BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

tARTuFF Love Film Festival around the corner

The tARTuFF love film festival will take place for the eighth year in Tartu from August 5-10, with opening day boasting the largest outdoor movie watching experience in the Baltics, as the old town square is turned into a 1,500-seat venue with a 22-meter screen.There are plenty of box-office hits, documentaries and classics in the program, as well as poetry sessions, movie-making workshops for children, and concerts held in cooperation with Tartu Music Week.

The festival will kick off with Hungarian producer György Pálfi's "Final cut: Ladies and Gentlemen," a nod to the most romantic moments of movie history, combining over 500 films. Recent releases will include "Prince Avalanche," selected for the best director award at the Berlin Film Festival. It's an American comedy loosely based on Iceland's "Either Way.“

And the Polish drama "In The Name Of,“ also screened at the Berlin festival, will be shown with an introduction by lead actor Andrzej Chyra. Tartu viewers will have a chance to watch "Mood Indigo“ before its official premiere. The French romantic tragicomedy was selected as the opening film of the reputable Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and features Audrey Tautou.

"Quartet“ by Dustin Hoffman and "For Love's Sake" by Takashi Miike are also in the program. The classics will include "The Fly“ (1986) by Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg and "Saturday Night Fever“ (1977), a dance film starring John Travolta and featuring music from the Bee Gees.

The Estonian-made part of the program has the new documentary "To Breathe As One,“ which looks at Estonian choir tradition through the American perspective, and Moonika Siimetsa's witty musical "Last Romeo," deemed best student film of the year. Documentaries include "Searching for Sugar Man," "Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self Portrait,“ and "Woodstock in Timbuktu.“

Market is saturated, but retailers keep expanding in Estonia

Estonia has already one of the highest retail space per capita figure in Europe, but retailers continue to open more stores, writes Äripäev. According to statistics, Estonia has 1.3 square metres of retail trade space per resident which is roughly similar to Germany’s level of 1.4 sqm.

Most East and Central European countries that are comparable to Estonia have less than 1 sqm of retail space per resident. At the same, purchasing power of Estonians is much lower than that of Germans which means there is simply too much retail space in Estonia. Still, most large grocery chains plans to open more stores.

ETK that has 256 grocery stores in Estonia plans to open another Maksimarket supermarket in Pärnu and one Konsum store in Tallinn this year. Prisma that had revenue of 177m opened the largest supermarket in Southern Estonia in 2012.

Lithuanian-owned Maxima is developing XX supermarkets and says that the supermarket business is clearly growing. Last year Maxima opened one XX store in Tallinn. During the year, Maxima opened 6 stores, including four XX and two X supermarkets. Last year Selver opened three new supermarkets and two gourmet stores. OG Elektra that belongs to Oleg Gross opened four new stores last year.

In a week it plans to open a new stores in Keila. At the end of August it will open a store in Paldiski and another in October in Jõhvi. As for Rimi, it plans to open at least three supermarkets this year, including one in Tartu and two in Tallinn. Revenue of six larger grocery chains operating in Estonia totaled EUR 1.7 billion last year.

In revenue share, market leader is ETK with 24.7%, followed by Rimi (21.1%), Maxima (19.8%), Selver (19.4%), Prisma (10.4%) and Grossi Toidukaubad (4.2%). 

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonian Air says goodbye to its last Boeing

The last Boeing 733 that still belongs to the fleet of Estonian national carrier Estonian Air will be returned to the leasing company this week, writes Postimees. The aircraft has been standing idle since last some time as the airline prefers to operate Embraer and Bombardier aircraft.

“Boeing is simply too large. at the present market conditions, the most optimal aircraft for us have between 76 and 88 seats. In addition, the leasing contract of Boeing is about to expire,” said Ilona Eskelinen, head of public relations of Estonian Air. BBN reported in July that Estonian Air has said that its objective is to have only one type of aircraft. According to Palmer, Estonian Air that is operating three Bombardiers and two Embraers needs to focus on one type of aircraft to cut costs.

