BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Модель и "Мисс" Екатерина Булгарина начинает организовывать вечеринки

Екатерина Булгарина – модель и участница крупнейших мировых конкурсов красоты, таких, как Miss Model of the World, Miss Motors International, Top Model of the world, Miss Seven Continents, Super Model International, занялась организацией вечеринок. Почему она решила попробовать что-то новое, а также что за вечеринки будет организовывать, Екатерина рассказала специально для Buduaar.ru.

Екатерина начинает: «Мы с моей коллегой Евгенией Филипповой подумали, что в Эстонии мало вечеринок высшего класса, где нет пьяной молодежи, и решили это исправить. Тем более, что, участвуя в мировых конкурсах, я видела тусовки очень высокого уровня, мне захотелось и в Таллинне организовать что-то подобное».

Первая вечеринка пройдет в клубе Casablanca по адресу Roseni 9 уже 11 января и будет приурочена к Старому Новому году.

Екатерина рассказывает, что на их мероприятии будет жесткий фейс-контроль, не будут пропускать пьяных и тех, кто некорректно одет. А как же надо одеться, чтобы попасть в клуб? Героиня отвечает: «Так, как на вечернее мероприятие: туфли, платья, рубашки. Вход у нас будет для мужчин 21+, для девушек - 18+ ».

На вопрос, как будет выглядеть их вечеринка для высшего класса, Катя рассказывает: «Не могу сказать, что вечеринка только для высшего класса. Это мероприятие для людей, которые не хотят видеть пьяные лица, а хотят провести время в приятной атмосфере, чтобы их не оплевали, не обтоптали. У нас будет хороший алкоголь, однако, неприлично пьяных не будет, согласитесь, ведь можно и умеренно пить коктейли. За атмосферой клуба будут следить охранники, чтобы не было краж и драк».

Electricity production in Estonia fell by 9% in November

Estonian electricity production fell in November 2012 by 9% as compared to the same time last year to 966 GWh while consumption grew by 4% to 717 KWh, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

The fall of production was caused by fall of exports and more favourable import possibilities while consumption grew because average air temperature was by 2 degrees colder, Elering announced.

Electricity import to Estonia grew by 78% to 223 GWh and exports fell by 5% to 466 GWh.

Renewable energy production fell in November by 3% to 118 GWh, mainly because of the fall of renewable energy produced of biomass by 45% while the amount of electricity produced of wind energy grew by 87%.

Estonia, a country of scandals

Raul Rebane wrote in Postimees daily that one problem with Estonia is that the country is bogged down in scandals while there seems to be less ability in the society to objectively assess the situation.

Defining scandals as information blasts that have long-term impact, affect many people and cause major changes, Rebane writes that in the last twenty years, there have been nine major scandals in Estonia.

The list includes:

(1) Mart Laar shooting the Savisaar’s photo,
(2) Recording scandal,
(3) Siim Kallas’s 10-million-kroon scandal;
(4) Apartment scandal;
(5) Land  swapping scandal;
(6) KGB money (2010);
(7) Veerpalu’s doping scandal (2011); 
(8) Residential permit scandal (Permitgate, 2011)
(9) Reform Party funding scandal (Silvergate, 2012)

Rebane says that what’s interesting is that almost half of major scandals have taken place in the last two years. “Moreover, all of them are still having an impact and affect our feelings and behaviour for a long time,” he writes.

Bank of Estonia to raise wages 2%

Estonian central bank Eesti Pank said its personnel costs in 2013 will grow 5.5% from 2012 to EUR 8.6m, announced the bank.

Basic wages will be increased by 2% from 2013.

The bank raised wages also in 2012, by 4%. It was the first time that wages went up since 2008.

The bank said that after the wage increase, its salaries will be comparable with those paid in the Tallinn financial sector.

The wage increase will not apply to wages of the management board that are determined by the supervisory board.

At the same time, the central bank will cost foreign travel and office costs by 3.2% to EUR 1.1m.

The bank’s 2013 budget will be EUR 20.2m which will be 2% more than in 2012.

Russian environmental activist seeks asylum in Estonia

TALLINN - Environmental activist Suren Gazaryan, who fears criminal prosecution in Russia, has asked for political asylum in Estonia, Eesti Television (ETV) reported on Thursday.

