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Estonian Review: 25 June - 1 July, 2008
04.07.2008
ILVES AND MEDVEDJEV IN KHANTY-MANSIISK
WHO CONFERENCE IN TALLINN 25-27 JUNE
FOREIGN NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
ILVES AND MEDVEDJEV IN KHANTY-MANSIISK
Estonian Head of State Met the President of Russia
Jun 28 - The relations between neighbouring countries should be characterised by communication from grassroots level up to the Presidents, and close co-operation, Estonian Head of State Toomas Hendrik Ilves said at the meeting with his Russian colleague Dmitry Medvedev.
Estonia is prepared for a straightforward, and uninterrupted dialogue on all subjects concerning our relations, President Ilves assured. According to the Estonian President, issues whose solution would benefit the citizens of both nations - for instance, building of the new Narva highway bridge or the ecological preservation of Lake Peipsi - ought to be in focus in the near future.
President Ilves confirmed that Estonia is prepared to restart the work of the intergovernmental commission concentrating mainly on economic issues. Referring to Estonian-Russian agreements currently under preparation, the President of the Republic of Estonia said that Estonia is prepared to start the negotiations on the so-called war graves agreement, which is certainly important for both the Russian and the Estonian side, and which should ensure researchers of both countries mutual free access to archives in order to search information about the graves of our forefathers.
At the Presidents' meeting also the issue of the Estonian-Russian border agreement, concluded by the two Foreign Ministers, was addressed. The Estonian Head of State observed that Estonia has completed the ratification of the agreement.
Also the relations between Russia and the European Union were addressed on the meeting between the Estonian and Russian Head of State; these relations had been discussed in greater detail on the EU-Russia Summit the day before. President Ilves welcomed the start of negotiations on the new framework agreement (PCA) between the European Union and Russia, and it was stated that it is in the interests of both sides to find a solution.
WHO CONFERENCE IN TALLINN 25-27 JUNE
WHO Director General Praises Estonia's Health System
Jun 26 - The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, in her meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip voiced recognition of the Estonian health care system and good results in the fight against tuberculosis and the spread of HIV.
According to the latest WHO report the occurrence of tuberculosis in Estonia has significantly decreased thanks to investments made by the government in control mechanisms.
As Chan said, the people of Estonia should be happy that the health reforms carried out in Estonia during 15 years have helped to build up so good a health care system. The WHO director general voiced recognition of the health insurance, hospital and family practitioner reforms in Estonia as well as of the country's public health programs.
Chan also hailed Estonia's experience as regards IT solutions for the field of health care, observing that Estonia is the country strongest in terms of e-governance she has visited.
The Estonian parliament passed legislative amendments at the end of last year that create the legal basis for the implementation of e-health projects such as digital health history, digital imaging, digital waiting list and digital prescription.
Over the past couple of years representatives from a number of countries -- Ukraine, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and elsewhere -- have arrived in Estonia to tap into the country's experience, whereas Estonian experts have shared their know-how in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Albania, Russia, Latvia and Hungary.
The prime minister also said it was a great honor for Estonia to host the ministerial conference of the WHO European region dedicated to the development of health systems.
Estonia joined the WHO in March 1993. The organization founded in 1948 is headquartered in Geneva and has 192 countries as members.
Investing in Health Brings Success - WHO Conference
Jun 25 - High-level guests and experts from 53 member states of the European region of the World Health Organization (WHO) saw a strong link between people's health and success of the economy.
"The conference focuses on how health and wealth complement each other. Estonia's experience shows that success of the economy also contributes to the development of the health sector. Which in its turn means that people are more satisfied and live longer," said Estonia's Social Affairs Minister Maret Maripuu, who was elected president of the conference.
The Estonian minister of finance, Ivari Padar, spoke about the importance of financing of health care and related challenges in a country having an aging population. He stressed the need to ensure a sustainable organization of health care.
Marc Danzon, the WHO regional director for Europe, said it often seems that when faced with difficult choices countries prefer to invest in transport or education, and less in people's health, which is the most important resource after all.
"We hope that the Tallinn conference will bring health issues also into the center of political debate and confirm that investing in health is investing in the wellbeing and wealth of countries and the people alike," Danzon said.
Uwe Reinhardt, professor at Princeton University, said that while one was speaking a lot about money, it was also important to see the link between health and education and invest money to explain to people the basic truths.
Reinhardt said that no direct link can be drawn between GDP and better health. By spending more one cannot say that also efficiency and satisfaction of patients will be higher.