“The optimum solution is if Estonian Air has five aircraft of similar type,” said Palmer, adding that the first step is to get rid of excess aircraft and then focus on only one type of airplanes. “Europe has very strict requirements for stocks of spare parts, maintenance and pilot training for specific aircraft,” he said, adding that operating one type of aircraft would enable the airline to cut costs.

Estonian Air has already leased one Embraer 170 and crew with pilots out to Lithuanian-owned airline Air Lituanica. “Keeping a modern aircraft on the ground is very expensive so we had to make them to earn money. For the first time in very many years Estonian Air is making a profit which shows that we are using our resources very well,” said Palmer.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonia’s small size creates corruption risk

A new report on the risks of using EU funds shows that corruption in Estonia is becoming more and more difficult to discover as more decisions are made on the political level, writes Postimees.

EU’s anti-fraud agency OLAF has published a report based on 2012-2013 data on Estonia’s corruption risks related to EU funding.

According to OLAF, by the end of 2012, 339 violations or suspected violations of EU funding rules were detected in Estonia in the total amount of EUR 35m. Of that, 52% was either not paid out by EU or has been recovered or offset. The rest is either unclaimed or not yet repaid.

185 violations or suspected violations were recorded in 2012, of them 110 cases are still unresolved.

The report highlighted that the biggest risk of corruption is at the top of the system that distributes EU funding, ie on the political level, as well as on the lowest level, ie actual recipients of EU funding.

Estonia cold on joint Baltic armed forces idea

Estonian Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu and other defense policy makers have pored cold water on the idea of uniting the armies of the three Baltic countries, an idea most recently pitched by Latvian President Andris Berzins in an interview to the media on Friday.

“The current setup, where there is three separate militaries that cooperate and form temporary joint units for international tasks, is optimal,” Reinsalu told ETV on Sunday.

“The numbers currently are such that Estonia contributes 2 percent [of GDP to defense], and Latvia and Lithuania contribute a combined 2 percent. Also, in absolute sums, Estonia spends more on defense than either Latvia or Lithuania,” said Reinsalu, adding that neighboring Russia has doubled defense spending in the past four years.

“The armies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania differ by size and structure. Latvia should focus on increasing defense spending to 2 percent of [GDP] first,” reserve Lt. Col. Leo Kunnas said.

Current cooperation projects between the three countries include joint procurements, temporary units on foreign missions for NATO and the EU, air defense and the Baltic Defense College in Tartu.

Estonia and Germany only euro zone countries cutting debt in first quarter

Europe's biggest economy Germany and tiny Estonia were the only euro zone countries which reduced their public debt in the first quarter of this year.

The bloc is in the longest recession since the creation of the single currency in 1999, with five members receiving international aid, a record high jobless rate and fragile prospects for an export-driven recovery later this year.

Germany, which holds a general election in September, cut its public debt to 81.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the three months to March from 81.9 percent in the final quarter of 2012, data from the European Union's statistics office Eurostat showed on Monday.

Estonia, which adopted the euro in 2011 as the 17th country of the European Union, brought its debt down to 10.0 percent from 10.1 percent of GDP -- the lowest debt ratio in Europe. To help economic growth, European governments have decided to slow down the pace of fiscal tightening, triggered in 2010 by quickly rising borrowing costs as investors worried that huge debts diminished their prospects of getting their money back.

There are currently five euro zone members with debt to GDP ratios higher than 100 percent of the GDP, led by troubled Greece with 160.5 percent and followed by the bloc's fourth biggest economy Italy with a debt of 130.3 percent.

Reporting by Martin Santa

Karmen Pedaru - Vogue Espana - August 2013 - by Greg Kadel

Karmen Pedaru - Vogue - Spain - August 2013

Starring on the August issue of Vogue Spain, model Karmen Pedaru impresses in a black dress and sparkling gems. Her normally dark locks are traded in for wet and blonde tresses that remind us that we’re in the middle of one hot summer.

Traffic in Estonia is safer than in other Baltic States

In a new blog entry, the Statistics Board stated that Estonia had the safest traffic year in 2012 among all Baltic States, writes LETA/National Broadcasting.

In terms of traffic fatalities in the EU, the lowest numbers last year were reported by the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark. The total number of traffic fatalities in the European Union fell by 9%.