Gazaryan told ETV that he filed an asylum request two weeks ago with the migration service. However, the Estonian authorities refused to discuss the request with RIA Novosti, citing a law that prohibits the disclosure of the personal information of asylum seekers in the country.

It was previously reported that a criminal case was initiated against Gazaryan, a well known environmental activist in the Krasnodar Territory. He faces punishment for allegedly issuing murder threats while pleading innocent.

Gazaryan said that on August 2 he had an argument with the security guards of a private facility. After this, according to Gazaryan, one of the guards reported him to the police on threatening to murder him.

Gazaryan already has one three-year suspended sentence for defacing the fence around the country house of Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander Tkachyov. Along with another environmental activist Gazaryan said that the forest plot had been illegally taken possession of and that pines on the Red Data List had been cut down in order to construct the house.

The press service of the region's administration said that the house and the plot of land do not belong to the governor.

Estonia 35th most militarized country

Estonia is fairly high up on the list of countries that are the most militarized, according to a German index.

According to the World Militarization Index, Estonia was 35th, clearly more militarized than the other two Baltic states. Finland was 27th. All of the countries in the Middle East appear in the top 40; Iran is 34th, for instance.  

The index takes into account not just budget or military prowess but also factors in population - thus the US comes in 30th and not first as it would on budget alone. In a nutshell, the index shows how important a state considers its fighting ability to be in light of its limited resources.

Back in 2000, Estonia placed 65th with Latvia in 90th and Lithuania in 78th. By 2009, the countries were 37th, 78th and 52nd, respectively. Latvia is now back in 90th while Lithuania has dropped to 60th.

Estonian boy, 12, overjoyed after city doctors remove rare and benign facial tumor

Georg Tamm, 12, of Estonia smiles before facial surgery performed by Dr. Alejandro Berenstein at Roosevelt Hospital. The rare and delicate procedure removed a large tumor and was hailed as a success.

Marianna Tamm traveled the world for 11 years, frantically looking for a surgeon to remove a rare and benign vascular tumor on her son’s face. She sought out doctors in her native Estonia, and in Russia, Austria and Finland, all of whom were stumped. It wasn’t until a doctor from the Boston University School of Medicine recommended a team at Roosevelt Hospital that her search ended happily in New York.

“My son is the love of my life,” said an emotional Tamm through an interpreter, as she nervously awaited the start of 12-year-old Georg’s two-day surgery last week. “I am very grateful we found the best hands.” Those hands belong to interventional neuroradiologist Dr. Alejandro Berenstein and pediatric facial surgeon Dr. Milton Waner — who began their unique collaboration in 2004 treating complicated blood vessel problems of the brain, face, neck and spine. Together they have done more than 1,200 procedures on 550 patients from more than 50 countries.

Georg, an adorable blond-haired, green-eyed sixth-grader, was born with a glomovenous malformation, a purple cobblestone-like swelling under the skin that has grown to cover most of his left cheek and eyebrow. The tumor is filled with millions of blood vessels below the skin — compared with just 10 or 20 blood vessels in a normal face. In addition to distorting his left cheek, if he were in a car accident or got hit in the face playing sports, doctors say he could bleed to death.

A Scottish Highland cattle eats its feed in Osmussaar island

A Scottish Highland cattle eats its feed in Osmussaar island December 13, 2012. Rita Koppel, together with her husband Ervin, father Uno Bergstrom and mother Aili have lived for 11 years on a lonely island Osmussaar, about 10 km (6 miles) from the mainland.

Ervin once ran a large construction company and Rita was an entrepreneur but now the Koppel family engage themselves with agriculture and maintaining order on the island, choosing to enjoy nature and the company of their cattle over the urban hustle and bustle. 

Picture taken December 13, 2012.

REUTERS

Tartu : Estonia's Intellectual and Theater Capital

It takes only a two-and-a-half-hour smooth drive (185 kilometers)  to get from Estonia's capital Tallinn to the town of Tartu,  even though the south-east route crosses almost all of this small  Baltic country.

The bus speeds past the country's timeless landscapes  of snow-covered forests and fields, with the occasional wooden  house to be spied.

Based around Tartu University, with a large proportion of its  population being students and teachers, the town is seen as  the nation's intellectual capital. In winter, the large number  of young people makes the town perhaps more vibrant and full than  in summer, when many are on holiday elsewhere.

