengers in Tallinn Airport increased a record 38 percent last year which is only second to 2005.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonia is ahead of other Baltic states in higher life expectancy and positive population growth rate

Estonia was ahead of other Baltic states in higher life expectancy and positive population growth rate in the 2010 health statistics, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

The Health Development Institute (HDI) fresh report "Health in the Baltic Countries 2010" indicates that in 2010, Estonia had positive natural population growth rate after 20 years while Latvia and Lithuania continued to have negative rates – the difference between the number of births and deaths per 1,000 inhabitants or general birth rate coefficient was –4.8 and –2.0 respectively.

The average life expectancy in the Baltic States continued to grow but is still behind EU average which in 2010 was 77 years for men an 83 years for women. In Estonia it was 71 years for men and 81 years or women, in Latvia 69 and 78.5 years and Lithuania 68 and 79 years respectively.

Lithuania has the highest rate of practicing doctors per inhabitants. In 2010, 38 doctors per 10,000 inhabitants worked there. In Estonia it was 33 and Latvia 28.

Juhan Tere

Skype Estonia's new head laments workforce shortage

Skype Technologies OÜ's new site leader, Tiit Paananen, says the main challenge for the company is finding qualified engineers.

From April 1, Tiit Paananen will take over from Sten Tamkivi as head of Skype's Tallinn-based development office, with Tamkivi heading to California to study business administration.

Undoubtedly Estonian IT's best-known original contribution to global communication technologies, the voice-over-internet service Skype was acquired by Microsoft in 2011. According to Paananen, 2012 will see decisive steps towards integrating the Skype platform with Microsoft's products.

"Today, Skype calls account for one-fourth of global call traffic. More than half of these are video calls, and that is the field that will see an expansion of products and services in the future," he told ERR radio.

"On the local level, the challenge will be a familiar one: how to find people who can help us put out more and better-quality products. This has always been a huge problem in Estonia and the whole region," he said.

"We already have an international office. Around 20 percent of our staff is from abroad and we have people of 30 nationalities working in our Tallinn office," he said.

Skype Technologies OÜ, currently employing 400, is one of Estonia's largest software companies and the biggest exporter of IT-related services in the country.

Erkki Sivonen

Speculations on Ansip’s succession grow

Speculations are growing who could succeed Reform Party chairman Andrus Ansip, especially after his statement made last week that he was not going to seek another term as prime minister, writes Eesti Päevaleht.

Although Ansip himself is downplaying the speculations, saying that the current government has three more years, it is clear that the party is already looking towards the next general elections to be held in the spring 2015.

According to analysts, however, Ansip is unlikely to step down as head of Reform Party in 2013 since the party does not want to create parallel power structures and is determined that the party’s chairman must also be the prime minister.

Also Ansip himself has said that he is ready to continue as head of government until the next general elections.

This means that the most likely time when Ansip could give up chairmanship to his successor is end of 2014 that leaves sufficient time for the new chairman to prove that he or she has leadership and prime ministerial qualities.

There are three scenarios for choosing a successor for Ansip. According to the first but most unlikely scenario, Ansip could be replaced in 2013 when the party’s general assembly meets in May to elect the new board and extend the chairman’s powers.

Toomas Hõbemägi

The man who believed he could change Russia

Our newly released mini-documentary, “The Man Who Believed He Could Change Russia”, has already received high acclaim. You can make a difference by viewing and sharing this powerful film.

Please help us reach our goal to widely circulate this important information by sharing it with your colleagues, family, and friends.

Our mission is to promote decency, dignity, freedom, justice, and individual human rights in every corner of the globe.

EU warns states on energy market laws

Brussels has stepped up legal pressure against eight member states for failing to implement laws to liberalise their energy markets – despite the fact that leaders from four of those nations last week signed a public letter urging such reforms.

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, has cited Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Estonia for failing to write into national law reforms agreed more than two years ago under the EU’s third energy liberalisation package.

The legal tussle is a reminder of the struggle over implementation between Brussels and the EU’s 27 member states that can drag on for years after legislation has supposedly been agreed.

