BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Estonian Air wins court battle with Bombardier

Canada’s Ontario Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Estonian Air in the airline’s dispute with Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, writes Postimees.

Estonian Air’s CEO Jan Palmer confirmed that the court case was over and that the court ruled in favour if Estonian Air. Palmer was unable to say how much the court case cost the airline.

The company has not announced the compensation amount that Bombardier had been demanding from the Estonian state and Estonian Air for cancelling its order to new aircraft. It is known that Estonian Air paid Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer around EUR 8m for cancelling its order to buy two aircraft.

Estonian Air and Bombardier made an agreement in 2011 that Estonian Air will buy five new Bombardier aircraft CRJ900. The transaction was financed by the Canadian export credit agency.

When Estonian Air cancelled the aircraft purchase agreement with Bombardier, the Canadian company claimed that the Estonian government had interfered in the decision-making process of Estonian Air and had forced the airline to cancel its agreement with Bombardier so that it could buy five Embraer aircraft.

Embraer delivered three planes to Estonian Air, but the order for two was cancelled when the state changed the strategy of Estonian Air and the airline no longer needed so many planes.

Sales manager of Bombardier, Robert Baseggio, claimed that he was informed by Estonian Air CEO Tero Taskila that Embraer was lobbying the Estonian government to buy aircraft from Embraer instead of Bombardier. The Canadian supreme court ruled that there was no evidence that the Estonian state had influenced the decision of Estonian Air.

OECD report addresses income gap, relatively low satisfaction with life

An OECD report released today points out the significant gap between the rich and poor in Estonia, with the top 20 percent of the population earning five times as much as the bottom 20 percent.

Estonia has made progress over the last decade in terms of improving the quality of life of its citizens. Until the financial crisis of 2008, the economy had seen record-breaking growth. Notwithstanding, Estonia still ranks low in a number of areas relative to most other countries in the Better Life Index, according to the report.

In terms of employment, around 65 percent of people aged 15 to 64 in Estonia have a paying job, close to the OECD employment average of 66 percent. Some 68 percent of men are working, compared with 63 percent of women, suggesting that women are able to successfully balance their family and career.

According to the report, Estonians work hard - 1,924 hours a year, more than the OECD average of 1,776 hours. Around 4 percent of employees work very long hours, much lower than the OECD average of 9 percent.

Money, while it is said cannot buy happiness, is an important indicator of higher living standards. In Estonia, the average household's net disposable income is 12,800 US dollars a year, less than the OECD average of 23,047 US dollars a year.

In general, Estonians are less satisfied with their lives (feelings of success, enjoyment, worry, sadness, boredom, etc) than the OECD average, with 69 percent of people saying they have more positive experiences in an average day than negative ones. The satisfaction level is one of the lowest figures in the OECD, compared with the average 80 percent.

Third pension pillar is becoming less popular in Estonia

Estonian Tax Board data indicate that the interest of people towards the third, voluntary pension pillar has fallen for four years in a row, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

According to last year's tax concessions statistics, the payments to the third pillar fell by nearly a million euros to 29 million. The number of income tax declarations where the third pillar payments were listed fell in a year by around 3,400 to 61,900.

The fall has lasted for four years. In 2008, the sum was 44 million euros and the number of declarers 98,200. SEB revealed in spring that the third pension pillar residue forms just 6% of the volume of deposits.

One of the reason why the third pillar pension funds have lost popularity can be the decision of the state to set a ceiling to income tax that can be reclaimed for the payments.

Estonia's e-government still one of the best in Europe

The access in Estonia to the e-services and information offered by the state is among the best in the European Union, the European Commission's 2012 e-governments comparative study indicates, LETA/Delfi reports.

The eGovernment Benchmark 2012 report surveyed 28,000 internet users across 32 countries.

While generally EU's e-services users are more satisfied with Internet baking and commerce than pubic Internets services, for Estonia, the comparative study points out state portal eesti.ee where people have access to more than a hundred state e-services and sources of information.

Estonia is also a good example of how decentralising yields positive results in the digital sphere – Estonia has developed, instead of one central system, a system that joins different open decentralised services and databases. Due to the flexibility of the system, over the years the digital society has been supplemented with new parts and upgraded. The expanding possibility is the reason why Estonia can be considered one of the success stories of the past decade and why the state has despite relatively small ICT sector budget managed to develop in this sphere.

