BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

This week's weather: windy with some showers

The solid sunshine that much of Estonia has been experiencing in recent days is set to be pushed out by gusty winds and pockets of rain as a low-pressure system makes its way across Scandinavia on Monday night.

The first rain should hit the islands after midnight Tuesday and spread to the western mainland by morning, according to the Meteorology and Hydrology Institute. Sporadic rain and strong winds are expected during the day along with temperatures ranging from 6 to 11 C. After nightfall, the mercury should drop to 1 to 6 C.

Rain showers associated with the low-pressure front should continue to move across Estonia from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, but the chance of rain is slated to decrease during the day. Winds could be quite strong on the coasts, where temperatures are expected to be around 7 C. Daytime temperatures inland should be 10 to 12 C, lowering to the 2 to 6 C range at night.

Estonian Air to change pre-flight and in-flight services from 01-May-2013

Starting from 1 May 2013, Estonian Air will introduce several changes in pre-flight and in-flight services which concern the number of fare types and selection of on-board food. From August check-in procedures will be updated.

In January 2013, Estonian Air started an extensive restructuring process to become cost efficient and competitive regional carrier providing flights to the destinations critically important for Estonia, where the demand is constantly high.

“During the first three months we have been focusing on adapting our network to the real economic demand of ten flight destinations and reducing costs in accordance to new flight capacities. Regarding this we have reviewed all the activities and cost items related to our services,” said Rauno Parras, the CCO of Estonian Air.

From 1 May 2013, Estonian Air is reducing the number of fare families from the current five to three. The three basic fare families are: Eco, Flex and Business. The Light fare family - meant for travellers with hand luggage only - will remain as a campaign product, which has a lower price but less flexible terms compared to other fare families.

On board all passengers will be offered with a common selection of food and beverages. Passengers with Business and Flex tickets are served complimentary food and beverages. Passengers holding Eco tickets can buy food and beverages on board. Estonian Air also offers a possibility to pre-order meals through Estonian Air homepage at least 36 hours before the flight. For product list, pricing and ordering please visit Estonian Air website http://estonian-air.ee/en/travel-information/during-the-flight/on-board/.

Centre Party to hold a public rally over power prices in Tallinn

Estonia's largest opposition party Centre Party is organizing another public rally against electricity prices.

It will take place today, April 22. The demonstration will start at 8 pm in Tammsaare park in central Tallinn and move under slogans, flags and burning torches to the building of the Ministry of Economic Affairs that is responsible for overseeing the electricity market.

It is the third such demonstration organized by the Centre Party. The first two were held on February 21 in Tallinn that attracted more than 500 people and February 28 that was held in front of Tartu Town Hall.

The main goal, according to the opposition party, was to show that "Estonians don't intend to just forget about the rise in the price of electricity", the party said before the rallies, threatening to repeat the events in Bulgaria where the government was forced into resignation over nationwide angry protests against electricity prices.

Estonian ice hockey team returns defeated and drunk

The Estonian ice hockey team lost all of its games at the Ice Hockey World Championships, falling back to Division II as a result, but that's not why they have been called a national embarrassment. Upon arrival at Tallinn Airport on Sunday, some of the team members were so intoxicated after a week of drinking that they could not stand up.

Estonia competed in the Division I, Group B tournament (with Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Ukraine) in Donetsk, Ukraine from April 14-20, reported Delfi. The final game, with Lithuania, which had also lost all of its previous games, was decisive, because the losing team would be sent back to division II. Estonia suffered a crushing 3-12 defeat (1-1, 2-3, 0-8).

One reason Estonia wasn't on top of its game was that part of the team was busy partying. A number of men were benched as a result, including 33-year-old Maksim Ivanov, from Estonia's top club, Viking Sport, who especially angered the Estonian Ice Hockey Association.

The head of the association, Jaan Mölder, said a disciplinary committee would be called together and "serious decisions" would need to be taken. Head coach Dmitri Medvedev said that if he is kept on, there would be no place for Ivanov on the team. He said he was not yet sure about the others.

A number of foreign club players did preserve their dignities, officials said, with Robert Rooba of Finland's Espoo Blues saying he would not play for the team again if matters continue the same way.