The deadline to introduce the energy package, which aims to break down national monopolies and create a single European market for gas and electricity, was nearly a year ago. The EU has touted the legislation as the centrepiece of a strategy to lower prices for consumers while minimising the impact of supply disruptions.

The eight member states have two months to respond to the Commission’s letter or risk being referred to the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court, for possible fines.

The Commission’s action came just a week after 12 European leaders – including those from Spain, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Estonia – called for more market opening measures to enhance economic growth and emerge from a crippling debt crisis. Their letter specifically stated that “all member states should implement the third energy package”.

Estonia endorses deportation of 6 alleged cyber-criminals to USA

A recent judgment during the 2nd-week of February 2012 by the Estonia-based Harju County Court granted the country's authorities permission to deport 4 persons to the United States who were alleged to have committed crime on the Internet against PCs belonging to American users. Previously also, the court passed a same kind of verdict with regard to 2 other individuals, published balticbusinessnews.com dated February 21, 2012.

Currently, however, an ultimate pronouncement by the government of Estonia is expected once the court's verdict gets implemented.

In the meantime, during November 2011, the cyber-criminals' team head Vladimir Tshastshin, who designed the plan for carrying out the Internet fraud had police arrest him in Estonia via one huge collaboration between the Estonian agencies of law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

It's alleged that Tshastshin created DNSChanger a certain PC virus that he used to infect 1m PCs across the globe. The infected PCs took end-users onto websites that fetched Tshastshin several million American dollars via the sites' advertisements.

Notably according to the FBI, the cyber-criminals, who earned money illegally with the help of malware, however, appeared efficient as well as operated like any conventional business. Their nature of dealings was somewhat complex, which thus far had not been observed or assessed.

Karmen Pedaru : Nuit Blanche - Vogue Paris - March 2012

by: Mario Sorrenti

Pensioners save most despite low incomes

Despite their low incomes compared to the working-age population, seniors remain the most rational consumers and biggest savers in Estonia, according to banks. 

"A couple of weeks ago we conducted focus group studies in different customer segments and the results were predictable - seniors think about their finances a lot and consume very rationally,” said Teet Parring, head of segments at Nordea. Though he said there are no precise statistics, he estimates that a quarter to one-third of all the savings in Estonian banks belong to senior customers.

Statistics recently compiled by SEB reveal that around 50 percent of over 66-year-olds have savings equal to at least 13 months of their pension. “Currently around 20 percent of our working-age customers have savings, while with pensioners the figure stands at 80 percent,” said Mart Maasik, head of SEB's Business Development Division.

As pensions were not reduced during the recent economic downturn, savings by seniors grew significantly even during the crisis period, ETV reported.

According to Hanna Turetski, spokeswoman for the Consumer Protection Agency, this trend is not surprising considering the fact that seniors often have to make ends meet on around 300 euros per month. "They of course have more time, their inquiries are much more thorough and they are definitely more price sensitive," she said. 

Ingrid Teesalu

Alcohol and premature death in Estonian men : a study of forensic autopsies using novel biomarkers and proxy informants

Alcohol makes an important contribution to premature mortality in many countries in Eastern Europe, including Estonia. However, the full extent of its impact, and the mechanisms underlying it, are challenging issues to research.

We describe the design and initial findings of a study aimed at investigating the association of alcohol with mortality in a large series of forensic autopsies of working-age men in Estonia.

Methods: 1299 male deaths aged 25-54 years were subject to forensic autopsy in 2008-2009. The routine autopsy protocol was augmented by a more systematic inspection of organs, drug testing, assay of liver enzymes and novel biomarkers of alcohol consumption (EtG, EtS and PEth), together with proxy interviews with next of kin for deaths among men who lived in or close to a major town.

Results: 595 augmented autopsies were performed.

Of these, 66% were from external causes (26% suicide, 25% poisoning). 17% were attributed to circulatory system diseases and 7% to alcoholic liver disease.

Blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of [greater than or equal to]0.2 mg/g were found for 55% of deaths. Interviews were conducted with proxy informants for 61% of the subjects who had resided in towns.