"High health expenditures may also mean that a lot is spent on top specialists, not on basic health care," he said.
Joe Kutzin, the WHO representative in Barcelona, added that no singular answer can be derived from the experience of different countries to how much of GDP governments should spend on health care.
FOREIGN NEWS
Estonia Calls for Military Protection of Cargo Ships
Jun 30 - Estonia has proposed to NATO and the European Union to provide freight ships sailing in coastal waters of Somalia with a military convoy in order to fight piracy.
The Estonian proposal will be discussed in both organizations, but according to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet it would be good if the UN also addressed the issue because seamen from third countries as well fall victim to pirate attacks.
The Estonian initiative stems from the capture of an Estonian seaman off the Somali coast.
Ardo Kalle was first mate aboard the cargo ship Lehmann Timber seized by pirates a month ago. Negotiations for the release of the ship's mostly Ukrainian and Russian crew are held by representatives of the company that owns the ship and there is little information about the situation.
Paet said the situation is complicated by the information and appeals spreading through the Ukrainian media. "They are complicating the talks, because the pirates realize they are in a stronger position," said the minister.
According to present information, the pirates are demanding 750,000 US dollars to release the ship and crew.
President Ilves Met with Alexius II, the Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia
Jun 30 - President Toomas Hendrik Ilves met with Patriarch Alexius II in Moscow yesterday, with whom he had an in-depth discussion about Estonia and Russia.
It was meeting with a warm, sincere, and very spiritual person, who furthermore is very knowledgeable about events in Estonia-the country of his birth, President Ilves said. If there are problems between countries, people still associate and mutual understanding is very good.
President Ilves spoke with Patriarch Alexius about his possible visit to Estonia. Alexius II confirmed that he wishes to visit his homeland, emphasizing his interest in paying a visit to the Kuremäe Convent.
As a gift, President Ilves gave Alexius II a picture of the house where he and his parents lived in Tallinn until the fall of 1940. The Estonian Head of State also delivered four letters that were written by the mother of Alexius II to her husband, which were found in the attic of the house by the current owners.
President Ilves Presented a Statue of Juri Lotman to the Russian Library for Foreign Literature
Jun 30 - President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Evelin Ilves, who are on a working visit to Russia, visited the Russian Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow, where they presented the library with a bust of Juri Lotman, for many years a professor at the University of Tartu and one of the founders of the Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics.
Thanks to Juri Lotman we know that, in addition to a geosphere and biosphere we are also surrounded by a semiosphere. Thanks to him we know that culture is primarily communication, the exchange, translation and interpretation of a system of signs, total dialogue, President Ilves said. Thanks to Juri Lotman we also know that semiotics makes it possible to describe not only what is happening culturally, but also what is happening in politics and even in economic life.
The Estonian Head of State called Juri Lotman a strong symbol of the Estonian-Russian cultural bridge, especially emphasizing his research on Pushkin.
The bust of Juri Lotman, which was financed by the Estonian Foreign Ministry and Rein Kilk, an entrepreneur who is a supporter of culture, will be installed in the garden of busts in the atrium of the Russian Library for Foreign Literature.
The President of the Republic Appointed Aivo Orav Ambassador to Turkey
Jun 27 - President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signed a resolution appointing Aivo Orav Estonian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Turkey, residing in Ankara.
The Estonian Head of State also recalled Märt Volmer from this position.
DEFENCE NEWS
Estonia to Join NATO Strategic Airlift Capability Programme
Jun 26 - Government authorised the Minister of Defence to conclude an agreement for Estonia to join the NATO Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) programme, allowing Estonia to use the C-17 Globemaster type strategic transport aircrafts for up to 45 flight hours every year.
Participation in the Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) programme will be a pilot project which allows the participating countries to pool assets to overcome key capability gaps together. Estonia's participation in the SAC programme will allow Estonia to organise, both in planned and emergency situations, the transport of people and equipment to the areas of operations and back. 45 flight hours per year, for example, is equivalent to six flights from Tallinn-Kabul; also, the participation in the SAC programme will allow for the transport of oversized cargo (armoured vehicles, for example) to Afghanistan or Iraq without intermediate landings.
According to the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonia's participation in the SAC programme has high political value allowing Estonia to contribute to the elimination of strategic airlift gap, which is one of the key capability gaps for NATO.