There were a total of 1,381 traffic accidents with human victims in Estonia. Pedestrians are injured in approximately a quarter of all traffic accidents with human victims and bicycle riders suffer in approximately 10% of all traffic accidents. The proportions are similar in fatal traffic accidents as well.

Estonia wants another European union

Joining the European Union in 2004 clearly wasn’t enough for Estonia: its international rally now wants a place on the European championship calendar.

Rally Estonia, which is taking place this week, is targeting a 2014 ERC slot with event chief Urmo Aava confirming that the country’s government will decide next month whether or not it will splash the cash on securing a round of the regional championship.

Speaking to Becs Williams in Otepaa yesterday, Aava, a stage winner in the world championship in the past, said: “We can never say never but looking to the calendar and the plans the FIA has for the WRC then that looks like mission impossible. But where we should be and what championship we can organise a very good rally for is the European championship. We are working for that and at the moment we are waiting a decision from the government, which should be in August. Will they support us or not because always if you want to organise a high-level rally you need money.”

Aava, who has been at the helm of Rally Estonia for four years having called time on his driving career, added: “But it’s not all about money, it’s also making sure that the police, ambulance and rescue services are 100 per cent ready.”

Approximately 20,000 spectators are set to attend this year’s Rally Estonia, not bad for a country with a population of 1.2 million.

Bloomberg ranks Estonia above Latvia, Lithuania by stress levels

Estonia is a relatively low-stress country, shows the Most Stressed-out Nations in the World survey by Bloomberg. The most stressed out nation was Nigeria and the least-stressed was Norway.

In the survey, the higher-ranked the country, the least stressed it was.
- Estonia ranked 52nd, Latvia ranked 34th and Lithuania 38th.
- Russia ranked 25th,  Finland was ranked 68th. US was ranked 54th.

When compiling the top list, the news agency used indicators such as GDP per capital, Gini coefficient, number of murders committed per 100,000 residents per year, life expectancy, unemployment level, air pollution level and corruption.

Authors of the report wrote: while anti-depressant use is surging in Sweden (up 1000% since 1980), bursting in Britain (up 495% since 1991), and up an astounding 400% since 1994 in the USA (with 1 in 10 on some kind of 'prozac'), it is the poor-old Nigerians that should really be complaining.Based on seven variables, Bloomberg scored 74 nations around the world for their "stressed-out" factor.

The seven equally weighted variables were homicide rates, GDP per capita on a purchasing-power-parity basis, income inequality, corruption perception, unemployment, urban air pollution and life expectancy.

Estonia to digitise the system for sick leave certificates

The Minister of Social Affairs Taavi Rõivas signed the draft law that would make issuing certificates for incapacity for work and submission of them to employers and to the Health Insurance Fund electronic, writes LETA/Delfi.ee.

Rõivas noted that electronic system for issuing and forwarding certificates for incapacity for work will expedite transferring sick leave benefits for people.

“The electronic certificates for incapacity for work will also reduce costs for doctors and midwives incurred by issuing the certificates on paper, relieve employers from the obligation to submit certificates on paper to the Health Insurance Fund and thus reduce postage and time costs in submitting date,” he added.

Electricity price in Estonia grew by 43.7% in June

Electricity price in Estonia increased by 43.7% in June, reaching 53.4 euros per MWh, Estonian energy enterprise Eesti Energia said in a statement, cites LETA.

In Finland, price increased only by 3.4% averaging at 38.6 euros per MWh. The average price of newly formed Latvian bidding area was in June 54.5 euros per MWh. Electricity price in Lithuania increased by 36.9% to 54.8 euros per MWh.

The Nordic hydro reservoir levels close to long-term median. Crude oil end of month closing price turned out to 102.2 $/bbl. Carbon permits price monthly increase was 7%.

German 2014 base energy contract price level in slight downward trend. Coal price continuously decreasing because of the decline in demand.

