BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Conde Nast names Swissotel Tallinn 2nd of top 5 hotels in Eastern Europe

Swissôtel Tallinn has came second in the Condé Nast Travelers Readers’ Choice Awards 2013 in the category “Top 5 Hotels in Eastern Europe,” announced the hotel.

Nearly 80,000 people took part in the survey, casting 1.3 million votes rating the best hotels in Estonia, Finland, Romania and Russia.

Swissôtel Tallinn came second behind the Hotel Kämp in Helsinki. Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest Hotel came third while the fourth and fifth positions went to Russia; the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow coming in fourth with the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg fifth.

In August Swissotel Tallinn won two awards at the World Travel Awards ceremony.

Toomas Höbemägi

Peacock flies from Tokyo to Tallinn

The 1st Tallinn Black Nights Japan-Estonia Partnership Award was presented to KAWAGUCHI Hirofumi's Where the Peacocks Fly at the close of TIFFCOM Co-Pro Connection this afternoon.

The award, initiated by Sten SALUVEER, industry director of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, goes to one of the five Japanese projects presented at TIFFCOM this week deemed to have the most potential as a European co-production.

Saluveer, told Film Business Asia that the winning project was chosen because the film-makers always had a European aesthetic in mind, including the hiring of a European DoP. The film's producer, KIMURA Misa will be invited to meet European investors in Tallinn next month.

Peacocks, a co-production between Japan and Myanmar, is about a 17-year-old cosplay idol who sets out to prove the innocence of the Burmese refugee blamed for killing her sister. She emails her fans to join her on a trip to Myanmar, transforming into a "Fighting Peacock" of justice.

Before presenting the award, Saluveer introduced his festival, noting that 40% of the films are from Asia, and popular with their audience. He said that the festival had been exploring how to work more closely with Asian producers for some time but only now has financial support from its government.

Tallinn, the promised land of shopping malls

Postimaja in central Tallinn that opened its doors as a shopping mall will further increase the amount of floor space in shopping centres in Tallinn, writes Postimees.

When new planned retail developments are completed, Tallinn will have almost 2 square metres of shopping floor space per inhabitant.

According to the latest data of European shopping centres, Estonia is already fourth in Europe in terms of shopping space per inhabitant, the first three being Norway, Luxembourg and Sweden.

One of the new retail developments that are expected to open doors in the coming years is Ülemiste Centre’s expansion that will increase the mall’s floor space to 92,000 sqm.

Panorama City shopping mall that is being developed in Lasnamäe will have 57,000 sqm of floor space, while Pro Kapital plans to develop a shopping centre at the new Ülemiste traffic junction with 55,000 sqm of floor space.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Estonia to extradite fugitive Russian ex-lawmaker

TALLINN - The Justice Ministry of Estonia has decided to extradite fugitive banker and ex-lawmaker Alexander Dmitriyev to Russia, the Ministry's spokesperson Maria-Elisa Tuulik announced Thursday.

Dmitriyev was detained in the country in January on fraud charges.

Early in October, the Tallinn District Court cancelled the extradition of Dmitriyev. The court refused the extradition on the grounds that the motion filed by the Justice Ministry was legally unsubstantiated.

The Russian Investigative Committee earlier reported that Dmitryiev, who headed the Omsk branch of "AK Bars Bank" in 2007-2009, issued over 100 mortgage loans using forged documents and fictitious personal data, totaling up 350 million rubles ($11 million).

Later, with the help of the accomplices, many of whom were his governmental aides in municipal parliament, he allegedly funneled the money out to a number of front companies. From these funds Dmitryiev indulged himself in luxury cars, a boat and an airplane, the investigators say.

Dmirtyev managed to escape justice and was put on an international wanted list in 2011. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Estonia leads the way on safer internet transactions

Prime minister calls for safer and easier online services.

Andrus Ansip, Estonia's prime minister, is urging European Union leaders to adopt proposals that would make it easier and safer for EU citizens to conduct transactions over the internet.

As an Estonian, he is well placed to understand the role technology can play in making citizens' lives easier. The Baltic republic is one of the world's most advanced e-societies, with citizens able to use electronic identity cards (eIDs) to access a wide range of public and private services online – whether voting in national elections, filing tax forms or making a bank transfer.

What is more, Estonians actually use these services: more than 90% of Estonians have eIDs, 24% voted using the internet in the last parliamentary elections in 2011, and 94% of tax returns were filed online in 2012.

The time that this saves for Estonians is worth an estimated 2% of gross domestic product, says Ansip. All the more reason, he says, why EU leaders must hurry, before the European Parliament dissolves in April 2014, to adopt a Commission proposal on eIDs and electronc trust services that would allow EU citizens, businessmen and governments to use their national eIDs to sign for online transactions in any other member state.

