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Estonian Review: March 28-April 3, 2005
05.04.2005
TOP NEWS
FOREIGN NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
SPORTS NEWS
TOP NEWS
Estonian President sent letter of condolences to Vatican on Pope's death
Apr 04 - Estonian President Arnold Rüütel, late Saturday night, expressed his condolences to the Vatican on the passing of Pope John Paul II.
The letter of condolences addressed to Cardinal Angelo Sodano read as follows: "It was with deepest sorrow and grief that I learned about the passing of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II was a symbol of compassion and humanity. His influence stretched beyond the borders of religions, and political beliefs."
"As a great humanist and protector of morality, Pope John Paul II dedicated his whole life to the spiritual liberation, moral self-betterment and development of toleration among mankind. This dedication was apparent. He was able to present moral values in a simple and understandable way, which helped people, in an ever more complicated world, to stay themselves and to prosper. His message of peace and love found resonance and gave hope to many around the world," the President's letter said.
Rüütel said Estonia would vibrantly remember the Pope's visit to Estonia in 1993. "His blessing on our country will accompany us forever. Allow me personally and on behalf of the people of Estonia to express our deepest condolences to you and to Catholics all over the world. We are with you in your grief," the letter said.
A survey ordered by the Foreign Ministry showed that 65% of the population is supportive of development assistance to recipient countries
Mar 30 - The research company Turu-uuringute AS presented the results of the public opinion poll concerning development co-operation ordered by the Foreign Ministry's Development Co-operation Division.
According to the Foreign Ministry's assessment, the results were positive, for instance 81% of the population and 93% of opinion makers had heard about development co-operation, a smaller part of the respondents could name keywords connected with the topic (correspondingly 60% of the population and 91% of the opinion makers). The survey showed that the support among the population for rendering assistance to recipient countries is high (65%). The main reason given for the necessity of rendering assistance was a moral obligation. The reasoning of opinion makers for rendering assistance was very similar, but the percentage of support was much higher - 95%. Important information cropped up concerning the sources of information on development co-operation: the population was informed mainly through television (80%), but opinion makers listed the print media as their primary source of information (92%).
Turu-uuringute AS surveyed 1000 people and 150 Estonian opinion makers. The survey results were also analysed according to the age, education level and place of residence of the respondents. The purpose of the survey was to find out the knowledge level of the Estonian people regarding development co-operation, general attitudes and preferences: how many people have heard about development and humanitarian assistance, which are the keywords connected with the topic; is the population ready to render assistance to impoverished countries, which are the main information sources for getting corresponding information etc.
Although Estonia has dealt with development co-operation for over seven years, this was the first survey on the knowledge level of the Estonian people regarding development co-operation. Feedback has up to now mainly come from the non-profit sector and other donor countries. The results serve as necessary basic data to better inform the Estonian population.
The Foreign Ministry will involve its partners from the non-profit sector in the informing process. Currently, two ongoing information projects exist: introduction of fair trade principles and the creation of the development co-operation website Terveilm.net. At the end of last year, the Foreign Ministry published a flyer introducing Estonian development co-operation.
Internet penetration in Estonia 51 per cent - survey
Mar 29 - As many as 531 000 people, who make up 51 per cent of all residents aged 15-74, are users of the Internet in Estonia, a new survey by TNS Emor shows.
The number of Internet users had increased by 52 000 people compared with a similar survey a year ago. The increasing penetration of home Internet has boosted the intensity of Internet use in Estonia, with 44 per cent of users connecting onto the web daily. The percentage of daily users a year ago was 39 per cent.
Estonia's economic growth in 2004 had a broad base - analyst
Mar 31 - The preliminary economic growth figure released by the Statistical Office rests on a broad base, as domestic consumption and export alike saw solid growth, Hansabank analyst Maris Lauri said.
"The more detailed data that was published now raised the preliminary estimate of economic growth from 6.1 per cent to 6.2 per cent because the fourth quarter of last year turned out to have been a little better than previously estimated, with 5.9 per cent growth instead of 5.8 per cent," Lauri said.
Showing a broad base of GDP growth is the 6.6 per cent increase in domestic consumption and a 16.3 per cent increase in exports.
"Since domestic supply has been consistently underestimating the dynamics of domestic consumption, imports grew 13.8 per cent, while domestic supply was up 7.7 per cent," she added.
FOREIGN NEWS
Estonia and Serbia and Montenegro Discussed Opportunities to Enliven Economic Co-operation
On Monday, 28 March, Foreign Minister Rein Lang met with Deputy Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro Predrag Boskovic in the framework of political consultations in Tallinn. Mainly the development of bilateral relations and opportunities for stepping up economic co-operation were under discussion at the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Deputy Foreign Minister presented the recent developments oriented towards the integration into the European Union to the Estonian side and gave an overview of the political situation in the country, as well as issues connected with Kosovo.
The Deputy Foreign Minister emphasised that it is very useful for Serbia and Montenegro to learn from Estonia's European Union integration experience, in particular in the field of privatisation and reforms. "Estonia is pleased to see Serbia and Montenegro moving towards integration into the EU" Foreign Minister Lang said confirming that Estonia is ready to support Serbia and Montenegro on this path through the mediation of its experience.
Foreign Minister Lang and Deputy Foreign Minister Boskovic touched upon opportunities for stepping up economic co-operation at length. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Estonia serves as one of the best examples of transition models from planned economy to an open economy Serbia and Montenegro have much to learn from. Getting more specific the Ministers emphasised that more attention should be paid to the encouragement of business contacts between the two countries. Foreign Minister Lang recommended to the Serbia and Montenegro side to study co-operation possibilities between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of both countries.