Estonians are selling their work too cheaply

Public relations expert Janek Mäggi writes in Äripäev that Estonians need to ask a better price for their work because this is the only way to increase people’s wealth.

Mäggi says that he remembers back in 2007 that when a waste management company was looking for hire waste truck drivers and offered them the equivalent of 2,000 euros a month, it still could not find anyone interested. Today, waste truck drivers in Estonia only dream about such salaries.

The simple truth is that if you are paid very good wages, even unpleasant jobs including that of transporting waste become tolerable. If you are paid peanuts, even the most pleasant jobs become unpleasant.

Average wages in Estonia are too low, keep purchasing power down and are causing social tension. Salaries are so low because the work is too cheap. Wages and prices are directly linked. Once a hairdresser’s saloon doubles the price, it can pay twice higher salaries. However, the problem is that the owners know that if they increase prices, but keep wages unchanged, they will double their profit.

Take money away from foreigners

I hope that the next general elections will be won by the party who can create jobs so that wealth of Estonians continues to grow. Wage growth itself will not be sufficient, because often it comes at the expense of some other sector. The trick is to take money away from foreigners.

Margus Hunt, the NFL Draft's craziest athlete

There are some exceptional prospects in the NFL draft every year, but Southern Methodist University defensive end Margus Hunt is one of the craziest in recent memory. Not literally crazy, but he makes you wonder if he's from the same planet as everyone else.

Hunt's from the same planet (probably), but not the same country. He came to America from Estonia, originally to pursue a career in track and field. He won gold medals as a junior Olympian in the discus and shot put, and he also plays the piano. He'll be 26 years old by the time the season starts—Hunt is truly a rarity among NFL prospects.

He also possesses an out-of-this-world combination of size and athleticism, measuring in at 6’8” and 277 pounds at the combine. Hunt ran the 40-yard dash in 4.60 seconds and had 38 reps on the bench press. To put that in perspective, Hunt ran the 40-yard dash as fast as the 248-pound linebacker Dion Jordan and had the same number of reps on the bench press as the 311-pound defensive tackle Star Lotulelei.

Foreign-born players are always interesting because they typically haven’t been playing the game for very long. In Hunt’s case, he’s been playing football for only the last four years. No one expects a guy who has been playing football for only a few years to have refined technique, but Hunt’s height makes any problems he has more glaring.

Friends spark a revolution to change money

The business TransferWise began with a simple exchange of currency between two Estonians in London with contrasting needs.

Now, the firm is aiming to become a global business by disrupting the high-commission model on foreign exchange that has long benefited banks and specialists in the market.

Based in Shoreditch, east London, the company is the brainchild of Estonian nationals Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann, with its role model being Skype, the internet telecoms pioneer where Hinrikus was the first employee. “What we did at Skype was make the world smaller and let people communicate for free,” says Hinrikus, Skype’s former director of strategy.

“At TransferWise, we want to make the world smaller by letting people send money, which is currently costing them an arm and a leg. Financial services is one of the last industries that hasn’t been properly disrupted yet and that gives us a huge opportunity.”Hinrikus, 31, and Käärmann, 32, moved to London from Estonia six years ago, meeting up in Shoreditch’s small Estonian community. Käärmann, who worked for consultants Deloitte, was paid in pounds in London but had to service a mortgage and other monthly bills in Estonia in euros.

Estonia calls BSA’s IP enforcement report a “modern protection racket"

The fact that the BSA Software Alliance has been pushing for more anti-piracy measures is old news. But now, tiny Estonia is pushing back against those accusations with equal aplomb.

An Internet advocacy group in Estonia (population: 1.3 million) is speaking out against pressure from BSA and the International Intellectual Property Alliance, which listed the Baltic country as a “special mention” in its annual report (PDF) released in February. In that report, the BSA complained that criminal enforcement of IP laws in Estonia was too weak: “(1) it is a low priority of the government; (2) [there is] a lack of resources; and (3) [there is] a lack of proper training of and competency by law enforcement authorities.”