Riigikogu candidates win big

Ninety-three members of the Estonian Riigikogu were among the candidates in the Estonian municipality councils elections that took place on Oct. 20, with 60 being elected, although the majority of them are unlikely to start working in a municipal council, reports Postimees Online.

The most successful of the MPs was Center Party member Juri Ratas who collected 8,018 votes in Tallinn. Altogether, 21 Center Party MPs ran in the elections and 16 were elected to municipal councils. Besides Ratas, the party's other MPs-vote magnets were Yana Toom with 5,322 votes in Tallinn, and Viktor Vassiljev with 4,077 votes in Tallinn. In comparison, Center Party chairman and mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar received 39,950 votes, scoring more votes than anyone else in Estonia, while Ratas came next.

Twenty-one Pro Patria and Res Publica Union members ran with 17 elected. Margus Tsahkna received 3,257 in Tartu and Liisa-Ly Pakosta 2,112 votes in Tallinn. In comparison, PRU's top candidate for the post of mayor of Tallinn, Eerik-Niiles Kross, scored 6,978 votes, having also the third-best score in all of Estonia after Savisaar and Ratas.

Tallinn extends free public transport law to trains

Rewarding its voter base and rubbing in election defeat for opponents, the Center Party has followed through on a pledge to extend Tallinn's free public transport law to commuter trains, effective Monday.

The City of Tallinn and Elron, the nationally owned train company, have signed an agreement waiving train tickets for trips within Tallinn for passengers who are residents of the city.

The same green public transport cards that the city issued at the start of this year, when a controversial move made Tallinn buses and streetcars free, will be used for train rides.

Passengers traveling beyond city limits will be compensated only for the portion of their trip that is in Tallinn. The city council passed the resolution at the beginning of October.

2017 orienteering world championships will take place in Estonia

The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) decided at the council meeting this weekend to grant the rights to organise the 2017 Orienteering World Championships to the Estonian Orienteering Union which plans to organise the competition in South Estonia, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

Title competitions for juniors and students have already been organised in Estonia, as well as the European Championships in 2006 but an orienteering event of such scope is the first in the Baltic States. The organising application prescribes a competition centre in Otepää and five different medal fields in four different places in Southern Estonia.

Estonian Orienteering Union board chairman Sixten Sild said that EOU has proven over the years itself as high-level organiser and thus it is time to organise the most important event the sports. Also a generation of young athletes has emerged in Estonia who should certainly bring at least one medal home.

Teams of 40-50 states from all continents participate at the world championships.

UK "2nd worst for fuel poverty"

The UK is second only to Estonia among European nations for the number of people who are struggling to pay their energy bills, according to research by the fuel poverty alliance Energy Bill Revolution.

The fuel poverty alliance said "woeful" levels of insulation have led to Britain's homes falling "way behind" those of comparable European countries such as Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. The alliance said the wholesale cost of gas in the UK was much lower than in most European countries but households paid much higher bills due to the amount of heat lost from homes.

There are more than five million UK households living in fuel poverty, defined as spending more than 10% of their income on energy. The Energy Bill Revolution said it wanted to see carbon tax spent on an ambitious programme of home insulation, claiming that it could save up to £500 a year on a family energy bill and eliminate fuel poverty in the UK "once and for all".

The groups warned party leaders that focusing on "short-term solutions" to the energy bill crisis, such as price caps, windfall taxes and cutting green subsidies, they were "ignoring the only way to truly solve the energy bill crisis".

 

Dual citizen of US and Iran charged in NYC with trying to acquire surface-to-air missiles

NEW YORK — A dual citizen of Iran and the United States is being held for trial in Manhattan on charges that he conspired to acquire Russian-built long-range surface-to-air missiles for the Iranian government, authorities announced Friday.

Reza Olangian of Los Gatos, California, was arrested in Tallinn, Estonia, in October 2012 and extradited to the U.S. in March, prosecutors said as they released a criminal complaint and an indictment charging him with multiple crimes including conspiracy to attempt to acquire and transfer surface-to-air missiles as well as violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

In a release, Derek Maltz, special agent-in-charge of the DEA Special Operations Division, said: "Mr. Olangian's conspiracy could have put American lives at risk, as well as those of our friends across the globe."

According to court papers, Olangian first tried unsuccessfully to obtain about 100 missiles for the Iranian government in 2007. The documents alleged that he began negotiating a new deal for missiles in early 2012, unaware that he was dealing with a confidential source for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who posed as a weapons and aircraft broker from Russia.

Estonia says Russia tried to sway municipal vote via Interpol

Members of Estonia’s government accused neighboring Russia of interfering in local politics after a candidate for mayor of the capital, Tallinn, was placed on Interpol’s wanted list on the eve of municipal elections.