A Page of History

Located on the banks of the Emajogi River (Mother River), Tartu is  Estonia's second-largest city and the Baltics' oldest, being first  mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1030. It is  the cradle of Estonian culture, where the country's song  festivals — an important tradition that played a major role  in uniting the nation — were born. Tartu is also the home  of Estonian theater and to some extent, the Estonian state.

The main building of Tartu University, a six-columned,  classical affair, is located on Жlikooli (University Street) in the  town's center. Founded in 1632 by Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, it's  the country oldest. Now one of the world's top 400 universities, it  effectively connects the past and future, as well as Tartu  and the rest of the world.

Struggling Estonian Air's pilots to strike

Pilots at the struggling Baltic carrier Estonian Air announced on Friday they would go on strike from January 7, demanding a return to a collective pay deal that was voided by the company.

The Estonian Airline Pilots Association, which represents all of the carrier's 75 pilots, warned that it could not accept plans to end a five-year-old agreement from February.

"We expect most of the pilots to be on strike," Rauno Menning, chairman of the association's board, told AFP. In a statement, Estonian Air said the strike call was a surprise.

"Estonian Air has offered pilots a collective agreement that is line with the market and competitive situation and follows all EU flight safety requirements," the carrier's chief executive Jan Palmer was quoted as saying.

Menning faulted that stance.

"We are surprised that the company is surprised by the strike news, because we made the decision in November to go strike if needed, so Estonian Air knew this was a possibility," he told AFP. Estonian Air had just warded off industrial action by other employees through a deal last week with the Estonian Air Cabin Crew Union, which is valid to the end of 2013.

Every sixth person in Estonia live in relative poverty

17.5% of the Estonian population or one in six lived in relative poverty in 2011, says Statistisc Estonia. The percentage would be even higher if the income of the population had not been increasing and unemployment decreasing, said the agency.

Without social transfers such as state benefits and pensions, at-risk-of-poverty rate is as high as 40.1%. A person is considered to be at-risk-of-poverty if his or her monthly equalised disposable income was below 299 euros (280 euros in 2010).

The difference in income between the poorest and richest fifth of the population was 5.4-fold.

Compared to the previous year, it can be noticed that the%age of younger people who are living in relative poverty is decreasing, and that of persons aged 65 and older – increasing. In 2011, 21% of persons aged 18–24 and 17% of persons aged 65 and more lived in relative poverty (in 2010 – 22% and 13%, respectively). The important reason is the decreasing unemployment rate of younger age groups.

By type of household, the at-risk-of-poverty rate has increased the most in households of a single person aged 65 and over (by 9.8%) and decreased in households of a couple with three or more children (by 4.2%).

Free public transport

From January 2013, Tallinn will be the first European capital to offer free public transport to its citizens. According to The Baltic Times (August 23, 2012), with the new ticketing system the City of Tallinn will lose approximately €14 million in uncollected ticket revenues in 2013. But then the current system of ticket sales is seen as overpriced anyhow and wasteful for the environment.

Street network in Tallinn: 2,012 km
Roadways: 1,014km
Sidewalks: 923 km
Bicycle paths: 210 km

The long-term environmental benefits to having fewer cars circulating are evident while citizens will also enjoy cleaner air and less noise pollution. Although several small and medium size cities have already converted to the free-fare public transport system, Tallinn is definitely setting an example and opening the way for other European capitals to follow.

Is free public transport enough of an incentive for commuters to shift to public transport? In Tallinn, paper tickets will be abolished and regardless of a person’s place of residence, anyone under 19 will be allowed to ride for free. Users of the public transport who are not residents of Tallinn will have to buy e-tickets or electronic cards.

Estonia adopts budget for 2013

Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu, has adopted a 2013 budget which includes  the goal of reducing the tax burden to the country's pre-recession level through cuts in labor-related taxes.

According to the Finance Ministry, the tax burden will decrease by 0.6% to its lowest level in five years, down to 32.6% of the economy. In particular, unemployment insurance premium rates will be reduced to 3%. However, excise on alcohol will rise by 5%, and there will be a 10% rise in tobacco excise affecting cigarettes spread over the next two years.

