BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Toads may take precedence over trees on Saaremaa

Naturalists are backing a plan to chop down trees and allow wind-blown sand to claim a peninsula that was once considered one of the pearls of Saaremaa.

The reason for this contrary-seeming plan is that more than 50 years ago, the Harilaid Peninsula was home to a dune community ideal for natterjack toads, a protected species. The forest of scraggly pines was planted in Soviet times.

"I like Harilaid very much, but it is painful to look at that pine plantation," University of Tartu ecologist Riinu Rannap told the island's daily, Saarte Hääl.

The pines are one reason that the natterjack (Bufo calamita) populations are down. The animal prefers open dunes with wet areas as its spawning grounds. The pines are not considered special from a nature conservation standpoint, although they do harbor wild game populations. But Harilaid was home to one of Estonia's biggest dune areas, which was why the peninsula was placed under protection in the first place in the 1920s

Rannap estimates it would take three to four years to transform Harilaid into a "toad paradise."

A natterjack toad protection plan drafted at the behest of the Environment Ministry for 2010-2015 includes the pine removal initiative. Next, in five to ten years, a small coastal meadow would have to be restored, using mowing and grazing to turn the current thicket of reed into a semi-natural open landscape.

Wooded meadows and seminatural landscapes kept relatively open through management are some of the most biodiverse terrain types in the country and the world, while pine forests tend to be more limited.

Kristopher Rikken

Estonia has one of the highest tax burdens on earnings in OECD

An OECD survey of average tax and social security burden on employment incomes showed that in Estonia, employers pay in average 40.1 euros in taxes for every 100 euros earned by the worker, writes Postimees.

This is one of the highest indicators in OECD, according to the new OECD Taxing Wages survey.

The tax burden is measured by the ‘tax wedge as a percentage of total labour costs’ – or the total taxes paid by employees and employers, minus family benefits received, divided by the total labour costs of the employer. Taxing Wages also breaks down the tax burden between personal income taxes (PIT), including tax credits, and employee and employer Social Security Contributions (SSC)

According to the survey, Estonia’s tax wedge was 40.1 percent in 2011 which was 11th highest indicator and higher than in Denmark (38.4 percent), Norway (37.5 percent), but lower than in Sweden (42.8 percent) and Finland (42.7 percent).

The highest average earnings tax wedge was in Belgium (55.5 percent), followed by Germany (49.8 percent) and Hungary (49.4). The lowest tax wedge was in Chile (7 percent).

Toomas Hõbemägi

Trial of two Finnish men accused of planning of kidnapping of a businessman to begin in Estonia

Two Finnish men are facing charges for making preparations for taking a hostage for ransom in a trial, which commences today, Monday, in the Harju District Court in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
 The Estonian police apprehended the men in Tallinn on September 6th. According to the Estonian Prosecutor’s Office, at the time the men were in a process of trying to recruit people to carry out the kidnapping.
 
 The Finnish and the Estonian police worked in close cooperation to catch the men. It was considered essential that they be apprehended in Estonia.
 No criminal charges could have been brought against the men in Finland, where simply planning a kidnapping is not a crime.
 In Estonia it carries a maximum penalty of 12 years of imprisonment.
 
 The trial will be closed to public of the plaintiff’s request. The protection of privacy and the best interest of a minor were used as arguments for the wish, the Harju District Court announced last week.
 Reporters and photographers will not be allowed in the courtroom.
 If the handling of the case is to continue behind closed doors, it will be very difficult to obtain information regarding the goings-on during the trial.

Retail sales growth rate decelerated even more in March

According to Statistics Estonia, in March 2012 compared to March of the previous year, the retail sales of goods of retail trade enterprises increased 7% at constant prices.

This January the retail sales increased 16% compared to the same month of the previous year. In February the retail sales growth rate slowed down slightly, but still achieved a significant 13% growth. In March the retail sales growth rate decelerated even more. The deceleration of the growth rate was partly influenced by the higher reference base of the previous year.

Retail sales volume index of retail trade enterprises and its trend, January 2002 – March 2012 (2005 = 100)

In March 2012, the retail sales of goods of retail trade enterprises were 342.5 million euros. The sales increased in all economic activities. The retail sales in stores selling manufactured goods that slightly slowed down in February, decelerated even more in March. If in January those enterprises’ retail sales increased 23% during the year and in February 17%, then in March the increase was 11%. The retail sales in stores selling textiles, clothing and footwear increased the most, where the retail sales grew by a fourth during the year. Other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, photography supplies, books, sports equipment, games and toys (growth 15%) and stores selling pharmaceutical goods and cosmetics (growth 14%) were also successful.