But Estonian Internet users don’t quite see it that way.

“This is a modern protection racket," said Elver Loho, the deputy head of nonprofit Estonian Internet Community, on Thursday according to Estonian public broadcaster ERR. "I haven't seen such a brazen public ultimatum yet in this field.”

Estonian Air to implement check-in charge

Starting in August, Estonian Air will begin charging customers for using their check-in service booths at airports.

The announcement today is part of the most recent round of changes being implemented as part of the financially strugling airline's restructuring plan. In a press release, Estonian Air said it is narrowing its ticket options from five to three.

In August, the carrier will start charging a 10-euro service fee at check-in desks for the cheapest ticket class. Check-in through the company's website, via text message, or through a self-service station at the airport will still be free of charge.

On a more positive note for customers, children between the ages of two and 11 will begin receiving a 25 percent discount off the basic passenger price.

Paper unveils trail of secret funding of Reform Party

Shady money helped to bring Reform Party to power in Estonia, show balance reports of bank accounts which indicate that former heads of Reform Party were financed by secretive donors who made cash donations to the party, writes Äripäev.

At least four prominent Reform Party members – Siim Kallas, Märt Rask, Andres Lipstok and Heiki Kranich – were able to secure prominent jobs thanks to these secretive donors.

All four still enjoy prominence: Siim Kallas is European transport commissioner, Märt Rask is chairman of the supreme court, Heiki Kranich is CEO of state-owned Estonian Lottery and Andres Lipstok was governor of Estonian central bank until summer 2012.

According to Äripäev, central in the secret funding scheme was a company named R-Hooldus that made sure that Reform Party came to power in Estonia in 1999 and has remained on power until now.

R-Hooldus set up in 1997 was managed by Siim Kallas, Andres Lipstok and Märt Rask and its chief objective was to finance Reform Party’s election campaign.
In 1998, the accountant of R-Hooldus, deposited in the company’s bank account 100,000 kroons in cash. In March 1999 the company made another 100,000-kroon cash deposit, followed by almost 300,000 kroons deposited in May. In June, the company paid half a million kroons on its bank account.

OEG: comment on building a new hotel and casino complex in Tallinn

Olympic Entertainment GroupCompany Announcement OEG: comment on building a new hotel and casino complex in TallinnFollowing the annual general meeting of shareholders of OEG that was held on 18 April 2013, some media channels published information about the plans of OEG to build a new hotel and casino complex in Tallinn on the place of the current Reval Park Hotel & Casino.

The Group's representatives confirmed that such plan is currently under development and assured the participants of the general meeting that shareholders will be notified through the stock exchange system as soon as a final decision has been made and/or necessary contracts for the implementation of this project have been signed.

OEG confirms that, as of today, no final decision has been made about the exact manner and timetable, therefore any information related to this issue that has been or will be published in the media is purely speculative and has no factual basis.

Madis Jääger - CEO
Olympic Entertainment Group AS
Tel + 372 667 1250
E-mail [email protected]
http://www.olympic-casino.com 

Floods threaten residential areas near Pärnu

Unexpectedly high water levels rose above the Sindi dam on Wednesday and have by now reached residential areas outside of Pärnu.

A local fishery near the dam was nearly completely submerged by yesterday evening and water has arrived literally at the doorsteps of the Sindi suburb of Linnuriigi, reported the Rescue Board.

Water levels have been increased by large blocks of ice that have clogged up the Pärnu river, which flows past Sindi, population 4,000.

“Locals have been informed, are at home and moving their belonging to higher places […] The biggest worry right now is disaster tourists, as they disturb local residents, damage roads and, if the situation gets out of hand, could hamper the work of rescuers,” Marko Šorin, the mayor of Sindi, told ETV on Wednesday evening.

So far rescue workers have helped five people and their pets to safety, with no injuries reported. Video is here

Estonia uses "Google Maps Street View" to catch tax cheats

As we've noted before, the information captured by Google's Street View has been put to some surprising uses, and the Boston Globe has come across a further fascinating example from Lithuania:

Sitting in the comfort of their own offices, inspectors used the free Internet program for a virtual cruise around the streets of some of the Baltic country's big cities, uncovering dozens of alleged tax violations involving housing construction and property sales.