In the framework of economic co-operation, tourism promotion was discussed as well. Together, it was acknowledged this a field that has not been studied, but altogether it is promising. The Serbia and Montenegro side brought out as positive experience the successful introductory visit to Serbia and Montenegro of the representatives of Estonian tourist companies organised by the Serbia and Montenegro Ambassador residing in Helsinki Igor Iovovic last year. The Deputy Foreign Minister added that during this visit the delegation also has a meeting with the representatives of Estonian Air to discuss co-operation possibilities between the airlines of the two countries.
During the visit the delegation of Serbia and Montenegro is also going to have meetings with the Foreign Ministry's Undersecretary Sven Jürgenson, Director of European Union Affairs at the State Chancellery Gert Antsu, Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence Lauri Almann, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication Signe Ratso and the representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu.
At the beginning of May last year Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland was the first Estonian Foreign Minister to pay an official visit to Serbia and Montenegro.
Beslan children happy in Estonia
Mar 28 - A group of 22 children who were involved in the hostage drama in Beslan in Northern Ossetia arrived in Estonia for rehabilitation treatment and are feeling well.
The 22 children and 25 adults accompanying them are undergoing rehabilitation treatment at the Laine Sanatorium in Haapsalu. General Secretary of the Estonian Red Cross Riina Kabi said that their adaptation had taken some time and the thorough medical check-up given to them had been exhaustive.
"But everybody said that they had slept well after the arrival and were now feeling better," Kabi said. The children and their attendants are being offered various medical procedures. On Sunday, the Beslan group went to mark Easter at the Haapsalu youth centre, where they painted eggs. They also had a trip to Haapsalu aqua centre and day trips to the Tallinn Zoo, the Lahemaa National Park and Hiiumaa Island.
Kabi said the Beslan children and their parents were very much interested in Estonian culture and customs. "They are interested in our songs and dances, relations between young and old people." She added that the guests wanted to describe their experiences during the hostage crisis. Some members of the group were in the school during the crisis.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Bank of Estonia: Current account gap 12.7 per cent of GDP in 2004
Mar 28 - Estonia's current account deficit reached an estimated 17.484 billion kroons (EUR 1.12 billion) or 12.7 per cent of the anticipated gross domestic product last year, the Bank of Estonia said.
"Continued strong inflow of external funds accompanied by active investment and private consumption maintained a high level of the current account deficit," the central bank noted.
Compared with 2003, the shortfall in relation to the GDP was slightly smaller but in absolute value the deficit increased by around a billion kroons.
The current account gap excluding reinvested earnings, which involved no real movement of funds formed 7.1 per cent of the expected GDP last year.
The main reason for the current account shortfall was once again the goods account with a negative balance of 24.6 billion kroons.
Export of goods increased in 2004 by 18 per cent or 12 billion kroons year on year, totalling 75 billion kroons. The year-on-year increase in imports was 17 per cent or 14 billion kroons, causing the gap of the goods account to rise to 99.7 billion kroons.
Member states of the European Union accounted for 80 per cent of exports and 78 per cent of imports last year.
The surplus of the services account increased by a fifth during the year and totalled 14.3 billion kroons. The export of services grew by 16 per cent to 35.8 billion and the import by 13 per cent to 21.5 billion kroons.
EU member states accounted for 67 per cent of the export and 76 per cent of the import of services. The biggest positive balance was with Finland at 6.9 billion kroons.
Only a quarter of Finns have not been to Estonia -survey
Mar 30 - Three quarters of all adult Finns have visited Estonia at least once and a little over half have visited Estonia at least three times.
The biggest factor affecting the frequency of visits to Estonia is how far the person lives from Estonia. In Southern Finland, 73 per cent of residents have visited Estonia at least three times, but 61 per cent of residents from Northern Finland have never been to Estonia.
The survey conducted by TNS Gallup OY by interviewing one thousand Finnish residents aged 15-79 showed 56 per cent of respondents as regarding it very likely or quite likely that they will make a holiday trip to Estonia in the next three years.
Interest in visiting Estonia was bigger among residents who normally make visits to Estonia, such as people with higher education and higher income, and those living closer to Estonia. The more times the respondent had visited Estonia before, the more likely he or she was to make another holiday trip here in the next three years.
Currency Rates in Kroons
April 3, 2005
British pound - GBP - 22.753
Canadian dollar - CAD - 9.952
Swiss franc - CHF - 10.088
Danish krone - DKK - 2.100
Japanese yen - JPY - 0.113
Latvian lat - LVL - 22.480
Lithuanian lit - LTL - 4.532
Norwegian krone - NOK - 1.910
Russian rouble - RUB - 0.433
Swedish krona - SEK - 1.708
US dollar - USD - 12.060
Euro - EUR - 15.647
SPORTS NEWS
Estonia draws with Russia in World Cup qualifier
Mar 30 - Estonia drew 1:1 with Russia in the World Cup European zone, Group Three qualifier at the Lillekula Stadium in Tallinn before a full house of 9 300.
Andrei Arshavin put Russia in the lead at the 17th minute and Sergei Terehhov equalized for Estonia at the 64th minute, bringing the score to 1:1.
EESTI RINGVAADE is compiled from local news services, including BNS, and is issued by the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eesti Ringvaade is also available through the Internet at http://www.vm.ee
To subscribe please contact: vmpress@vm.ee
 
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