"Bronze Soldier" riots not likely to occur again, says Marju Lauristin

It is unlikely that events similar to the Bronze Soldier riots, which shook the nation exactly five years ago, will ever occur in Estonia again, Marju Lauristin, professor of social communication at the University of Tartu said.

On April 26, 2007, the government ordered relocation of the statue of the Bronze Soldier – a symbol of the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany for the many in the Russian-speaking community – from its location in downtown Tallinn to a military cemetery. The move was initiated by the government and supported by a large part of the Estonian-speaking population who saw it as a brutal remainder of the Soviet power.

According to Lauristin, the integration reforms carried out in in Russian-language schools have over the last five years been so profound that their impact is already irreversible, canceling the likelihood of similar riots ever taking place in Estonia again.

Estonia to run budget deficit due to worsening European economy

Estonia, the euro zone's newest member, said Thursday it will run a budget deficit in 2012 as a worsening European economy curbs revenues.

The shortfall will be 0.5% of gross domestic product this year, the government said in a budget strategy approved at its weekly meeting in the capital Tallinn. The plan foresees a surplus of 0.1% of GDP in 2013 with annual increases to a 1% surplus in 2016.

Estonia became the 17th member of the euro zone on Jan. 1, 2011, amid the region's sovereign debt crisis that has seen Greece, Portugal and Ireland bailed out by the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The currency zone's economy contracted 0.3% in the fourth quarter as governments raised taxes and cut spending.

Estonia’s Ligi is more worried about French vote

Estonian Finance Minister Juergen Ligi said he is more worried about promises by the leading contender in the French presidential race to re-negotiate the agreement to cut budget deficits in the euro area than the Greek elections next month.

“A U-turn on the fiscal pact as promised by some hopefully isn’t possible,” Ligi said in an interview with public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhaaling today. “Election rhetoric shouldn’t yet be considered as actual policies, but it is worrying. The finance ministers are certainly following these events with pain.”

Socialist François Hollande, the winner of the first round of France’s presidential elections, said yesterday France won’t ratify the European agreement pushed by Germany to tighten budget rules if he’s elected. Hollande faces incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a runoff on May 6, the same day as general elections in Greece.

Estonia will delay its goal to return to a surplus budget by the year 2014 due to the European debt crisis, the country’s government said.

Ott Ummelas

*** Karmen ***

Tallinn to press "Zero Tolerance" of graffiti

Tallinn will clean 4,000 square meters of city property from smears and graffiti by May 15.

The citywide undertaking will take 30,000 euros from Tallinn's budget, according to Raepress.

Currently there are around 80 buildings and objects in downtown alone that need to be cleaned. Those include, for instance, the stairs and walls of Toompea viewing platforms.

District governments will also organize cleaning up of pedestrian tunnels, overpasses and facades of community and youth centers.

"The city will continue its zero-tolerance policy towards graffiti vandals," said deputy mayor of Tallinn Arvo Sarapuu, adding that each year, the cost of cleaning up graffiti reaches tens of thousands of euros.

Scrubbing private property clean will be the sole responsibility of owners. "After this campaign, surveillance in Tallinn will visibly be improved and sanctions will be on owners who do not meet their obligations," Sarapuu warned.

Ingrid Teesalu

Police apprehend 361 speeders in a week in South Estonia

Police apprehended 361 speeders during a week-long roadside check in six counties of South Estonia.

The raid took place last week. The majority of offenders - 120 - were caught in Tartu County. In Viljandi County the figure came to 63.

Compared to the rest, Võru County was found to be the safest, with just 24 motorists caught exceeding the speed limit.

According to police statistics, 199 drivers exceeded the permitted speed by up to 20 kph while for 150 drove between 20 and 40 kph over the limit. In eight cases, the limit was broken by 40 to 60 kph and in four cases, even more recklessly.

In a comment to Postimees, Aivar Pähkel, chief constable of Viljandi, put the figures down to improved driving conditions in spring that make drivers push the accelerator to past reasonable speeds.

Ingrid Teesalu

Estonian air force R44s get night vision upgrade

Estonia's ability to perform night-time search and rescue and surveillance activities has increased, following an upgrade to two of the nation's Robinson R44 light helicopters.

Conducted by US company REBTECH in collaboration with equipment supplier Night Flight Concepts, the work has introduced night vision imaging systems compatible with night vision goggles worn by Estonian air force pilots.