Of these, 28% were reported in the previous year to have been daily or almost daily drinkers and 10% had drunk non-beverage alcohols. Blood ethanol and the liver enzyme GGT were only associated with daily drinking.

For sale : renovated 1 bed-appartment in Tallinn's medieval old town - EUR 860,000 ($1,134,253)

This apartment on a narrow cobblestone street inside the stone walls of Tallinn’s medieval Old Town has 2,100 square feet over three levels. It is in a walk-up building that, despite three renovations since 2002, has retained historic details like exposed oak rafters, stone walls, and remnants of an ancient mural.

The apartment itself has a contemporary, airy feel imparted by numerous windows, skylights and high, pitched ceilings. The entrance is on the second floor. Directly beyond is a modern kitchen with brushed steel appliances and cabinetry by German companies. The refrigerator and electric stove are made by Gaggenau. The cabinets are designed by Bulthaup. The kitchen ceiling has recessed lighting, and two floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto a courtyard and a church. Andrew Whyte, a property adviser with Goodson & Red, the real estate company in charge of selling the property, described the area as quiet.

Next to the kitchen is a combination living room and home office. On two walls, parts of a mural depicting Viking longboats were uncovered during renovations and are now behind protective glass. This floor also has a sauna, an attached shower room, and a separate bathroom, lined with black granite and white marble and outfitted with Philippe Starck fixtures.

The second floor, a roomy yet attic-like space with skylights, is reached by a compact staircase made of oak with glass guard rails. This level, its exposed-beam walls leaning inwards, has a second living room with a modern working fireplace, overlooking the main living room and office area from a little balcony. A staircase leads up to the bedroom suite on the third level. A white porcelain bathtub, designed by Philippe Starck, is inside the bedroom, behind frosted glass. A small loft above, reached via a short, steep staircase, could function as storage space or a walk-in closet. Several large antiques from France and China are included in the asking price.

Historic Centre of Tallinn

Tallinn is an outstanding and exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a medieval northern European trading city. It retains the salient features of this unique form of economic and social community to a remarkable degree.

Archaeological investigations have shown that a fort on the limestone plateau of Toompea and a trading post and harbour at its foot, on the Viking route to Constantinople, have existed since the 10th-11th centuries. With the expansion of Baltic trade, the settlement known at that time as Lyndanise (Reval in German, Kolyvan in Russian) was occupied in 1219 by troops of Waldemar II of Denmark, who strengthened the fortifications on Toompea and built the first church.

After coming under direct papal jurisdiction in 1226-27, the town was divided into two parts: the fortress (castrum ) and the lower town (suburbum ). In 1230 the order invited 200 German merchants from Gotland to Tallinn, where they settled around a new church dedicated to St Nicholas, alongside the existing Estonian, Scandinavian and Russian trading posts. In 1248 Tallinn adopted the Lübeck statute, becoming a full member of the Hanseatic League in 1285. Its prosperity was reflected by its rapid growth in the 14th century: work began on the massive town wall in 1310, enclosing an area laid out according to the characteristic Baltic trading pattern with radiating streets. Along with the territory of northern Estonia, the town was sold to the Livonian Order, and it was the latter that was responsible for rebuilding the castle on Toompea as one of the strongest in the region.

With the fall of Visby in 1361 the importance of Tallinn increased substantially. The 15th century saw the transformation of the town, with the construction of a new town hall and other public buildings and the rebuilding of the merchants' wooden houses in stone. It was annexed by Sweden in 1561, and it was Swedish architects who were responsible for the reconstruction of the Toompea area after a disastrous fire in 1684 and for the addition of a system of bastions to the fortifications. In 1710 the town surrendered to the troops of Tsar Peter I, entering into a half-century of commercial and cultural stagnation, but this came to an end when its role as a provincial administrative centre was confirmed, with the castle as its seat. The town was heavily bombed in 1944. The church of St Nicholas and the area around it suffered grave damage.

Estonian Air to team up with Cabforce.com

Estonian Air is the first airline to provide access on its website to the services of Cabforce.com, the European online booking service for taxis, executive cars and minibuses. Estonian Air passengers can now make the bookings at the same time as their flight tickets.