Hilton Worldwide set to enter Estonia with the signing of Hilton Tallinn

First Hilton in the Baltics expected to open in 2016

Set to open in the heart of Estonia’s historic capital, Hilton Tallinn becomes Hilton Worldwide’s first property to be announced in the Baltic States. The upscale hotel is expected to begin welcoming guests in 2016 and will be located just a few minutes’ walk from the historic old town and major commercial areas of the city, making it an ideal choice for both business and leisure guests.

The announcement comes following the signing of a management agreement by Hilton Worldwide with project owner Fortuna Travel OÜ, part of the Olympic Entertainment Group that is publicly listed on the Tallinn and Warsaw Stock Exchange.  

“With Hilton Worldwide’s heritage in Europe stretching almost 60 years, we are delighted to announce our expansion into the Baltic region,” said Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president, development, Europe & Africa, Hilton Worldwide. “Hilton Tallinn is a high quality project and a superb example of our core Hilton brand expanding in capital cities and popular destinations across the region.”  

The little Russia that wanted to break away

Twenty years ago, the district of Ida-Viru voted in favour of autonomy but was halted by the Estonian state. Today, the 146,000 inhabitants of the region, most of them Russian, have given up asserting their claim. Nonetheless, they live apart from the rest of the country.

“What referendum? No, I wasn't aware of one,” admits a surprised Julia [Russian], 42 years old and a resident of Narva, on the 20th anniversary of the referendum on the autonomy of her region, Ida-Viru [the most eastern district]. At the time, however, the yes vote had prevailed [54 per cent of the vote, with a 52 per cent turnout], worrying the none-too-strong forces defending the young Estonian Republic.

The consultation had been held in 1993, on July 16 and 17 in three towns in the region: Narva, Kohtla-Järve and Sillamäe. Despite the results, the State Court ruled that the referendum in the three cities contravened the Constitution and the movement for autonomy was quickly deflated. No Transnistria of Estonia was therefore born [a reference to the Russian-speaking region that broke away from Moldova but has not been recognised by any country].

At the time, the situation was not without problems. Narva was a city where the blue, black and white flag of Estonia fluttered close by the statue of Lenin. “[The most powerful experience that I lived through: meeting three real Cossacks in the flesh] coming out of the cabinet of Vladimir Tšuikin, president of the Municipal Assembly,” remembers Rein Annik, aged 78, then director of the city’s electrical grid. The burly and mustachioed men wearing sword belts frightened him. That day, Tšuikin asked him whether it would be possible to install a compound and electricity at the checkpoint between what would become the autonomous region and the Republic of Estonia.

Swedish report urges Estonia to give up oil shale energy

A climate change report of the Swedish Air Pollution and Climate Secretariat calls on Estonia to drop oil shale energy, emphasizing that the emerging green economy must offer work to released miners and other oil shale sector employees in the northeastern Virumaa region, the Estonian Renewable Energy Association reports.

"The report singles out Estonia as the biggest per capita polluter in the region," the head of the association, Rene Tammist, says in his blog.

The document calls the Estonian oil shale complex the dirtiest industry in the Baltic Sea region and voices concern that contrary to the European Union's climate and energy policy directions Estonia continues developing its oil shale industry.

According to the report, the jobs to replace those lost through the gradual closure of the oil shale complex must be created in green economy and also be located in the northeast. This would avert mounting of social problems and ethnic tensions, the report says.

The report that surveys eight countries says that carbon dioxide emissions in the Nordic and Baltic region should be reduced by 70 percent by 2020 and by 95 percent by 2030 through efficient use of existing technologies.

It puts emphasis on energy saving in buildings and transport, and suggests giving up the use of coal, oil shale and peat to produce electricity and heat, cutting back drilling for oil and gas in Norway and concentrating on clean energy production.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonia company wants to pull 2.6 billion barrels of oil from Utah

VERNAL — An Estonia company that has turned oil shale into fuel oil during the past 30 years wants to mine rock from a remote region of the Uintah Basin, tapping 2.6 billion barrels of oil in the decades to come.

That staggering production, 50,000 barrels of oil per day, would represent one-third of Utah's liquid fuel consumption and is touted to emerge from a processing and refining plant that would put power back into the energy grid.

Enefit American Oil, the American subsidiary behind these numbers, is banking on new technology at one of its recently debuted plants in Estonia to take Utah's oil shale and turn it into big money for the company, Uintah County and the state of Utah.