Estonia's air force has four R44s, as recorded by Flightglobal's HeliCAS database. The four-seat type represents the NATO air force's only rotary-wing capability.

Craig Hoyle

Estonia's labor costs 7th lowest in EU

Six EU member states had lower average hourly labor costs than Estonia last year, recently published data by Eurostat reveal.

Average labor costs in Estonia, including pay and social security contributions by employers, stood at 8.1 euros for a person per hour in 2011.

The figure was lowest in Bulgaria (3.5 euros), followed by Lithuania (5.5 euros) and Latvia (5.9 euros). Poland and Hungary also fell a little behind Estonia.

Romania, for which the 2011 data was lacking, is also likely paying less for labor than Estonia. The assumption is based on figures obtained in previous years. 

The highest hourly labor expenses are in Belgium – 39.3 euros per person – followed closely by Sweden and Denmark, where hourly labor costs are 39.1 and 38.6 euros per person, respectively. 

Average hourly labor costs in the EU stood at 23.1 euros, while the Eurozone's average was a bit higher - 27.6 euros.

Ingrid Teesalu

Estonia and Russia sign new border points agreement

At a meeting today in Moscow, representatives of Estonia's Interior Ministry and Russia's Federal Agency for State Border Development signed an updated version of the two countries' agreement regulating border points.

The Agreement on the Passage Points for Crossing the Estonian-Russian Frontier, as it is officially called, had not been updated since 2002 and changes were needed to take the realities of Schengen into account, Deputy Interior Minister Erkki Koort, who signed the document on behalf of Estonia, said in a release.

Specifically, Koort said, the old version of the agreement didn't treat all citizens equally at all border points. At the northeastern Narva-2 and southeastern Saatse points, specifically, only citizens of Estonia and Russia and stateless residents were allowed to cross. The new text allows all temporary residents of the countries to cross, irrespective of citizenship.

The ministry said the two sides are to sign a separate agreement on cooperation and information exchange in order to coordinate their border activities.

"This agreement sets out principles for organizing information exchange and synchronizing plans for developing common border checkpoints. Our main goal is to develop border crossing points together in order to maximize throughput," said Koort.

Steve Roman

Air Maintenance Estonia to build a new hangar at Tallinn Airport

According to David Williams, new CEO of Air Maintenance Estonia, AME sees ongoing infrastructural developments in Tallinn Airport, notably the construction of a new hangar, as an excellent opportunity to expand its range of services, writes news.err.ee.

The company plans to launch three base maintenance lines and two additional lines for lighter checks and modifications. In addition to Boeings, AME will also start servicing the Airbus 320 family.

The new hangar at the Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport, which will enable the company to triple its output, is expected to be ready by August.

AME was acquired by the Baltic private equity and venture capital investment company BaltCap from Scandinavian Airlines in 2010.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Talbot takes top prize at "Tallinn Music Week"

A bass and drum power duo has won the Skype Award at Tallinn Music Week for an approach that blends punk and extreme genres of heavy metal with digital wizardry and savvy marketing.

Talbot, consisting of drummer Janno Nuutre and bassist Magnus Andre, quarries what may some of the heaviest rock textures to come out of the north, and as such is a complete contrast to the unplugged-ish sad-man songs of last year's winner and currently the best-known export Ewert and the Two Dragons.

But Talbot has also impressed with its finesse. Check it here.

"Talbot comes off as a whole," said Skype Estonia head Tiit Paananen. "Everything rocks along with them in sync - the music is great, the website is on the level and social marketing is well-thought out. The band is forward-looking and an active performer on the world's stages. That's what we like to see. "

Formed in 2008, the band's sound is described in one statement as "pressing an aurally heavy but icily decorated psychedelic impression on listeners," while notices from critics and promoters abroad have also been positive. John Rogers of the Brainlove label said Talbot "marries bone-crunching force with dextrous musicality.“

The Skype award is worth 3,500 euros. Says Nuutre, who plans to invest the money into - what else - equipment upgrade: "The question is merely in what you want to do. If you want to form a band, it is as easy as that - you form one and don't let anything stop you. Our eyes opened right after the first tour - you just realize at some point that there's no limit."

Kristopher Rikken

“Stalinobus” kills the mood ahead of WWII Victory Day festivities

For many in the former USSR, May 9 - or Victory Day - marks the day that the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany’s forces during World War II. Typically feted with fireworks and parades, this year’s Victory Day may also feature a number of commuter buses decorated with portraits of ex-Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

The concept of the “Stalinobus” ruffled feathers even before it first appeared two years ago. Human rights activists and democracy groups kicked up a fuss in the run-up to the 2010 Victory Day festivities after hearing news of the bus and did everything they could to block it. Only one “Stalinobus” got through. The vehicle made a brief debut in the city of Saint Petersburg, before it was sprayed with white paint. The whole stunt lasted barely a day.