Ministry figures predict an increase in budget revenue of 2.2% in 2013, whilst expenditure will increase by 1.1% to EUR7.7bn (USD10.bn). This will amount to a deficit of 0.7% of gross domestic product, although the Ministry also explained that there will be a structural budget surplus of 0.1% of GDP in the year ahead. The debt burden for 2013 is calculated at 12% of GDP - the lowest in the European Union.

The Ministry also promises increases in social security spending amounting to a 6% rise on 2012. Pensions will increase by 5%, and there will also be rises in "need-based child support, unemployment allowances and health insurance expenses." Social benefits will represent 28.3% of the total state budget, and all government areas will receive a budget increase of 4.4% for labor-related expenditure.

Ulrika Lomas

St. Petersburg Times writes about beauty of Tartu

Russia-based paper The St.Petersburg Times has revealed Estonia's intellectual capital Tartu to its readers, telling about its unique and multi-facet nature, writes LETA.

The journalist noted that the way from Estonian capital Tallinn to the so-called "student city" Tartu takes only two-and-a-half-hour of pleasant way across the Baltic State. The road opens spectacular view on the country's forests covered with snow, vast whitish fields and wooden houses.

The city's main feature is the large number of lecturers, teachers and students who come to the Tartu University from across Estonia and even foreign countries. This endows the city with very special vibes which can be felt only in Tartu, and has influence on the city's artistic appearance.

"In winter, the large number of young people makes the town perhaps more vibrant and full than in summer, when many are on holiday elsewhere," writes The St. Petersburg Times.

The online newspaper gives an insight to Tartu's history. Tartu is Estonia's second largest city and the Baltics' oldest, being first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1030.

Carmen Kass poses nude for Harper’s Bazaar - España - 01/2013

You know, as much as I do not want to wind up naked on the Internet, I have to admit that I am partial to walking around the house with as little clothes as possible. I have been staying as a houseguest the past few days and, fortunately for me, Miss Chatel does not mind my walking around in my underwear constantly. But I have lived with people who are uncomfortable with their bodies sans clothes, and thereby uncomfortable with other people’s bodies sans clothes, so I haven’t always had a chance to do this. Harper’s Bazaar España, the magazine’s European edition, has a cover coming out next month that pretty accurately describes my feelings on the topic.

This January, the magazine is starting off 2013 with a bang — a very attractive and talented bang named Carmen Kass. You might remember her as that totally awesome model who’s posed for incredible (and incredibly sexy) fashion campaigns, including that infamous (NSFW) Gucci ad in which her pubic hair was waxed into a ‘G’.

Here, she is engulfed in an enormous Viktor & Rolf coat, posing in an extremely strategic (and kind of uncomfortable-looking) position to ensure the covering of anything too risque for the stands. The phrase “¿Por qué no?” or “Why not?” weaves around her legs. And you know what? Why not, indeed: everybody should be stoked to be running around naked once in a while, god dammit. Even if they’re referring to something completely different, I will still choose to interpret it as such.

Fortunately, it seems they skipped out on the “weird creepily Photoshopped January covers” thing that their edition down under seems to have opted for. Good job, España edition, at ringing in our new year with a good ol’ dose of fashionably nude.

Estonia has the highest rate of single mothers living in poverty in Europe

Social welfare policy experts, who recently convened in Brussels, noted that according to statistics, 17% of women in the EU live in poverty, writes LETA/Eesti Päevaleht. In terms of single parents’ poverty, Estonia’s indicators are among the worst in Europe.

If one were to take into account personal income, not household income, 36% of women live in poverty.

In terms of single parents’ poverty, Estonia’s indicators are among the worst in Europe: data collected a few years ago demonstrate that more than 50% of single mothers lived at risk of poverty and slightly more than 40% of single fathers were in the same position.

The average poverty-risk indicator in Europe, at the same time, was 27% for single mothers and approximately 23% for single fathers.

MP Helmen Kütt who has been working as a social worker for years, also stated that when compiling budgets in Estonia, women’s circumstances are not taken into account, nor is the budgets’ impact on women and their children. “Riigikogu and local governments are shaped according to the image of men, while poverty has the image of a woman,” she said. “We also cut back on a number of benefits that are important for single mothers during the difficult times, for example abolishing the school-bag benefits,” she pointed out.

