Estonian Review: June 21-27, 2006

27.06.2006

FOREIGN NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
MISC

FOREIGN NEWS

Romania Hoping to Learn Administrative Capacities from Estonia

Jun 21 - Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu said after meeting with his Estonian colleague Urmas Paet in Tallinn that his country, to accede to the European Union next year, was interested in the Estonian experience in the effective use of resources from EU structural funds.

Romania could learn a lot from Estonia, a model of accession to the European Union, particularly considering Romania's forthcoming accession to the European Union as of January 1, 2007, Ungureanu said.

Among projects where Romania could take advantage of the Estonian experience, the Foreign Minister mentioned Estonian expertise in the use of resources from structural funds, the e-government project and issues connected with public administration.

"In terms of its experience Estonia is able to provide to us both added value as well as solutions to existing problems," Ungureanu said.

In addition to learning from Estonia, the Romanian Foreign Minister said, the two countries could cooperate in certain issues also in the future in the European Union. He mentioned free movement of labour between member countries of the European Union as a potential issue in which Estonia and Romania had common interests.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said Estonia wanted to have closer relations with Romania and was therefore looking for a candidate for Hononary Consul in Romania; in the long term Estonia has the aim of opening an embassy in Romania.

Meeting with President Arnold Rüütel, Ungureanu expressed the opinion that for strategic development of relations between Estonia and Romania it would be necessary to open mutual embassies and launch concrete joint projects.

Romanian ambassador to Estonia Lucian Fatu resides in Helsinki and there is a Romanian Hononary Consulate in Estonia since 2000. The Estonian Foreign Ministry covers issues connected with Romania from its Warsaw embassy.

FM Sent Condolences to his Russian Colleague

Jun 27 - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has sent his Russian Colleague Sergei Lavrov a message of condolences on the killing of four Russian diplomats in Iraq.

Paet said he was deeply shocked by the news of the execution of four representatives of the Russian embassy who had been taken hostage in Baghdad earlier this month.

He asked Lavrov to give his condolences to the families of the killed diplomats and their colleagues in the Foreign Ministry, as well as to the Russian government and people.

Tragic events like this are acts against humanity, the minister said. In his words, it is crucial for nations to stand side by side at these sad moments in order to support each other and join forces to make sure that such dramatic events never happen again.

Estonian MEP Ilves Presented a Report on Albania

Jun 22 - The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament discussed a report by Estonian MEP Toomas Hendrik Ilves on relations between the EU and Albania in connection with the Stabilization and Association Agreement signed between the EU and Albania on June 12.

The report underlines the need to deepen relations between Albania and the EU and makes a number of concrete proposals to the European parliament concerning spheres to which Albanian authorities have to pay attention.

In his report Ilves suggests that Albania could take advantage of the experience of countries that acceded to the EU in 2004 in the reorganization of its economy.

"The report gives a signal to Albania that only a continued reform policy both in the economy and democratization of the society, particularly changes of the electoral system, will make it possible to bring relations between the EU and Albania to the next level," Ilves said.

Ilves, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was elected rapporteur of the European Parliament on Albania last December. Ilves is also the first Estonian member of the European parliament to have his report officially discussed in the European Parliament.

DOMESTIC NEWS

GOV Planning to Erect War of Independence Memorial by 2008

Jun 22 - Defence Minister Jürgen Ligi said the government was aiming to open a monument to the War of Independence on Harju Hill near Vabaduse (Freedom) Square in Tallinn by 2008.

"Considering that building of the War of Independence memorial already started in the 1930s, we could be sceptical of the deadline, but we do have such an aim," Ligi said.

Ligi said the monument should depict the Estonian victory in the War of Independence of 1918-1920, but it should also symbolize the idea of liberty in more general terms.

Helcom Pronounced Three Estonian Towns Pollution-Free

Jun 22 - Helcom, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, meeting in Vilnius, decided to remove three Estonian cities, Tallinn, Paide and Pärnu, from the list Baltic Sea pollution Hot Spots.

Estonian cities were included in the list of Baltic Sea Hot Spots in 1992 when 132 coastal pollution areas were designated and a program of action was drawn with the aim of achieving the best result in twenty years.

Estonian Environment Minister Villu Reiljan said that the environment achievements of Tallinn, Paide and Pärnu were a good example of cooperation between Baltic Sea countries. Waste water purification plants in those cities have been renewed and sewage networks built in order to reduce discharges and eliminate the risk of pollution.