Oil shale foes, however, say the company has a poor track record in Estonia, a country that borders Russia, and they point to environmental threats on land and in the air in Utah, and question the drain that the operations could place on the West's scarce water resources.

While Estonia company representatives don't deny the practices of the past, they say technology and environmental stewardship have evolved from when the country was under Soviet control and reflects the work of an independent country with membership in the European Union.

Estonia registers EU's steepest increase in house prices in Q1

The House Price Index rose 7.2% in Latvia in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the corresponding period of 2012, the second steepest increase among all EU countries for which data are available, according to the latest data from the EU's statistical office Eurostat. Estonia was a leader, informs LETA.

Estonia registered the largest increase in house prices – by 7.7%, followed by Lithuania, Luxembourg – 4.3%, and Sweden – 4.1%.

The steepest decreases were registered in Spain – 12.8%, Hungary – 9.3%, Portugal – 7.3%, and the Netherlands – 7.2%.

House prices, as measured by the House Price Index, fell 2.2% in the euro area and 1.4% in the EU in the first quarter of 2013, compared with the same quarter of the previous year. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, house prices fell one% in the euro area and 0.6% in the EU in the first quarter of 2013.

The largest quarter-quarter increases were registered in Romania – 4.3%, Estonia – 3.1%, as well as Latvia and Slovakia – 2.3% each. The largest decreases were observed in Spain – 5.1%, Cyprus – 4.8%, and Hungary – 3.3%.

The House Price Index in Lithuania increased 0.7% when compared to the previous quarter.

Estonian Air back in profit after three years

The future of Estonian national carrier Estonian Air today is more certain that it was three months ago, Estonian Air CEO Jan Palmér said in an interview to Ärileht.

We are back on track," he said. Palmer has been running Estonian Air for nine months after taking over from Tero Taskila.

Q: At the end of July you will be publishing Estonian Air's second quarter and first-half results. What can we expect?
A: Our objective was to reach running profit before summer, more specifically in May. We did not achieve it then, but we did it in June.,
This is the first time after 2010 when we broke even, considering all costs. You can say that half-year results are satisfactory, we are ahead of our plan and it is very important in the light of restructuring and state loan. We hope to reach annual profit in 2014.
On July 19 we will say goodbye to our last Boeing and will be operating seven aircraft, including three Bombardiers and four Embraers, as planned. Half of the personnel has been laid off and we have reached a reasonable staff number.

Q: Recently, you laid off two management board members Rauno Parras and Jyri Ketola. How is this going to affect the work of the management?
A: We did it to simplify management work. Such a small company does not need a board of six members. Instead of the current four we will have three: me, finance director Wade Stokes and chief operating officer Mikael Wångdahl. (Also the position of Andreas Kari will be abolished - editor).

Toomas Hõbemägi

Air Baltic told to repay illegal state aid in 9 years

According to an anonymous source, the European Commission has made a decision under which state aid provided to Latvian national carrier Air Baltic has been illegal and the airline must now repay state aid within 9 years, E24 wrote yesterday.

Liene Dupate, press spokesperson of Air Baltic, told E24 that it was nothing but speculation and Air Baltic has recently received no news from the European Commission regarding state aid.

When the Latvian government took over Air Baltic in December 2011, it injected about 58 million lats in the airline. The European Commission has been probing two state loans: a 16 million lat loan give in October 2011 and a 41 million lat loan issued in December 2011. Air Baltic ended 2012 with a loss of 19 million lats, while the loss in 2011 was 83 million lats.

Dark clouds over Estonian Air as well
If the speculation is true, a similar fate could easily hit Estonian national carrier Estonian Air.

The European Commission is already examining the legality of previous loans and aid packages to the company with regard to competition laws and excessive reliance on taxpayers. One of the specific issues being examined by the commission is the suspected violation of the condition that governments can only give rescue aid once every 10 years.

The Estonian government bought back most of the airline's shares from SAS in 2010. Since 2009, the airline has received state aid on numerous occasions, including three capital injections totaling 57 million euros.

Toomas Hõbemägi