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Estonian Review: 14-20 May, 2008
23.05.2008
FOREIGN NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
CULTURAL NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
FOREIGN NEWS
Queen of Netherlands Arrives in Estonia on State Visit
May 16 - Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands arrived in Estonia on a state visit that lasted from May 14 to May 16.
The Dutch monarch met on the first day of the visit with President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and speaker of the parliament Ene Ergma.
President Ilves and Queen Beatrix in their meeting at the Estonian president's office spoke about relations between the two countries, the future of Europe, e-governance in Estonia and developments in the field of information technology.
Estonia and Holland have been culturally linked for centuries and we understand each other excellently," Ilves said.
He said Holland served as a great example for Estonia of how a small country can be influential internationally.
Prime Minister Ansip presented to Queen Beatrix the government seat of Stenbock House. The prime minister showed the monarch the room of government meetings and presented the electronic arrangement of work. He also spoke about the e-services that are widely used in Estonia.
On the second day of her visit, the queen of the Netherlands visited the Tallinn Town Hall and met with City Mayor Edgar Savisaar.
Mayor Savisaar spoke to Queen Beatrix about the city's history and economic relations, and the queen signed the city's guest book.
After that she toured the Old Town and participated in a presentation on urban development at the Museum of Estonian Architecture. She also visited the KUMU art museum and the Tehnopol technology park.
On the final day of her visit, Queen Beatrix flew to Saaremaa Island, visiting the Town Hall Square of the island capital Kuressaare and planting a tree in the park of the Episcopal Castle. She also participated in a discussion on island development and visited the Kuressaare Trade School.
The visit by Queen Beatrix to Saaremaa was the first trip there by a ruling monarch since 2001, when Queen Margrethe II of Denmark was in Saaremaa on a private trip.
Ansip: Liberal Economy, Cooperation Can Overcome Poverty
May 17 - Speaking at the EU Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) summit in Lima, Peru, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said that liberal economy and regional cooperation would help to overcome poverty.
In the early 1990s not all EU member countries were on a level such as they are today, Ansip said.
"Reforms by which the liberal economic model was introduced helped Estonia to increase its welfare. More liberalism and less protectionism is my message to countries intending to actively deal with overcoming poverty," he added.
In order to win investments and for people to get work, Ansip said, it is necessary to have transparent legislation, a simple tax system and a predictable business environment.
Discussing problems connected with climate change and protection of the environment, heads of governments stated that the only possible way to achieve wide acceptance of the Copenhagen environment agreement in 2009 was by joint efforts.
The common position of the European Union and Latin America is that acceptance of the global aims set in the agreement is extremely important. Speaking about protection of the environment, the Estonian prime minister said that environment-friendly technologies were the most cost-effective in the long term.
Asked about Estonia's participation in the summit, Ansip said that if we wanted others to understand problems directly pertaining to Estonia we would have to ensure visibility in the world.
"We must communicate also with areas that have not been included in Estonia's traditional sphere of interests until the present," he said.
It is in Estonia's interest to ensure unity of the European Union in as many foreign policy issues as possible, among other things also in relations with Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Ergma Discusses Environment, Energy with Bundestag Reps
May 19 - Speaker of the Estonian parliament Ene Ergma met with a six-member delegation of the all-party Baltic group in the German parliament (Bundestag) to exchange ideas on the European Union as well as on the environment and energy.
Among other things the meeting with the delegation headed by chairwoman of the parliamentary group Christel Happach-Kasan focused on the need to support countries that had belonged to the former Soviet Union but had now launched democratic reforms.
Ergma underlined that environment issues took a very important place in Estonia. In her opinion it was reasonable to move from the particular to the general, because dealing with the closest problems of environmental pollution, including supporting the respective civic initiative helped the society better understand global concerns.
It was underlined at the meeting that it was necessary to contribute more into the condition of the Baltic Sea and common efficient activity in that name and that the countries around the sea should set common interests higher than their own or of some influential company's narrower interests.
Ergma said that this was the reason why Estonia regarded the gas pipeline to be built in the Baltic Sea with extreme caution, as the Baltic Sea hides as a legacy of wars hundreds of thousands of tons of explosives and chemical weapons.