In the whole EU, the most popular services were declaring income taxes (73% of users declare taxes online), moving or changing address (57%) and enrolling in higher education and/or applying for student grant (56%). 47% of eGovernment users got all they wanted from online services, 46% only partially received what they were looking for.

Estonia completes military drills with NATO Allies

Tallinn - Estonia completed on Saturday large-scale military drills, which began on May 9 and involved some 5,000 military personnel, including from NATO allies, the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces said. The Spring Storm (Kevadtorm) drills have been held annually in different parts of Estonia since 2003.

This year they were held in northern and central Estonia and involved for the first time units from the UK, Belgium and Poland as well as the Estonian navy, according to the Russian (RIA Novosti) News Agency.

"Our military servicemen gained experience of cooperation with pilots from Poland, air defense experts from Belgium, infantrymen from Britain, Latvia and Lithuania by participating in joint drills," Estonian Commander in Chief Gen.-Maj. Riho Terras said. NATO allies were represented by an infantry company from the UK and Latvia each, a reconnaissance platoon from Lithuania and an anti-aircraft missile platoon from Belgium.

The exercise also involved Polish attack aircraft SU-22, Estonia's training jets L-39, light helicopters R-44, light transport planes An-2 and French Mirage F-1 aircraft, according to Estonian newspaper Postimees. Estonia, as well as two other ex-Soviet republics in the Baltics - Latvia and Lithuania, joined NATO in March 2004.

Estonia's registered crime rate fell by 4% in 4 months

According to Estonian justice ministry statistics, 12,460 crimes were registered in Estonia in the first four months of the year 2013, which was by 515 crimes or 4% less than at the same time last year, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

The number of crimes fell for 77 types of crimes and grew for 83 types.

The main factor to affect the total crime rate is fall of the number of thefts, which has taken place since 2009. In four months of this year, the number of thefts fell by 658 cases or 12%.

The number of fraudulence has increased by 55% to 589. Crimes against persons grew by 8%. The number of serious crimes against persons – manslaughters and murders, fell by 10 cases.

Kanepi beats Peng in Brussels Open final

The WTA's 40th-ranked player Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat No.34 Peng Shuai of China 6-2 7-5 to win the Brussels Open.Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat Peng Shuai of China 6-2 7-5 to win the Brussels Open on Saturday.

Kanepi won the fourth tournament in her WTA career by racing out to build a big lead before surviving some late jitters and clinching a big boost ahead of the French Open which starts on Sunday.

"This win gives me confidence and I feel good going to Roland Garros," 27-year-old said. The sun finally broke out over the Heysel courts on Saturday after a week filled with frustration over the unusually cold and wet conditions.

"It has been a really tough week because wind and weather and cold," she said. The long delays forced the players to finish both semis and the final on the same day. In Saturday morning's semi-finals, eighth-seeded Peng defeated Romina Oprandi of Switzerland in a tough three-setter 6-4 2-6 6-4.

Kanepi moved into the final by edging Jamie Hampton of the United States, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

The players were given a few hours rest before the final. Peng, ranked 34th in the world, already reached the final in 2011. Kanepi is 40th in the WTA rankings and reached the semi-finals in Brussels last year.

Number of doctors will fall drastically in 20 years in Estonia

An especially bleak scenario heralds a fall of the number of doctors in Estonia from 4,500 to 2,500 in 20 years since already now, every 7th doctor working in Estonia is in retirement age while an increasing number of medical school graduates leave Estonia after graduation, LETA/Postimees writes.

Tartu University scientists Raul-Allan Kiivet, Helle Visk and Toomas Asser write in their study on the dynamics in the number of doctors and nurses working in Estonia in 2032, that only with a utopian scenario: if all the 120 graduates of doctor's studies started working in Estonia immediately, and no young doctors left abroad, the number of doctors would not fall drastically.

The reality is however that an average of 15% new doctors won't start working in Estonia. For example in 2011, out of the 107 doctors who graduated, just 66 started working in Estonia. 725 young doctors out if the 981 who had graduated from the department of medicine in 2002-2011, worked in Estonia in April 2012, meaning a loss of over 250 new doctors.