The Cabforce.com online booking system offers a car with fixed price, and customers pay on a secure site with a credit card. By making an advance booking, passengers no longer need to negotiate with local drivers about routes, prices and payment methods at the travel destination. The most common causes of confusion due to culture and language barriers can now be avoided.

“Partnership with Cabforce.com gives our customers a convenient access to transfer service via Estonian Air homepage. The service is currently available in Tallinn and at eight Estonian Air flight destinations in Europe: Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, Brussels and Paris. More destinations will be added in the future,” said Enn Lamp, the Head of Sales and Distribution Department.

“We are happy to be the first airline in the world to provide public access to the Cabforce.com service for all our passengers. It is ideal for business travellers who wish to pre-pay for transfer between the airport and hotel with their company credit card for easy expense management,” added Lamp.

The Estonian Air partnership marks a new territory claim for Cabforce.com, which is expected to grow in the future with similar partnerships. “Co-operation with the Estonian national airline is a prime example of how a taxi service can be added to a partner’s service portfolio, without the need for them to invest in any supply network building and facilitation technology,” says Tommi Holmgren, CEO and Co-founder of Cabforce.com.

Vicky Karantzavelou

Independence Day speech of President of the Republic

Dear fellow countrymen,

Estonia is all of us. Today and tonight is, as always on February 24, the time to be proud of and discuss our country in each home in Estonia and in this hall. It is the time to ask how our state is doing, and our society and each and every person.

Let us not consider Estonia’s birthday just another ritual that involves official traditions like hoisting the national flag and the parade of the Defense Forces and listening to the President’s words of admonition at the end of the day. Those who expect the President to conclusively condemn one or two things today will be disappointed. No, today we should more than usually want to think and understand what this country truly is and what life in Estonia truly is.

Is Estonia merely a place where people live, because they happened to be born here? Is it merely a place of business? Is it a stand-by temporary springboard for a future career? Or, perhaps, is it something more, something with a discernible – in the positive sense – manner of business and attitude towards life and others? Or simply a home?

Our questions often have an undertone of doubt about our own choices and about the state as well. In this winter of discontent we are suffering from rising uncertainty: what will become of us? Because the safe havens that we have tried to reach have proven to be exposed to storms as well.

Estonia celebrates 94th anniversary

The Republic of Estonia celebrated its 94th anniversary yesterday, on February 24; this year the major events celebrating Estonia's Independence Day took place in the capital Tallinn and the South Estonian city of Tartu, writes LETA.

The Republic first declared its independence on February 24, 1918.

On Friday morning, Speaker of the Riigikogu Ene Ergma gave a celebration speech. During the day, wreaths in honour of those who fell in the War of Independence were placed at the base of the Kalevipoeg memorial statue in Tartu, a church service took place at Tartu’s St. John’s Church, and the Defence Forces parade was held on Vabaduse street in Tartu.

On the same day, a celebratory concert and the formal reception of President of the Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Mrs Evelin Ilves took place in the evening in the Vanemuine Theatre and Concert Hall in Tartu.

The formal events was attended by the President of the Republic, the speaker of the Riigikogu, the prime minister, members of the government and Riigikogu, and representatives of the diplomatic corps.

French Eolane acquires Elcoteq Tallinn

The French company Eolane has acquired the shares of electronic components manufacturer Elcoteq Tallinn AS, the parent company of which went bankrupt in 2011.

The company's name will be changed to Eolane Tallinn AS.

Eolane chief executive Marc Pasquier said the purchase is part of a plan to expand to the Northern European market. He said the company strategy foresees evolving the Tallinn factory into a strong independent unit offering an even wider range of product development, testing, production and after-sales services to its customers.

With around 2,400 employees and an annual turnover of 300 million euros, the activities of Eolane and its subsidiaries include nanotechnology, solar energy, security, embedded software and signal technology.