They identified 100 homeowners and 30 construction companies as suspected tax dodgers thanks to Street View, finding homes where they shouldn't be and other suspicious activity, Darius Buta, a spokesman for the State Tax Inspectorate, said Wednesday.

Ars Technica points out that Estonia is doing the same. This might lead to demands for houses to be blurred, as can be requested in Germany. But the Boston Globe article notes that it's not just Street View that tax authorities are mining for clues about people not paying all their taxes:

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service has said it would be cross-referencing information from taxpayers' Facebook and Twitter accounts if their returns threw up any red flags.

In Britain, tax officials have revealed they are using Web crawling software to trawl auction websites for undeclared sales.

Authorities in Greece have been using satellite imagery to locate undeclared swimming pools in wealthy neighborhoods.

The ability to draw on the massive stores of data that are now publicly available means that even seemingly trivial information, when cross-referenced with more of the same, can allow governments and others to create surprisingly detailed profiles of people that may have far from trivial consequences.

Russian opposition activist Yashin to speak in Tallinn

Ilya Yashin, a prominent figure in Russia's opposition movement, is to deliver a presentation in Tallinn this afternoon covering the latest political developments and the state of human rights in his country.

The lecture, entitled "Russia 2012: A Crushed Constitution and a Police State," is part of the "Voices of Russia" discussion series organized by the Open Estonia Foundation.

In an interview given to ETV on Wednesday, the 29-year-old co-founder of the Solidarnost movement said that he wanted to highlight for Europe the situation of political prisoners in his country, and spoke about the plight of Alexei Navalny, a high-profile opposition leader currently on trial for embezzlement in Kirov in what is widely seen as a political attempt to shut down his activities, including his bid for the presidency.

"Objectively, [Vladimir] Putin has named Alexei Navalby as his main opponent because practically the entire weight of the state apparatus has been thrown against him - there are four criminal cases against him. Now, one criminal trial has started and others are not far off," he said. "

"In this way the power is clearly demonstrating that it fears Navalny most of all, and it means that he has the greatest political prospects. Remember the late 1980s, when the persecution of Boris Yeltsin ended with him becoming president," he said.

The Open Estonia Foundation, in its statement, noted that Yashin's lecture is to come just prior to the May 6, one-year anniversary of the Bolotnaya Square demonstrations in Moscow, which has led to a political crackdown involving criminal charges being brought against numerous activists.

Estonia remains leader among Baltics in WEF's Network Readiness Index

Latvia remains 41st in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Network Readiness Index, behind its Baltic neighbors. The index, which comprises 144 countries altogether, ranks Estonia 22nd and Lithuania 32nd, reports LETA.

At the top of the index, Finland is in first place, followed by Singapore and Sweden.

The other top ten countries in the index include the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Great Britain, Denmark, the United States and Taiwan.

At the bottom of the ranking are Burundi, Sierra Leone, Chad and Haiti.

The report highlights the lack of progress in bridging the new digital divide – not only in terms of developing ICT infrastructure but also in economic and social impact. Despite rapid adoption of mobile telephony, most developing economies lag behind advanced economies due to environments that are insufficiently conducive to innovation and competitiveness. On the other hand, the report shows the progress that countries are making to fully use ICT to boost higher productivity, economic growth and quality jobs in the current economic environment. Finally, the report reveals an apparent investment threshold in ICT, skills and innovation beyond which return on investment increases significantly. Browse the report in an interactive reader. 

Tallinn city government, Estonia’s own 50% party

It seems that Estonia has its own version of China’s 50 Cent Party, with the difference that in Estonia these party-loyal Internet commentators are employed by the City of Tallinn, ie Centre Party and its chairman Edgar Savisaar, writes Eesti Ekspress.

Only about a month ago Eesti Ekspress wrote about Tallinn City Government officials who, as members of Centre Party, have to pay 5% of their salary to the party. This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg as city officials who have got cushy jobs thanks to Centre Party have other duties as well.