The truth is that not all young doctors would find work in Estonia, 4,500 doctors is sufficient for Estonia, being three doctors per 1,000 people, which is Europe's average. However there are fields were shortage of doctors is higher than in other places. For example a year ago, 54 family doctors had left for work in Finland and 141 had taken a certificate from the Health Board to work abroad, meaning that at least a part of them work part-time in Estonia and part-time in Finland.

The authors of the study say that the acceptance of medical students to university has to be increased by a fourth to preserve the number of doctors at the current level and the exodus of doctors from Estonia should be halved.

Estonia's monthly wages up 6.3% in a year to EUR 900

According to Statistics Estonia, in the 1st quarter of 2013, average monthly gross wages were 900 euros, an increase of 6.3% year on year. Average hourly gross wages were 5.63 euros, an increase of 9.1% in a year.

Real wages, which take into account the influence of the change in the consumer price index, increased 2.7% in the 1st quarter of 2013. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, real wages increased for the seventh quarter in succession.

According to the Wages and Salaries Statistics Survey, the number of employees as at the end of March was practically the same as in the same period of 2012.

Compared to the 1st quarter of 2012, the average monthly gross wages increased the most in real estate activities (13.9%) and the hourly gross wages in agriculture, forestry and fishing activities (15.7%). Compared to the 1st quarter of 2012, the average monthly and hourly gross wages decreased only in arts, entertainment and recreation activities (2.0% and 1.0%, respectively).

The average gross wages were 876 euros in January, 882 euros in February and 940 euros in March.

Emigrant return rate at 30 / 40%

According to recent trends, 30-40 percent of Estonian citizens who emigrate from the country eventually return.

In 2012, migration shrank Estonia's population by 6,629, with 10,873 people emigrating and 4,244 immigrating, Statistics Estonia said in a statement today. Of last year's immigrants, a full 70 percent were returning citizens - those who had emigrated or their foreign-born children.

Finland, which has for many years been the largest destination country for Estonian emigration, saw 6,386 Estonians arrive last year, accounting for 59 percent of the total outflow. The number of people moving in the opposite direction numbered 1,503, which also puts Finland at the top of the list for countries of origin for immigration to Estonia.

The next largest destination country for Estonian emigrants was the UK, which took in 1,369 and gave back only 258. After Finland, the largest source of immigrants, accounting for 24 percent of the total, was Russia.

Certain readers may be concerned that net migration is also reducing the number of young females in Estonia. Women account for a majority of the emigrants but men make up the lion's share of immigrants to the country. The combination of these two factors put the female portion of the 2012 net migration loss at 60 percent. Most emigrants were in the 20 to 44 age group.

Paet : Allowing double citizenship stuck in disagreement of ministries

Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet said on Wednesday in the Riigikogu that there are no developments on allowing double citizenship since the visions of the interior ministry and foreign ministry don’t coincide, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

"The main reason why the matter hasn’t progressed is that the interior ministry and foreign minister have different opinions," said Paet. Foreign ministry is of the opinion that citizens by birth could be allowed double citizenship. An analysis compiled in the interior ministry has reached the contrary conclusion.

"This is the place for discussions whether it is possible to bring these positions closer and make these decisions," said Paet, adding that amendments to the citizenship law are in the interior ministry governance sphere and the foreign ministry can only submit proposals.

The problem that has been in works for over a year lies in the fact that the Estonian citizenship law doesn’t allow double citizenship, but the Constitution doesn’t allow taking away Estonian citizenship received by birth from anyone. Foreign minister first raised the issue last summer since it merged repeatedly in Estonian foreign representations.

The majority of parliament parties have in principle supported allowing double citizenship, which would concern offspring of people who have left Estonia either in 1940s or later.

Estonian milk production posted a new record in March

Estonia fulfilled 95.96% of the milk production quota that was allocated it in the quota year that ended with March as the dairy herds of 901 quota holders produced nearly 658,400 tonnes of milk, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

The results posted are a record in both the amount of milk and quota fulfilment percentage. The milk quota year lasted from April 1 last year to March 31 this year, the Agricultural Registries and Information Board (PRIA) reported.