Online news least read in France ; Estonia and Lithuania lead

Only about one in three internet users in France went online to catch the news or read their favorite newspapers in the last three months, the lowest in any EU nation, European Union data showed Tuesday.

Lithuania, with 92 percent, followed by Estonia with 91 percent, had the highest percentages of those using the internet for reading the news, with France, the EU laggard, at 38 percent, the Eurostat statistics agency said. Finland was the leader for internet banking with 91 percent of users and for online travel services, at 69 percent.

Portugal topped the share of internet users posting messages to social media, with 75 percent, while the Czech Republic at 35 percent, France 40 percent and Germany 42 percent were at the bottom of that table.

Overall, sending and receiving e-mails were the most common use of the internet, at 89 percent, followed by finding information at 83 percent. In all, 61 percent of users read online news, 54 percent used internet banking services, 52 percent posted messages to social media and 50 percent used travel services.

Copyright AFP

The European Council to launch a new period of economic reforms

Brussels – At the today’s meeting of the European Council, the heads of governments of the European Union examined The Annual Growth Survey published by the European Commission and with this, launched another period of economic reforms (known as the European Semester process).

The analysis of the Commission presented the priorities in the economic and social fields for the next year. The meeting of the Council that closed today, introduced a new period for coordinating the economic policy, which seeks to ensure that Member States will align their budget and economic reform programs with the Stability and Growth Pact and the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The heads of state and government confirmed that the economic policy of the European Union must focus on achieving economic growth and fostering the creation of jobs also in 2013.

In March next year, the Council will approve the guidelines for implementing economic reforms at the level of Member States drawn up based on the Commission’s growth survey.

Estonia threatened by "Bride drought"

On the whole, there are many more women than men in the country; however, most of Estonia's 227 municipalities have significantly fewer 20- to 34-year-old women than men of the same age group, an analysis of the recently finalized 2011 census results shows.

Overall in the country, there are 600,526 males and 693,929 females. But in the 20-34 age group, the prime child-bearing years, there are 141,084 men and 134,782 women, leading Statistics Estonia to dub it a bride drought.

"Many regions will in the future be threatened with a situation in which the typical family consists of an elderly mother and her old bachelor son,“ Mihkel Servinski, chief analyst for Statistics Estonia, wrote on the agency's blog.

"The bride problem is by no means a new phenomenon in Estonia, although there has not been much talk of it lately. But as shown by the census results, the situation is definitely serious,“ he said.

Statistics Estonia published the following map of the country's gender breakdown. There are only three municipalities, all around Tallinn, that have 84-89 men for every 100 women in the aforementioned age group. These are marked in dark blue and are Harku, Viimsi and Kiili. The light blue municipalities, of which there are 40, have 90-109 men per 100 women in the age group.

By contrast, the rest of the municipalities are all problematic, having above 110 men per 100 women. The 144 beige municipalities have 110-149 men per 100 women. And the 38 orange municipalities have 150-500 men per 100 women.

Estonia, Russia and the merits of expansionary austerity

The always-interesting Beyond BRICS blog over at the FT recently featured a post about Estonia that I had meant to write about earlier but, due to professional obligations, was unable to. It was a relatively brief entry which suggested  that Estonia’s relatively successful experiment with austerity (its GDP is going to grow by about 3% this year) shows that Paul Krugman and other Keynesians are wrong to dismiss it. More broadly, the post tried to suggest that it’s possible to combine extremely conservative fiscal policy with sustained economic growth. This austerity versus stimulus debate has already gone on for awhile, I even weighed in on the subject, and it’s one that’s probably not going to be resolved any time soon: it crosses far too many ideological and emotional lines to be quickly resolved.

As my very minor contribution to the debate, I thought it would be valuable to quickly compare Estonia’s post-crisis recovery to Russia‘s. Why? Well partially because , at the name might suggest, this is a Russia-focused blog and I write a lot about Russia. But while pro and anti-austerity partisans each have their bete noires and their shining examples, virtually none of the mainstream economic commentators ever mention Russia when discussing post-crisis recovery. You get endless analyses of how Ireland and Estonia show that austerity works, and equally endless discussions of how the UK and Spain show that austerity is terrible, but no one even sees fit to mention Russia.