"Superficial attitudes to such circumstances may lead to irreversible negative consequences for all of us," Ergma said. "Comparative studies of alternative overland tracks should certainly be made."
The German politicians expressed the view that an environmental tolerance study should give an answer whether the Nord Stream gas pipeline was a responsible and practicable project.
Proceeding from issues of the environment also EU member countries' energy supply security in the future was discussed. Politicians of the German Bundestag inquired about the opportunity of a nuclear power plant built in Estonia.
"You can take into consideration that the whole European Union is solitary with you in the solution of both security and energy issues," Happach-Kasan said. "A united European Union permits us to be strong."
The representatives of the two parliaments considered it very important to contribute renewable alternative energy sources as well as to accelerated development of novel future technologies in energy generation.
Ergma raised the issue of continued support to Ukraine and Georgia in the EU neighbourhood policy.
"These countries are potential allies of the European Union and we must be able to constantly support them in order that they should have the courage and will to continue their democratic way of development," she said.
The members of the German delegation agreed that Georgia and Ukraine had lost a lot of time and they wouldn't manage to make up for the lost time without strong support from the European Union.
Estonian MP to Monitor Polls in Georgia-Controlled Part of Abkhazia
May 20 - The chairman of the Estonian parliament's National Defence Committee, Mati Raidma, will observe Georgia's parliamentary elections in the frozen conflict area of Abkhazia.
In that region the polls will be held only in the part of the Kodor Valley in upper Abkhazia that is under Georgia's control.
Vice-chair of the committee Kadri Must will also be monitoring the elections as a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation. She will be stationed in the town of Telavi in East Georgia.
The Estonian parliament is sending to Georgia a group of observers consisting of Helmer Jogi, Mart Laar, Vaino Linde and Evelin Sepp. Other Estonian lawmakers monitoring the polls are Andres Herkel as a member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly team and Mart Nutt and Jaanus Marrandi as part of the delegation of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
Estonian MP Meets with Imprisoned Journalists in Azerbaijan
May 18 - Andres Herkel, head of the Estonian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), began a fact-finding mission in Azerbaijan where he met, among others, with imprisoned journalists.
Herkel said that, together with the Bulgarian surveillance reporter Evgenia Zhivkova, they would later that day meet with the imprisoned journalists Zakit Sahidov, Ganimat Sahidov and Einullah Fatullajev.
Sahidov and Fatullajev were editors-in-chief of the main opposition papers before their arrest.
On May 19 and 20 the reporters met with representatives of power, including President Ilham Alijev.
Herkel and Zhivkova are drawing up a report on the situation in Azerbaijan, with the first version of the report to come up for discussion at a session of the PACE monitoring committee in Kiev next week.
Herkel said the recent developments did not suggest and optimism concerning the regularity of the presidential elections to take place this fall, in addition to deficient freedom of the press and the existence of political prisoners. Herkel said that a shadow had been cast over the situation because the long-awaited amendments did not add any security concerning balance of forces in electoral committees, and also the freedom of assembly was not sufficiently granted.
In economic terms Azerbaijan is doing well after the building of the Baku-Tbilisi-Cheyhan oil pipeline. It has added fortitude to the geographically strategic position of the country.
May 20, Herkel left Baku for Tbilisi in order to take part in the observation mission of Georgian parliamentary elections.
Agreement on Estonia Cyber Defence Centre Signed in Brussels
May 14 - Top defence commanders from seven countries signed documents in Brussels on the establishment of a NATO Cooperative Centre of Excellence in Cyber Defence in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
Gen. James Mattis, the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, said is his remarks that Estonia was the first of the countries that joined NATO lately to come up with such initiative.
The US general offered his thanks to Estonia for the initiative and the opportunity offered to NATO with the establishment of the centre of excellence.
The commander of the Estonian defence forces, Lt. Gen. Ants Laaneots, underscored in his speech the importance of cooperation between allies in countering cyber attacks and invited also other members of NATO to join the centre.
"We must prepare ourselves for tackling new, asymmetric threats, and the centre of excellence that is being created serves as a contribution to this," he said.
Both Mattis and Laaneots shrugged off scepticism as regards the fact that only seven out of the 26 members of the alliance joined the centre of excellence.