The European Commission quota for Estonia was 686,000 tonnes for this period. Out of this, 672,000 tonnes had been distributed to quota holders based on their applications.

Although the number of quota holders fell in a year by 60, the amount of milk they produced was by around 22,000 tonnes bigger than in the preceding quota year.

In the new quota year that started on April 1 this year, the European Commission set Estonia's milk quota at 692,926,049 kg. At the start of the 2013/2014 quota year, there were 856 milk quota holders.

Estonia – like a pawn in the game between two great powers

Similar to the Soviet internal corps, the Waffen-SS were the army of the party in Germany between 1941 and 1942, forming the vanguard of troops during the war. What the blogger fails to take into account is the relationship that existed between the nations at that time and the difficulties of fleshing out the thinning ranks of the Wehrmacht after Germany’s peak in 1942. In order to understand the reasons behind the annual meetings of veterans in the Blue Mountains, it is necessary to look into the past.

Between 1930 and 1945, Europe was as a game of chess between the two great dictators Stalin and Hitler in which Stalin – formerly the better strategist – won.

Let us not forget that the Kremlin initially supported National-Socialist Germany. It was under orders from Moscow that the combined efforts of Fascist and Communist organisations led to the fall of the Weimar Republic, to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and, until 1941, to the supply of extensive material support for Hitler’s military projects. After these efforts, a weakened Eastern Europe came under Stalin’s control. Then, with the terrible losses suffered by the Russian people, the German military machine – as if by the wave of a magic wand – turned against Stalin and the Communist leadership finally took notice.

The Republic of Estonia in 1931 was a most usual European country, especially proud of its hard-won independence and eager to keep away from the impending European military threat. Confrontation and ambition were alien concepts to its leadership, which, in the end, came to be the reason for the period of great loss suffered by this small country during the war.

Center party to dominate local elections

Emor's most recent monthly public opinion poll, released last week, finds that the Center Party, while an opposition party in Parliament, continues to hold the biggest municipal-level backing, notably in Tallinn, ahead of next October's local government elections.

With the elections drawing closer, the Center Party is on a strong footing in much of Estonia, holding an accumulative 40 percent of votes from the country's biggest towns. The Social Dems, and the nationally ruling parties, the Reform Party and IRL, are far behind, with 13 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Center also looks set to continue its long reign in Tallinn, where support amounts to 47 percent - just four percentage points shy of an absolute majority. Experts calculate that 18 percent of the votes will be lost to independent candidates, election coalitions and small parties that can't pass the threshold, translating into an even higher, 53-54 percent for the Center Party.

"One thing is almost certain: in Tallinn, the Center Party will win," said the pollster's leading expert, Aivar Voog. Astoundingly, the Center Party has dramatically increased its support among ethnic Russians by 20 percent in just a single month.

A political scientist at the University of Tartu, Rein Toomla, said one reason for the Center Party's popularity in Tallinn could be its superior incumbent, Mayor Edgar Savisaar. "They don't measure up to Savisaar in terms of recognition, charisma and perhaps political prowess," Toomla said.

Well-preserved skeleton recovered from medieval tomb

A yet-to-be identified, intact, male skeleton has been excavated from a brick tomb at the Tartu Cathedral, despite archaeologists' initial worry that the tomb would be empty.

The tomb, dating back at least to the mid-16th century, was found in March during renovation work. Digging further to a depth of 1.8 meters, archaeologists found a skeleton buried in a decomposed wooden box, a statement from the University of Tartu said.

“We found no personal belongings with the deceased, but [we found] plenty of coffin nails and some rotten wood. We're hoping that further analysis will show us the type of wood the coffin was made of, and with that, the period of the interment,” said the university's archaeologist Martin Malve.

“We can currently say that the skeleton originates from the 13-15th century, when tombs were actively used for burials. The skeleton belonged to a man aged 40-50. Initial examination shows that the teeth were relatively unworn; there were a few teeth missing from when he was alive, as well as plaque and dental cavities. The right elbow [...] had a healed bone fracture that could have resulted from trying to stop a fall,” Malve said.

