Estonian experts predict 8 economic recession in 2009

Presuming that the capacity of the global economy will remain on the level of the last quarter of 2008, the recession in Estonia could exceed 8 in 2009 and the decrease would continue until 2010, concluded Tartu University professors Raul Eamets and Urmas Varblane, Tallinn University of Technology retired professor Jaak Leimann and Estonian central bank s vice president Märten Ross, as LETA reported, referring to Postimees. The experts have advised the government upon drawing up the negative supplementary budget. According to the four experts, the outlook for Estonian economy for the year 2009 has thus inevitably worsened, and further development is as uncertain as in the rest of the world. As the world economy has worsened in the past six months, the economic growth and inflation have turned out smaller than predicted in 2008 by the Ministry of Finance and the Estonian central bank.

Empire Carnaval - the night of mystery

TALLINN - The winter season is usually not very generous for party people, especially the post-Christmas period, but this year is different. A new, exclusive dance-carnival event that was born on Dec. 13 is now about to enter its second phase. Everyone gets tired of night clubs every once in a while. Everyone has at least thought about dressing up as a princess or pirate, covering their faces with masks and heading to a celebration that would be more than just another party. The same idea has been bouncing around in the head of the father of the Empire Carnaval, businessman Aleksei Pankow. The idea at first was only to celebrate his birthday in a special way, but this quickly became the theme of a full-blown carnival. That party was such a success that soon there wasn t a single person in Tallinn who didn t know about it and would not ask if it would happen again.

Madonna - 09 04-Aug Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn Song Festival Ground

This is a first for me. I ve never extended a tour before. I m excited to be going back on the road, visiting places I ve never been and returning to places I love commented Madonna about the new run of dates. Raves around the globe for the tour include the London Times which remarked, In the premiere league of song-and-dance spectaculars, the queen of pop remains unrivaled and undefeated. The choreography, visuals and live talent were world class and mind-blowingly well executed, intelligent and witty, glowed The Independent (UK). In 2008, the Sticky Sweet Tour was seen by 2,350,285 fans in 58 cities. With record breaking ticket sales everywhere, including 650,000 tickets sold in her series of South American dates, 72,000 tickets at Zurich s Dubendorf Airfield - the largest audience ever assembled for a show in Switzerland, 75,000 tickets in London and four sell outs in New York s Madison Square Garden (60,364 tickets).

Fifth floor - contemporary art

Last year, the KUMU Art Museum received the title of European Museum of the Year. Very impressive, considering that it opened its doors only in 2006. It is absolutely clear that the decision was not made without good reason - there are lots of interesting pieces to see. KUMU hosts an impressive collection over its five floors, some of which is exhibited on a permanent basis. But most interesting are the scheduled exhibitions, and this time some of the best pieces are housed on the fifth floor, where two installments will only reside for another couple of weeks. Three video installations by Estonian artist Lauri Astala are united under the heading Small spectacle. Very first is Astala s Small Spectacle of Image-Semblance, created in 2005. The artwork is basically nothing more than an abstract stereogram video animation which is projected over the walls of a small cubic room.

Four deaths in Estonian road accident

Five were taken to the hospital with injuries. Police note that the drivers were not intoxicated. The accident occured shortly before 4 p.m. Jan. 25 on the 70th kilometer of the Tallinn-Tartu highway, a police spokeswoman said. A Renault Laguna and a Peugeot 206 collided at Ussisoo. Both drivers, the 43 year old Aare and the 19 year old Jurgen, had licenses, the spokeswoman said. A 15- and a 13-year-old girl were killed in the Renault, as were the driver of the Peugeot, Jurgen, and a 20 year old passenger. The Peugeot coming from Tartu veered into the opposite lane and crashed into the Renault coming from the direction of Tallinn, the news of the public broadcaster ETV quoted a police officer as saying. One of the cars involved in the accident went on fire, ETV said.

Town Hall Pharmacy

Right on the corner of Tallinn s Town Hall Square stands the oldest active pharmacy in all of Europe, still operating on the same spot it occupied in 1422 when it was first mentioned in records. It has been slightly modified over the centuries, now selling modern medicine while still retaining the favour of bygone days

Estonia stays afloat-SAS saves the day

Estonian Air is still flying high among Baltic carriers thanks to loans from controlling share holder SAS airlines. The short-term loans will be sued to pay salaries, purchase fuel as well as purchase new aircraft. SAS has given the Estonian airline monthly short-term loans of around 2 million euro, reported Marika Priske, secretary general of the Economy and Communications Ministry. According to Aripaev daily s information, SAS most recently loaned Estonian Air 2 million euro. The Estonian carrier borrowed at least as much from the parent company last fall. I know that a new loan of roughly the same size is about to arrive soon, said Priske, who explained that the majority of Estonian Air s own working assets were used as the first installment on three brand-new Bombardier aircraft to be delivered in spring 2009. One new aircraft costs approximately 430 million kroons (27.5

Sweden may have suffered more in Baltic crisis

TALLINN- Market analysts report that Sweden may have suffered more from the Baltic Economic crisis than the Baltics. Swedish Banks, such as Swedbanka and others were more exposed to the Baltic real estate markets and perhaps may have led to the falling of the Swedish kroon in the summer of 2008, Estonian stock market analsyst Tonis Oja wrote in Estonian daily Aripaev. If we look back to when bubbles started to burst, then one sign was February 2007 when share prices started to fall in Tallinn. This was soon followed by a similar trend in other Central and East European bourses. Stocks in Tallinn had been posting some of the world s fastest gains for years and, as pioneers, it was our time to lead the downfall, saidOja. When the highly publicized real estate bubble started to burst, it triggered a multitude of reactions stemming from bankruptcy of Bearn Sterns investment bank to fall stocks values.

Port Strategy: Tallinn s multi-level investment strategy

These include the formation of a container hub with initial capacity of 1.2m teu, and with the potential for up to 3m teu, increasing new car handling capacity to 300,000 units a year, entering the LNG and or LPG logistics market by enabling the construction of gas terminals at the port, and increasing the competitiveness of storage services for oil and oil products. Within its real estate targets, the port is looking to develop industrial parks at Muuga and Paldiski South Harbour for value-added activities linked to the port and promoting and developing Muuga Harbour as a centre creating added value for business. There are also plans to buy additional land bordering the port. Reclamation at Muuga Harbour has been the major development in the second half of 2008, and this will continue into 2009. This 27 hectare expansion and the construction of two new berths with 14.5

Unemployed have to fight for the compensations in Estonia

Although the new employment act gives compensation for those who have left work for their own initiative, many unemployed currently can t get their benefits, Postimees writes. So the unemployed that were in the Labour Market Board were upset for they can t get compensations. «The company dismissed tens of people at the same time, but officially we were forced to sign demission,» a Russian woman told her story. «The employer said otherwise he ll find so many mistakes they ll fire me for doing my job badly,» the woman said. So the woman does not get any subsidies, although she could get 40 pct of her salary. Her husband was dismissed also in a way that doesn t give him any compensation. «The situation is bad, but luckily our son has a job and we don t have big loans,» the woman said.