The establishment of the centre is still in an early phase and it remains open to all allies, Gen. Mattis said.
Laaneots added that in several countries the making of the decision as regards participation in the centre's work is still under way and that more allies are expected to accede to it next year.
The agreements were signed by German, Spanish, Slovakian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian military commanders.
The accord sets out the terms and conditions for countries' participation in the new facility, precise areas of responsibility, coordination mechanisms, matters of finance, procedures for joining the centre of excellence and stepping out of it, along with other matters related to the arrangement of the work of the centre.
The purpose of the centre is to develop NATO standards and capacities in cyber defence and to provide expert advice.
Maripuu Elected Vice President of World Health Assembly
May 19 - At the World Health Assembly that opened on May 19 in Geneva Estonian Social Affairs Minister Maret Maripuu was elected a Vice-President of the organization.
The assembly has five vice-presidents from different regions of the world; a representative of Estonia was elected for Vice-President for the first time, the Social Affairs Ministry said.
During the week, various issues pertaining to public health will be discussed at the meeting. Readiness to pandemic influenza and prevention and control of non-infectious diseases will be considered.
An important topic of discussion is a world strategy of contracting losses caused by alcohol, the ministry said.
Effects of climate change to health, and this year's pervasive theme for the World Health Organization, which marks its 60th anniversary of activity this year, will also be addressed.
"There are more and more health problems in the world that are common for countries and to which we can find answers only jointly. Estonia has taken important steps in the promotion of the people's health in the recent years. Election of Estonia for Vice-President of the assembly is in recognition to our work," said Social Affairs Minister Maret Maripuu.
Estonia Wants Visa Waiver from Jamaica, Guyana
May 17 - Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, meeting with colleagues from Jamaica and Guyana on the sidelines of the EU and LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) summit, proposed abolition of visas to Estonian nationals.
During his meetings with Jamaican Foreign Minister Kenneth Baugh and Guyanese Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Paet said that abolition of visas could increase interest in opportunities of tourism in those countries.
The Estonian Foreign Minister also met with the Foreign Minister of Uruguay Pedro Humberto Vaz Ramela, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Relations between the two countries support to each other's candidates in international organization and relations between the European Union and Latin America were discussed during the meeting with the Uruguayan foreign minister.
The foreign ministers found that relations between Estonia and Uruguay were good but of low key. Both the countries are interested in the development of relations in the political, economic and cultural spheres. Paet gave to his Uruguayan colleague an overview of information and communication technology developments in Estonia and said that Estonia was prepared to share its experience.
According to the foreign ministers Estonia and Uruguay are interested in the development of mutual trade. "We also see a need for business delegations' visits," Paet said.
Last year Estonia imported from Uruguay mainly timber and timber products, small amounts of fur but the main export articles where machines and mechanical equipment, ferrous metal products and mineral fuel.
Estonia Signs Diplomatic Relations with Barbados
May 17 - Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and his Barbadian colleague Christopher Peter Sinckler established diplomatic relations between Estonia and Barbados in Lima, Peru.
The ministers discussed opportunities of finding suitable candidates for honorary consuls, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
Paet is in Peru in connection with the EU-Latin American and Caribbean (EU-LAC) summit.
Paet said that the most perspective sphere of cooperation with Barbados was tourism. Residents of Estonia can stay visa free in Barbados for 28 days.
Barbados is an island country in the West Indies. The territory of the country is 430 square kilometres and it has a population of 291,900.
DEFENCE NEWS
Nearly EUR 60 Million of Defence Appropriation Not Spent in 2007
May 20 - The Estonian Defence Ministry left 941 million kroons (EUR 60 mln) of national defence appropriation unused last year while the defence minister wants more money for military defence, the daily Postimees reports.
In 2007 the ministry's expenditures were planned at 4.06 billion kroons which after a supplementary budget and changes in external resources finally grew to 4.25 billion kroons. According to the Finance Ministry data, of this sum 3.36 billion kroons was used up.
"Thus, 940.9 million kroons was carried over into this year. At the same time it has to be taken into account that a large part of the funds set apart under the supplementary budget was carried over in full," a spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry observed.