The skeleton is undergoing further analysis at the University of Tartu's human bones repository. The university's history museum, which is located at the site of the ruins of the Tartu Cathedral, hopes to put the find up on display by the end of summer.

The university's experts have previously said that the find is one of the rarest in Estonia.

Karmen Pedaru - 66th Cannes Film Festival at Hotel du Cap Eden Roc

ANTIBES - Model Karmen Pedaru attends the 'De Grisogono' Party during The 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc on May 21, 2013 in Antibes, France.

(Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for de Grisogono)

Estonian Minister of Justice pays official visit to Armenia

Estonia's unemployment at 10.2% in Q1

According to the Labour Force Survey, Estonia's unemployment rate was 10.2% in the 1st quarter of 2013 year on year and up from 9.3% in Q4.

The estimated number of unemployed persons was 71,000, which was by 7,000 persons more compared to the previous quarter. The unemployment increased among men as well as among women.

The unemployment rate of persons aged 25–49 was 9.9%. The unemployment of persons aged 15–24 exceeded More than half of the 7,000 unemployed persons who were added compared to the previous quarter were under 25 years of age.

The number of the unemployed grew primarily due to the growth of short-term unemployment. The number of long-term unemployed (i.e. people who had been looking for a job for one year or more) remained unchanged (33,000). The long-term unemployment rate was 4.7% in the 1st quarter.

In the 1st quarter, the employment rate of the population aged 15–74 was 60.8%. The estimated number of employed persons was 623,000 and it remained on the same level compared to the previous quarter.

Statistics Estonia has been conducting the Labour Force Survey since 1995 and every quarter 5,000 persons participate in the survey. The Labour Force Survey is carried out by statistical organisations in all the European Union Member States on the basis of a harmonised methodology.

A large part of vegetables imported to Estonia comes from Latvia

Over 30,000 tonnes or 22.3 million euro worth of vegetables was imported to Estonia in 2012, a large part of it from Latvia, LETA/Maaleht Online reports.

10,800 tonnes of tomatoes, that have the biggest share in the import of vegetables (35.6%) was imported to Estonia in 2012, most of it from Holland (51.6%), Latvia (20.2%) and Spain (9.1%).

4,400 tonnes of cucumbers was imported, by 22% more than in 2011. Most of the cucumbers came from Latvia (25.0%), Germany (18.8%) and Poland (16.8%).

Over a third of imported vegetables is formed by salad, of which 1,200 tonnes was imported, by 155 tonnes more than in 2011. Most of the salad came from Holland (36.6%), Finland (24.5%) and Latvia (14.5%).

Onions were imported mostly from Holland (31.2%), Poland (24.3%) and Latvia (23%).

4,700 tonnes of cabbage was imported, by nearly a fifth less than last year. Cabbage formed 15.6% of imported vegetables. Most of the cabbage came from Latvia (54.8%), Poland (12.9%) and Holland (12.2%).

2,400 tonnes of root crops were imported in 2012, most of it from Latvia (31.5%), Holland (18.4%) and Poland (16.8%). 1,800 tonnes of potatoes was imported, most of it from Latvia (27.6%), Finland (27.8%) and Holland (17.3%).

Worldwide sanctions imposed on players from Estonia and Lebanon

FIFA can today confirm the worldwide extension of sanctions imposed on eight players by the Estonian Football Association and one player by the Lebanese Football Association relating to match-manipulation and fraud investigations.

The eight Estonian players each received a one-year ban from all football-related activities while the Lebanese player was banned from all football-related activities for life.

The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee extended the sanctions to have worldwide effect on 6 May 2013, in accordance with article 78 paragraph 1(c) and article 136ff of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.

The Estonian FA has been cooperating with national judicial authorities after the State Prosecutor Office opened fraud investigations in 2011 against the eight players for allegedly receiving money from a bookmaker in connection with a number of matches of the Estonian top league, the Meistriliiga, and the Estonian Cup.

Following the criminal investigation of the State Prosecutor Office, the Estonian FA disciplinary board opened its own proceedings and decided on 1 March 2013 to impose on each player a one-year ban from all football-related activities in Estonia. The Estonian FA has specified that the bans are temporary at this stage, as more evidence and information is currently being gathered.