Independent development of strategic airlift capability would be too expensive and inexpedient for a small country like Estonia. By joining the programme we will enjoy considerable freedom and assurance in situations where people or equipment need to be transported urgently to some area of operations or, vice versa, to be evacuated from the area, said the Minister of Defence, Mr. Aaviksoo.
Estonia Supports Publication of NATO Book in Armenia
Jun 25 - The Armenian Centre of Transatlantic Initiatives published Ronald D. Asmus's book, Opening NATO's Door: How the Alliance Remade Itself for a New Era. The Estonian Ministry of Defence donated 5,000 euros (78,000 Estonian kroons) to support the publication, including the translation of the book into the Armenian language.
The publication of this book in Armenia shall also support one of the aims of the defence-related outreach and co-operation projects launched by the Estonian Ministry of Defence, namely, the distribution of information on contemporary security and defence policy and increasing public awareness in target countries of defence-related outreach. Both Latvia and Lithuania also contributed 5,000 euros towards the publication of the book.
Opening NATO's Door: How the Alliance Remade Itself for a New Era provides an overview of NATO transformation since the end of the Cold War up to the events that culminated with the Central European and Baltic states' accession to NATO.
According to the Minister of Defence, Mr. Jaak Aaviksoo, the knowledge on NATO as a value-based organisation will contribute to the development of security political culture in Armenia, where the attitude towards NATO is currently being shaped. The events described in Asmus's book and the author's personal attitude brilliantly convey values, the sharing of which are considered to be a pre-requisite for the emergence of close partner and ally relations in the Transatlantic Community, said Mr. Aaviksoo.
Ronald D. Asmus has worked for Radio Free Europe, RAND Corporation, a reputable security research centre, and as deputy Assistant State Secretary of the US Department of Foreign Affairs. Currently, Asmus works with the German Marshall Fund.
Defence Forces Commander Attending NATO Farewell Ceremony
Jun 27 - Lt. Gen. Ants Laaneots, commander of the Estonian defence forces, attended the farewell ceremony of Raymond Henault, chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels.
Raymond Henault, the Canadian general who has served in NATO's highest military post since 2005, will on Friday hand over the office to the Italian Admiral Giampaolo di Paola.
During his term of office Gen. Henault was in Estonia last July. He met with the defence forces commander, visited the cyberdefence centre, the naval base and the mine hunter Admiral Cowan. Gen. Henault approved the Estonian military state defence system, which relies on a mixed system of professional units and mobilized forces.
The NATO Military Committee is the highest military arm of the alliance comprising representatives of the defence forces of all the member countries. The duty of the committee is to head the drafting of NATO's military policy and strategy, issue of guidelines to the NATO strategic command and consultancy of political leading structures in military issues. The post of chairman of the Military Committee is the highest military post in NATO.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Currency Rates in Kroons
(Bank of Estonia)
FDI Worth EUR 556 Million Made in Estonia in Q1
Jun 30 - Foreign direct investment (FDI) made in Estonia during the first quarter of 2008 amounted to 8.7 billion (EUR 556 mln) kroons while direct investments made by Estonian residents abroad totalled 4.4 billion kroons, the Bank of Estonia said.
Direct investment inflow was by 4.3 billion kroons bigger than outflow.
Intercompany lending made up more than half and equity capital investment nearly a fifth of residents' direct investment abroad, the rest being reinvested earnings.
Ninety percent of residents' direct investment went to EU countries; Lithuania received approximately 50 percent and Latvia 20 percent of that.
Nearly 92 percent of direct investment in Estonia originated in EU countries, primarily Sweden and the Netherlands. About 40 percent of FDI was made in financial intermediation and 25 percent in the real estate, renting and business activities sector.
Tallinna Kaubamaja Eyeing Lithuanian Market with Shoe Business
Jun 30 - Tallinna Kaubamaja has set itself the goal to expand also to the markets of Latvia and Lithuania with its shoe business, a recent acquisition for the listed Estonian retail group.
CEO Raul Puusepp said on Monday the group had been already for a long time viewing not only Estonia but all the Baltic states together as its home market.
"We will bring the stores of ABC King and of Suurtüki Kinga- ja Nahaäri, which we acquired in February, under common management and will use the synergy thus created for the sake of our goal -- to be the leading footwear retailer in the Baltic region," Puusepp said.
After obtaining the approvals of the competition boards of Estonia and Latvia, Tallinna Kaubamaja on Monday completed the purchase of 100 percent of the shares of AS ABC KING and its 100 percent subsidiary SIA ABC KING in Latvia.
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