Eerik-Niiles Kross, 46, of the junior coalition party Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit, is sought by Russia on charges of organizing piracy, according to Interpol’s website. Authorities in the former Soviet republic plan to file a protest with Interpol on the grounds that Russia’s actions are politically motivated, Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher, also of Isamaa, told Estonian public broadcaster Eesti Rahvusringhaeaeling Oct. 19. Preliminary vote results yesterday showed Kross failed to unseat incumbent Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar.

Disputes over the Baltic country’s treatment of its Russian-speaking minority have strained ties with Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Relations improved this year after hitting a low in 2007 over the relocation of a Soviet statue in Tallinn. Russian President Vladimir Putin this month approved a draft border treaty with Estonia.

Efficiency level keeping wages low

Workers in Prisma supermarkets in Finland are paid two to three times more than their counterparts in Estonia as the number of clients they serve is far higher, Janne Lihavainen, CEO of the Estonian branch of the company, has said.

Speaking Thursday at an Äripäev-organized forum on salaries, Lihavainen said that the difference is not laziness, but various IT-solutions for such things as ordering goods for stores.

He said that such solutions need large investments, and with Estonia's lower volumes, the investments do not make sense. “In Estonia, we are trying to come up with a poor man's solution,” Lihavainen said, adding that his company is in the process of adapting Scandinavian solutions in Estonia, but not all of them can be taken on board by Estonian supermarkets.

Talking about salary increases, Lihavainen said the pressure to increase wages is very strong in Tallinn, but in Narva or Tartu, the situation is far better for the company.

Russian food inspectors visit Estonia

A two-week visit by Russian food and veterinary inspectors to Estonian fishery and dairy industry companies is currently under way, with experts saying there is no way to predict the results.

Head of the Estonian Veterinary and Food Board Ago Pärtel, who is accompanying the group, told Postimees today that as Estonian companies want to export to Russia, there is no reason to oppose such checkups, which take place every few years.

Russia banned Lithuanian dairy products at the beginning of this month after a similar checkup. That action came amidst a trade row between the countries. Russian inspectors have also recently found Dutch dairy products to be unsatisfactory, a move that observers have linked to recent political tensions between Moscow and The Hague.

The head of the dairy company Valio Eesti, Maido Solovjov, said that as Russia does not satisfy its own internal dairy demands, even if Estonian products were to be banned, Russia would likely overturn the decision in the near future.

UK overtakes Estonia with highest EU inflation in September

Eurozone inflation increased in September as the consumer price index rose to 0.5 per cent from August's 0.1 per cent, in line with expectations. Year-on-year, September saw an expected 1.1 per cent rise - broadly stable after August 2012 to August 2013's 1.3 per cent increase and the lowest level since February 2010. 

In the wider European Union, the UK saw the highest increase in September, at 2.7 per cent. Bulgaria and Greece saw the lowest annual rates, with decreases of 1.3 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively. Estonia was at 2.6 per cent, the Netherlands at 2.4 per cent.

 

Compared with August, annual inflation fell in seventeen member states, remained stable in eight and rose in three. Greece had the lowest 12-month average (-0.2 per cent) and Romania the highest (4.1 per cent). 

 

Tobacco provided the biggest upward impact to Eurozone annual inflation adding 0.10 percentage points. Electricity came second (+0.09) and accommodation services (+0.08) third. The largest downward impacts came from fuels for transport (-0.30), telecommunications (-0.15) and medical & paramedical services (-0.07).

Rail Baltica Express – a vision of united Baltic Sea region

Last Tuesday, a departure ceremony of Rail Baltica Express, operating in the future Rail Baltica 2 route Vilnius-Riga-Tallinn and connecting the capitals of Baltic States, is held in Vilnius railway station (the main hall), informs BC the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

Rail Baltica Express Vilnius-Riga-Tallinn – a vision of a united Baltic Sea region.

The Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania Rimantas Sinkevicius and Director of the European Mobility Network at DG Mobility and Transport Jean-Eric Paquet will be present in the event.

The conferences, held on board the train, will focus on the Rail Baltica 2 project. This project aims to build a railway connection between Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Warsaw continuing on to Berlin. It is one of the most important investment projects to be implemented in the Baltic Sea region. In addition, on 16 September, the Transport ministers from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Poland signed a joint declaration on the basic principles of establishing the Rail Baltica 2 joint venture.

Only 11% of Romania’s internet users shop online, lowest share in the EU

Only 11 percent of Romanian internet users are online shoppers, this being the lowest share in the European Union, according to the recent data provided by Eurostat.

Romania is followed by Bulgaria, with a share of 17 percent and Estonia and Italy – both 29 percent.

The highest shares of online shoppers were registered in the United Kingdom, with 82 percent of the internet users shopping online, followed by Denmark and Sweden – both 79 percent and Germany with a share of 77 percent.