Despite its cold reception, “Stalinobus’” organisers were not to be discouraged. The following year, the vehicle was again spotted at Victory Day celebrations, and multiple buses were seen rolling through a number of Russian cities on November 7, a date that marks both the beginning of the country’s 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and a major show of military force at Moscow’s Red Square in 1941. Although the “Stalinobus” was welcomed by a number of towns in Siberia, Russia's capital Moscow refused to allow the vehicle onto its streets.

Estonia needs backup plan for Euro defections : Ilves

Estonia, which adopted the euro at the start of last year, needs a “plan B” to weather defections from the single-currency region, President Toomas Ilves said.

“We must be honest with ourselves and the European Union in general,” Ilves said in a meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen in Tallinn today. “We also need to be prepared for considerable future changes to the current euro area, where some of us will move on and others will remain.”

Estonia and Finland, “with their responsible and conservative fiscal policy, have repeatedly proven that they are among those that are making progress,” Ilves said in comments distributed by e-mail after the talks.

Estonia, whose public debt stood at 6 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2011, is among the three least risky euro states. Its five-year credit-default swaps closed at 110 basis points yesterday, behind Finland’s 76 basis points and Germany’s 87 basis points.

Ott Ummelas

Visiting Finnish PM meets president

Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, who is currently visiting Estonia in preparation for President Sauli Niinistö's official visit to Tallinn on April 25, met with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves today.

"We both - Estonia and Finland - are more optimistic in believing that we can outpace the problems of the Eurozone than our laconic Nordic characters might suggest," said Ilves, adding that both countries are convinced that a responsible and disciplined Eurozone is the basis for a strong EU.

According to Ilves, both the European Financial Stability Facility and the Stability Mechanism boost the resilience of the Eurozone against potential crises.

During the meeting, the politicians discussed regional cooperation projects and topics regarding Rail Baltic, the high-speed railway line that is supposed to one day link the Baltic states with Western Europe.

Ingrid Teesalu

Open market will increase electricity price by 17% : Estonian Ministry

The Estonian finance ministry forecasts that opening the electricity market for competition will increase the price of electricity from new year by nearly 17% and its effect on general inflation is about 0.65%, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

"And the electric energy tariff will increase from January 1, 2013 by nearly 50%," the ministry's macro-economic policy department head Andrus Säälik said.

An electricity bill consists of four components: electric energy tariff, grid service, renewable energy fee and electricity excise tax. Electric energy tariff currently forms 33% of the electricity bill.

Säälik said that the increase of price of electricity for households and small companies that so far buy electricity from the closed market will be 16.8%, based on the gap between the average price of the electricity bourse's Estonian price region average and the price at the closed market.

Large consumers already buy electricity from the open market and are not directly affected by the next year.

The ministry thinks in its spring economic forecasts that inflation in Estonia will this year be 3.3% and next year 3%. "Thus despite the opening of the electricity market, inflation will not accelerate net year," said Säälik, adding that the reason for this is forecasts that oil prices will decrease in 2013.

Juhan Tere

Estonian Air to start code-sharing with SAS

The Estonian national airline Estonian Air will start a code-share partnership with Scandinavian Airlines on Trondheim route from May 2, 2012, the company said in a statement.

"We are glad about extension of the cooperation with SAS. This will significantly improve Estonian Air visibility at foreign markets, which in turn increases the number of potential passengers," said Rauno Parras, CCO of Estonian Air.

"Possibility to buy flight tickets through SAS website will definitely increase interest in Tallinn and Estonia. Hopefully this will lead to many more Norwegians entering into Tallinn Airport," said Katrin Luhaäär, SAS District Manager in Estonia and Latvia.

Estonian Air opened the route to Trondheim on September 5, 2011.

According to Rauno Parras the route has seen activity especially coming from Trondheim side, writes LETA. "We see that Norwegians use this route both for flying to Tallinn as well as for connecting flights via Tallinn, for example to Helsinki, Moscow and Hannover," said Parras.

The ticket prices from Trondheim to Tallinn start at 58.08 euros and from Tallinn to Trondheim at 49.90 euros. The price includes all fees, taxes, baggage, snacks and soft drinks. Estonian Air is the National Partner of the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Finland.

Juhan Tere