In her words, the amount of money transferred into the 2008 budget cannot automatically be taken for the measure of the efficiency of the use of funds by the Defence Ministry.
Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo from the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union argues that the freezing of defence spending would result in the corresponding appropriations dropping below 1 percent of gross domestic product. In his words, this also would mean Estonia's failure to keep the commitment to NATO confirmed by one prime minister after another and their Cabinets' defence and foreign ministers.
The current budget strategy calls for spending 1.9 percent of GDP on defence in 2009 and this is the target the Defence Ministry is aiming at, Aaviksoo said.
The funds not used last year and external resources included, the Defence Ministry can count on a budget of roughly 5.217 billion kroons this year.
Baltic Countries Considering Purchase of Fighters
May 19 - The Baltic countries may acquire fighters after 2018 in order to police their air space, but it is also possible they will continue to rely on allies after that date.
The Baltic countries must submit proposals to NATO by 2011 how the issue of their air space security is solved after 2018, Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said.
At present NATO partners provide security of the Baltic countries air space by rotation.
If the Baltic countries should decide to acquire fighters, Aaviksoo said, they should first establish what the fighters would be for -- just for policing the air space or also for combat activity.
The minister said that the fighters needed for just guarding the air space were much cheaper than those intended for actual warfare, and Estonia couldn't probably afford their purchase.
One of the problems in continuing to rely on other countries' air space security is that that the cost of that type of air space security is going to constantly increase. Until the present the Baltic countries only pay for the accommodation of the pilots and the fuel, but it is presumed that after a certain time Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would start paying a part of the costs of amortization and training of the crews.
In addition to the purchase of fighters it is also possible to make an agreement such as Slovenia, where policing of the air space has been permanently shouldered by Italy.
Reserve Lt. Col. Leo Kunnas has said such an agreement would have any sense only if Finland joined NATO as the type of air space security Estonia needs could only be carried out from bases in southern Finland.
Margus Kolga, director general of the political department of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, said that NATO had not yet decided what to do after 2018. He said the time for more detailed discussion of the issue would only come in 2011.
Kunnas said that Estonia could buy fighters if the country's defence spending would come to 2.15-2.2 percent of GDP. He said fighters would add a lot to the Estonian defence capacity, because they would be successful in case of an attack for the overthrow of the state system.
An overthrow attack, Kunnas said, would presume delivery of airborne forces by means transport aircraft, but fighters could rule out use of transport aircraft and consequently also of the overthrow attack scenario.
DOMESTIC NEWS
Study: Consumption of Illegal Alcohol Down Considerably
May 20 - According to the Estonian Institute of Economic Research (EKI), three percent of consumers, the lowest figure of the past ten years, bought illegal alcohol in Estonia last year.
According to EKI's assessment illegal alcohol accounted for 8-12 percent of the domestic vodka market and caused a loss of tax revenue of about 97 million kroons (EUR 6.2 mln).
EKI forecasts that in the second half of this year cross border trade of alcohol products could increase, which could even lead to growth in the illegal market.
Illegal cigarettes, however, were bought by slightly more than one third, 34 percent, of smokers; of these smokers who ordered cigarettes from abroad made up ten percent.
Evelin Ahermaa, head of the EKI economic studies sector, said that it is legally permitted to bring cigarettes across the border but the goods must be for personal consumption alone and any further trade is illegal.
The share of illegal cigarettes of the whole cigarette market is 20-25 percent according to EKI. Because of the consumption of illegal cigarettes, the state budget failed to receive nearly 400 million kroons tax revenue last year.
In EKI's opinion the Baltic countries could unify their tax policy more this year, because otherwise there would be a lot of transport of goods from one country to another.
Many Women Employed in Science, Technology Sector in Estonia
May 19 - There are relatively the most university-educated women employed in the science and technology sector in Estonia compared with the other European Union countries, it appears from the recent Eurostat survey.
Women make up 72 percent of all employees in the Estonian science and technology sector; and the percentage is above 65 also in Latvia, Lithuania and in two regions in Bulgaria, it appears from a Eurostat survey based on data for 2006.
It appears from the report that the share of women in the sphere is higher than the average also in the eastern part of Germany and in some other countries of the former socialist camp. The percentage of women among workers requiring the so-called third educational level is the lowest in Turkey, where it mostly remained under 40 percent.