The former parent company of Elcoteq Tallinn was Elcoteq SE, a pan-European electronics manufacturer headquartered in Luxembourg. In 2009 Elcoteq Eesti, as it was then called, sold 80 percent of its production capacity to Swedish-based Ericsson. In 2010 the company moved its remaining production facilities to a newly-built factory on Tallinn's Peterburi maantee.

Ott Tammik

European Commission cuts Estonia's GDP forecast for 2012

The European Commission stated in its fresh interim economic forecast that the 2012 outlook for the Estonian economy has significantly deteriorated, driven by falling confidence and weaker external demand around the turn of the year.

As a result, GDP growth expectations for 2012 have been revised downwards, from 3.2% in autumn to 1.2% in the present forecast, writes LETA.

According to the flash estimate from Statistics Estonia, annual economic growth in Estonia reached 7.5% in 2011, i.e. 0.5 pp. lower than projected in the autumn forecast. Domestic demand was stronger than expected and export performance remarkable. However, in the last months of the year Estonia was not immune to the deteriorating confidence seen in many Member States, the EC said. As a result, GDP shrank by 0.8% q-o-q in the last quarter of 2011. The contraction, however, was mostly limited to the export-oriented electronics sector, which had been one of the main growth drivers in the initial phase of the recovery. More recently, manufacturing production seems to have stabilised at somewhat below its recent peak level.

Despite remarkable productivity adjustments in the recent recession, exports are expected to remain weak in the first half of 2012. Export performance and growth will largely depend on the pace of the global recovery, the EC said.

Estonia's Seto minority strive to protect traditions

Decked in the finely-crafted silver jewellery that symbolises her tiny minority, folk-singer Oie Sarv hums a refrain and reflects on what centuries of tradition mean in the Internet age.

Estonia's Seto, a group of only 15,000 in this Baltic nation of 1.3 million, are struggling to keep their way of life alive as young people leave their close-knit communities to seek new opportunities.

For many of the estimated 2,000 who live in what is known as Setoland, a cluster of villages in southeast Estonia, tradition is key.

Sarv, 56, is a folklore expert and one of the best-known practitioners of the "leelo", an ancient polyphonic singing style that in 2009 was recognised by UNESCO for its value to the world's heritage.

"The leelo is part of our lives, we sing on all kind of occasions, both joyful and sorrowful," Sarv told AFP in Obinitsa, her home village which lies some 280 kilometres (170 miles) from the Estonian capital Tallinn.

"The most famous singers in the first half of last century were able to sing up to 20,000 rhymes. The leelo also helps us to keep our ancient language alive," she said.

The origins of the Seto are shrouded in mystery.

Hannah's latest shoot

2012 has already been one incredible year for talented singer/songwriter Hannah Ild. With her latest vocal smash 'Falling Away' hitting Number 4 in the Music Week club charts this week, the track is gaining momentum at breakneck speed with its remix from Armin Van Buuren seeing pride of place on radio playlists across the Globe.

Following the track's support from the likes of Paul Van Dyke, Judge Jules, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Paul Oakenfold, Radio 1 and more; Hannah's team embarked on a major photo shoot project on a rather impressive scale - grand enough to reflect the truly monumental release of the package.

Estonia's Tallinn Airport was the location - the shoot involved a massive team of airport security, hairsylists, photographers, airplane pilots, and one huge Boeing 737! Check it out:

We'll let the video above speak for itself, look out for a selection of these shots working its way onto Hannah's forthcoming album later this year and several forthcoming singles penned for Summer 2012.

Championed by Armin van Buuren in his live sets everywhere from the Amsterdam Dance Event DJ Mag polls party to New Years Eve in Lebanon, ‘Falling Away’ has been supported recently by pretty much every A-list trance DJ around the World. Armin’s label Armada Music duly signed the track for the rest of the world and with a full vocal remix package now in place from Protoculture, Loverush UK and Digital Dog - including monstrous radio edits from the latter - it looks destined for commercial success across the globe. With more electrifying anthems on the way and future artist collaborations already in the pipeline, the stage is set for 2012 to be Hannah’s biggest year yet!

President of the Republic and Mrs. Evelin Ilves : Tartu - 23.02.2012