Namely, about ten city officials, all of them young Center Party members, are working in 3-hour shifts monitoring newsflow from Delfi and Postimees to detect news articles that are critical of City of Tallinn or Centre Party. Once they find the news, they send a link to a mailing list of young Centre Party members whose duty is to write positive web comments in the attempt of improving the party's image and influence people's opinion.

So Centre Party and its chairman Edgar Savisaar are following in the footsteps of the government of China, ie the Chinese Communist Party, that hires Internet commentators to post comments favorable towards party policies in an attempt to shape and sway public opinion on various Internet message boards and pays them fifty cent of RMB for every post that either steers a discussion away from anti-party or sensitive content on domestic websites, bulletin board systems, and chatrooms, or that advances the Communist party line.

Russia expels Estonian diplomat in "mirror" move

TALLINN – Estonian consul in St. Petersburg Franek Persidski has been declared by Russian authorities persona non grata in response to a similar action previously taken by Estonia, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.

"Persidski has returned from St. Petersburg consulate to Estonia," the ministry’s press service of the told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

"This was a reciprocal move by the Russian side in response to a similar decision of Estonian authorities taken earlier," the press service said without providing details of the Estonian action.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on the decision to expel the Estonian diplomat.

Some Russian-language media sources in Estonia earlier speculated that it could have been done in retaliation for Estonia’s denial to issue entry visas to five members of a Russian delegation traveling to Tallinn to take part in the Baltic Dialogue 2013 roundtable in March.

Germany and Estonia praise austerity as France signals turbulence

The leaders of Estonia and Germany traded praise for each other's austerity policies Wednesday, even as they aired concerns about continuing budget woes in other European nations, particularly France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip hours after Paris admitted it would miss its deficit-cutting targets, with French debt to reach 94.3 per cent of GDP next year, well up from the previous 90.5-per-cent target.

Merkel was circumspect when asked to comment on the French budget blowout, saying: "We wish France success, because France is simply important for the stability of the eurozone as a whole.
"We'll be watching these reform efforts that have begun in France very amicably."

The chancellor, who faces a general election in September, has faced fierce criticism in southern Europe for prescribing government austerity as the antidote to the eurozone debt crisis, but is popular at home for attaching tough austerity terms to bailouts. "Europe has 8 per cent of the world's population, 25 per cent of its GDP and 50 per cent of its social welfare spending. That money has to be earned," she said, repeating one of her mantras.

Ansip hit a similar note. "Debts are easy to run up, but hard to repay," he said. "It's not right to spend at the expense of future generations."

Ansip criticized over ‘one lady’ comment

TALLINN - Chairman of the Riigikogu Committee on Foreign Affairs Marko Mihkelson estimated that Prime Minister Andrus Ansip’s statement last week regarding the administration of justice in Ukraine, and “one lady,” was thoughtless and would not help Ukraine’s integration with Europe, reports Postimees Online.

“Estonia has full support for Ukraine’s aspirations to enhance cooperation with the European Union. The success of an independent Ukraine with respect of the principle of rule of law largely determines the future developments in our close neighborhood,” said the MP, adding that this has a direct link to Estonia’s security dimension.

“For example, Ukraine has had a much more difficult starting position than Estonia, and hence the internal developments after the Orange Revolution have probably not been as hoped for in the free world. In such a large country with great internal controversies as Ukraine, reforms simply take longer,” noted Mihkelson.

Estonia to cut individual income tax rate to 20% in 2015

Estonian MP and former Minister of Finance Aivar Sõerd who is also member of the parliamentary finance committee says that the Estonian taxation system needs to be  changed in order to remain in competition, Äripäev wrote last week.

Speaking in the taxation conference organized by Vaba Mõtte Koda, Sõerd said that the key area where Estonia’s taxation is about to change include cutting individual income tax rate, increasing non-taxable minimum and reduction of social tax burden.

Sõerd said that these are also the areas that most businessmen who operate in Estonia regard important.

"A country that wants to remain in global competition must work hard all the time. Our economic environment is constantly changing as countries are competing with each other for jobs and investments by changing taxation policies and regulations. This is exactly what we must do as well,” said Sõerd.