According to Eurostat high-tech production and services as well as the educational system and public administration are also categorized as economic activity based on science and technology.
This may provide the reasons why the share of women in the sphere tended to be higher in countries metropolitan areas.
In addition to European Union countries the survey also viewed Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Turkey.
CULTURAL NEWS
KUMU Elected European Museum of the Year
May 19 - The Estonian KUMU Art Museum has been given the title of European Museum of the year.
According to the European Museum Forum the jury made the decision due to its role in the creation of Estonia's national identity.
There are nearly sixty museums taking part in the contest every year.
KUMU, which has a total floor area of 23,910 square meters and was designed by the Finnish architect Pekka Vapaavuori, was opened to the public on February 18, 2006.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Currency Rates in Kroons
(Bank of Estonia)
Estonian Capital Expected to See 11% Budget Growth in 2009-2010
May 20 - The Tallinn City Government sent to the City Council the budget strategy of the city which sees 11-percent growth in the next two years.
According to Tallinn's budget strategy forecast the budgetary revenue of the city will total 7.67 billion kroons (EUR 490 mln), nearly 11 percent more compared with this year's.
In 2010 the total budgetary revenue would be 8.53 billion kroons, also 11 percent more than in the previous year. Later, however, the growth in budgetary revenue is expected to fall to the level of 6-7 percent in the years 2011-12.
The forecast for the rise in revenues in the next two years is based on the precondition that the growth rate of the country remains in the range of 3-7 percent and the growth in average wages will be in the range of 7-12 percent.
The number of residents of the capital should remain stable at 400,000, nearly 30 percent of the total population of the country.
Tallinn also forecasts that from one billion kroons this year the subsidy from the state budget will grow to nearly 1.6 billion kroons by the year 2012.
Tallinn has estimated the revenue from the sale of property at 89 million kroons next year. Tallinn's revenue from dividends should be 89 million kroons last year and starting from 2010 at least 100 kroons a year.
Estonian Company to Complete First Romanian Investment
May 20 - IPC Group, an investment company belonging to the Estonian businessman Peep Aaviksoo, is concluding its first major investment program in Romania.
"The primary investment investors made in the framework of the First IPC Romanian Issue has doubled in two years," IPC partner Peep Aaviksoo said.
IPC Real Estate will continue with other real estate development and investment projects in Romania in the framework of other investment programs. Mainly smaller towns than Bucharest as well as tourist areas such as Timisoara, Brasov and Iasi have been targeted
The sum total of the investment program of the First IPC Romanian Issue was 4.55 million euros.
In the framework of the investment program launched two years ago IPC acquired two properties suitable for the development of apartment houses in the Romanian capital Bucharest. The sum total of the project was 420 apartments.
On May 9 the company signed a contract for the sale of the Celsius Apartment project of 120 apartments. IPC's investment was 1.25 million euros and the sale price was established at 3.27 million euros.
IPC Investment Group is a company mainly based on Estonian capital. The total assets of the group as of the end of 2007 totalled 24.9 million euros with 3.5 million euros of equity according to non-audited figures.
Estonian Air Has Fully Passed To E-Tickets System
May 20 - The Estonian national carrier Estonian Air no longer issues paper tickets and has fully passed to an e-tickets system.
Estonian Air spokeswoman Ilona Eskelinen said that travel agencies issue e-tickets already since May 13, noting that issue of paper tickets was not a matter of the past.
But Eskelinen added that passengers who booked tickets before May 3 but had not yet retrieved the tickets or had not received confirmation of e-tickets to their e-mail address would have to retrieve paper tickets from the ticket office.
Last Year's Turnover of Norby Telecom Totals EUR 5.3 Million
May 20 - The consolidated turnover of Estonia's Norby Telecom AS totalled 85 million kroons (EUR 5.43 mln) last year.
Board chairman of the company Oleg Shvaikovsky said that Norby's operating profit before depreciation (EBITDA) was 13.5 million kroons.
Shvaikovsky added that the company had plans to bring his Latvian colleagues into the board and thus make the board stronger.
The company will release the financial results endorsed by the shareholders in the first half of June.