In the EU28 in 2012, 75 percent of individuals aged 16 to 74 used the internet in the previous 12 months, and 60 percent of them were online shoppers. “Ordering clothes & sports goods and booking travel & holiday accommodation are the most common online purchases amongst internet users,” according to Eurostat.

Find the entire Eurostat report here.

Tallinn invites to various cultural and entertaining events

Tallinn is full of vivid colors and gourmet flavors this month with major fashion and food events taking place throughout the season, reports LETA, referring to Tallinn Tourism.

On October 21, 2013, "Flavors of Estonia" announced the Top 50 Estonian restaurants, followed soon after by Tallinn Restaurant Week on November 1 –7, 2013, which offers many opportunities to enjoy the local food culture and catch up with the latest culinary trends at an attractive price.

To partake in the festival, the visitors are asked to book their seats in advance from as early as October 18, 2013.

Tallinn Fashion Week on October 24-26, 2013, is one of the highlight events of Estonian fashion industry. This year, for the first time ever, Tallinn Fashion Week merges with the The Golden Needle award. The Golden Needle is awarded each year to the most notable local fashion designer for continued excellence in their work within the last five years. The main program presents 12 different shows, fashion themed films and parties.

The Christmas season in Tallinn is approaching fast and soon the city will transform into a real winter wonderland.

Tallinn Tourism Office social media channel Visit Tallinn will bring visitors design and food-themed weeks throughout the season, so keep an eye out for posts on Estonian design and cuisine.

Tallinn-based Hotel Palace to be renovated

Reconstruction of Hotel Palace in Tallinn is estimated at five million euros, the news portal BBN reported on Tuesday, cites LETA.

Estonian real estate fund EfTEN Kinnisvarafond and AS Esraven – the owners of the building of Hotel Palace – plan to start the renovation in October.

According to the plan, the improved hotel will open in May. The general contractor of the project is Oma Ehitaja, the architectural design is prepared by R Valk Arhitektuuribüroo and interior design will be the work of Vaikla Disain.

Hotel Palace was built in 1937 and was the first building in Tallinn constructed specially as a hotel. The last full renovation of the building took place in 1989.

As reported, EfTEN purchased Hotel Palace from Scandic Hotels, which stopped operations in Estonia after 14 years of activities.

EU transport projects' next challenge is member states

At the Ten-T Days forum in Tallinn on Thursday last, the European Commission revealed the EU's most extensive plans yet for developing and connecting transport networks across the continent.

Leading up to the year 2030, the commission's plan aims to connect 94 European ports with rail and road links and 38 airports with rail links to major cities. It also aims to convert 15,000 kilometers of railroads to give them the capacity for high-speed travel. The projects directly affecting Estonia are Rail Baltic, Via Baltica, the coordination of ice-breaking capabilities of Tallinn, Helsinki and Stockholm ports, and the coordination of the technical resources.

Speaking to ETV, European Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas said: "None of these projects will be financed 100 percent [by the EU]. The biggest co-financing is in the case of cohesion countries, which comprises Estonia, where the project can be financed up to 85 percent. Otherwise, as a rule, 20 percent of financing comes from the European budget."

The commission's plan already has the support of the European Parliament, but the main problem is how individual EU member states will respond politically.

"One of the problems we've always had in transport in the European Union is that member states look at transport in purely nationalistic terms rather than on a pan-European basis. And what the Ten-T does is it gives the basis to try and make sure that we're thinking European-wide, not just national-wide," said Brian Simpson, chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport.

Rocca al Mare Arena in Tallinn near bankruptcy

The Rocca al Mare Arena or Saku Arena as it is more commonly called, the venue of the 2002 Eurovision song contest in Tallinn, is close to bankruptcy and needs 9.8 mln euros from shareholders to restructure its debts, LETA/Postimees Online reports.

Estonia’s biggest indoors arena, that has witnessed many big music, entertainment and sports events, made a loss of 2.97 million kroons in 2012 as creditors decided to add punitive fees of loan contracts to the debt claim. The company's undistributed losses reach over 9 mln euros.

The board of the company hasn't yet submitted a bankruptcy application. The company's annual report auditor Artur Suits stated that the company is insolvent.

Rocca al Mare Arena CEO Tarmo Hõbe explained that the arena manages well with everyday operations and their calendar is full of events till March next year but the construction loans of the arena had been taken based on an unrealistic business plan and thus cannot be serviced. "If the slate was cleaned and we would not have to carry with us that loss, we would manage nicely," he said.

Thus the company wants to hold a share issue to owners that would increase the share capital nominally by 2.3 mln euros, with 7.5 mln euros of premium par. The arena was completed in 2001 and belongs to the city of Tallinn (15.8%), OÜ Pivotal (68.6%) and the Estonian state (15.5%). The shareholders general meeting takes place on October 23.