"In compensation to former closed beaches we have received clean bathing areas in Tallinn and Pärnu; also the quality of the Pärnu River has improved and the waste water of those cities no longer poses a risk to the Baltic Sea," Reiljan said.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Currency Rates in Kroons
(Bank of Estonia)

Estonia Ranks Third in EU by E-Government Development

Jun 27 - Provision of online public services in the European Union is the most advanced in Austria, followed by Malta and Estonia, the latest e-government report by the European Commission showed.

The maturity of online public services in the EU keeps improving and they have now reached an overall level of sophistication where full two-way interaction between citizens and governments is the norm, says the latest e-government survey carried out for the EU executive.

According to the study, Austria leads the online public service league, followed by Malta and Estonia.

Across the EU, nearly 50 percent of services allow the citizen to conduct the whole process on-line.

In the 2005 report Estonia ranked eighth by the index measuring the development of online public services and fourth by the index showing the full availability of services on the Internet.

Employment Rate Getting Equal with that of Old EU Countries

Jun 27 - The rate of employment in Estonia last year, 64.4 percent, was only 0.7 percentage points lower than that of the old EU member countries' average, Eurostat reported.

The average rate of employment in the ten new EU member countries was 56.9 percent last year.

European Commission Increased Estonia's Milk Production Quota

Jun 27 - The European Commission raised the milk production quota for Estonia by 21,885 tons and the total quota to Estonia is now nearly 650,000 tons. The entire additional amount is for use as a supply quota, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The Commission set no additional restrictions for the use of the additional reserve. A member country is entitled to establish special criteria for the use of that reserve amount after consulting with the Commission. Estonia has started with the Commission discussion concerning the milk quota, relying on the opinion of the milk quota committee advising the ministry.

Under the treaty of accession to the European Union eight of the new member countries were appointed a special milk quota restructuring reserve. The precondition for release of the reserve was reduction of the milk quota consumed locally, of which a report had to be filed to the European Commission by end 2006.

FDI into Estonia Total EUR 480 mln in Q1

Jun 26 - The sum total of foreign direct investments into Estonia in Q1 this year increased by 7.5 billion kroons (EUR 479.26 mln) in Q1 this year.

The sum total of foreign direct investments amounted to 175.6 billion kroons, accounting for 54 percent of all investments. The sum total of all foreign investments went up to 525.3 billion kroons by the end of the quarter, up by 5 percent during the quarter.

Of the foreign investments 58 percent were made into financial brokerage, with most of the investments originating from Sweden (45 percent), Finland (19 percent) and the United Kingdom (9 percent).

Estonian investments into foreign countries increased by 9 percent, amounting to 153.9 billion kroons. Of the investments made into foreign countries 69 percent were made by financial brokerage investors. Estonian investors mainly preferred the Baltic countries, Germany and Russia.

MISC

Survey: Estonian Residents Want to Eat Farm Food

Jun 27 - A survey commissioned by the Estonian Agriculture Ministry revealed that people consider farm food to be trustworthy and tasteful and that demand for it is higher than offer.

"People have a very high opinion of farms' and small producers' products. Last year more than 70 percent of people involved in the survey bought farm products. Milk products, as well as vegetables, meat products and honey were particularly popular," Agriculture Minister Ester Tuiksoo said.

The ministry said that more than half the respondents found that farms' and small producers' products were natural, fresh, reliable and tasteful. At the same time every other person admitted that small producers' goods were poorly known and unpretentiously packaged.

Nearly 70 percent of those interviewed said that retail trade establishments did not offer such small producers' goods they would like to buy. More than half the respondents would like to buy from stores small producers' honey, eggs, milk products, vegetables and pork. Nearly every other person would be interested in the consumption of farm fruit, bread, sausages, berries and smoked fish.

The survey was based on interviews with 1,033 people from throughout Estonia.

Remains of Estonian State Elder to be Reburied

Jun 21 - The remains of former Estonian State Elder August Rei and his wife Therese will be handed over to the Reis' daughter Hilja Rei. Reburial of the former state elder in his native soil will take place on August 27 in a ceremony appropriate to his rank.

Rei, who was Estonian state elder in 1928-29, was born in the Pilistvere Parish in the southern Viljandi County on March 22, 1886. He held various posts at the service of the nation in the Republic of Estonia before World War II, among other things as foreign minister in both Konstantin Päts's and Otto Tief's governments. When Estonia was occupied by the Soviets in 1940 he was Estonian ambassador in Moscow and managed to escape via Riga to Stockholm on July 13. For the rest of his life he resided in Sweden, of this nearly twenty years in the capacity of prime minister and acting president in exile. August Rei died on March 29, 1963.

Estonian Capital Ranks as World's 96th Most Expensive City

Jun 26 - According to a survey released by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, the Estonian capital Tallinn is No. 96 among world cities in terms of the cost of living. Last year Tallinn ranked 60th in that list.