Norby Telecom made 3.61 million kroons of loss in 2006 and 13.03 million kroons in 2005.
The company's sales proceeds amounted to 26 million kroons in 2006.
Estonian Container Terminal Posts Growth in Transit Volumes
May 20 - According to Muuga Container Terminal (Muuga CT) transit trade is not falling and it is possible to speak about growth on the basis of statistics of the past few weeks.
Muuga CT, which specializes on container handling at Port of Tallinn's Muuga Harbour, said that there has been stable growth in carriage only from the sea -- that is import and transit import.
"In the recent weeks, it is even possible to speak about growth in Estonian transit," Muuga CT board chairman Sergei Artyomov said.
This year the company is planning to handle 210,000 units (TEU) against 181,000 TEU last year.
But the load of the terminal is currently only 50-55 of the capacity, because the present capacity of the terminal is 350,000 TEU per year and by the end of Q4 the figure will grow to 400,000 TEU a year.
Muuga CT, which belongs to the Transiidikeskus AS group, is a multifunctional container terminal at Muuga Harbour. The company employs 160 people.
Parliament Elects Representative to Nordic Investment Bank
May 20 - The Estonian parliament, with 55 votes in favour, elected Jurgen Ligi, chairman of the standing finance committee, as the Estonian representative in the Control Committee of the Nordic Investment Bank.
Ligi's credentials come into effect from June 1 and expire as of May 31, 2010, the parliament press service reported.
At present Meelis Atonen holds the seat; before that Andres Lipstok was the Estonian representative in the committee.
The Control Committee is responsible for the auditing of NIB's accountancy papers and submits to the supervisory board of the bank the annual auditor's conclusion. The committee has ten members.
Economic Affairs Minister Wishing To Warm Up Plan of Listing State-Owned Companies
May 20 - Estonian Economic Affairs Minister Juhan Parts said it would be positive if the government would again table the plan of listing state-owned companies and would look for new opportunities of growth for them.
He said there was currently no common view in the government, but due to significant fall in economic growth it was necessary to discuss what should be changed and what the companies' growth strategy would be in the next few years.
Listing of Eesti Energia (Estonian Energy), Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railway), Eesti Post (Estonian Post), Tallinn Sadam (Port of Tallinn), Tallinna Lennujaam (Tallinn Airport) and Eesti Loto (Estonian Lottery) has been discussed. Parts added that an analysis would have to be drawn up separately for each company.
Andurs Alber, board chairman of OMX Tallinn Stock Exchange, said Eesti Energia could be the first to be listed. "It is a major company with a market value of 25 billion kroons (EUR 1.6 b) and if 10 or 20 percent is listed, it would be one of the biggest companies not just on our market but on all Baltic stock exchanges," Alber said.
Alber said now was the right time to analyze when and what state-owned companies could be listed and a decision in principle could be made by this fall.
The opposition parties are against the listing of state-owned companies.
Competition Brings Down Price of Milk in Estonian Stores
May 20 - The major Estonian chain stores have recently lowered the price of milk as competition has toughened, the daily Postimees wrote.
The price of the cheapest, 2.5 percent fat content milk in the Prisma chain has dropped by 0.30 kroons (about EUR 0.019 in the past few weeks, while Rimi has brought the price down by 1.70 kroons, the paper wrote.
Prisma spokeswoman Kadri Lainas said they had promised to offer the best prices to their consumers and it was in the name of that promise that they had done it. "Dairies have not lowered their sale prices, so the present fall in the price is our own initiative," she said.
Rimi Eesti marketing director Evelin Magioja said their chain had adjusted the prices of many staples, including that of milk. She said that they were not trading at a loss, but were not earning any profit either.
Maxima spokesman Erkki Erilaid said they had lowered the price of Maag Piimatoostus, as Maag had lowered its price as well. Other producers have not done it, however.
Ulo Kivine, CEO of Estonia's biggest dairy company, AS Tere, said there was tough competition between traders. But dairies are not planning to lower their sale prices, although the price of raw milk had fallen by one tenth in the recent months, Kivine said.
Export prices, which account for a large proportion of the Estonian dairies' revenues, have recently fallen by nearly one third.
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