Baltic markets still shaky, but investors starting to return

The NASDAQ OMX Tallinn exchange in Estonia suffered the biggest hit of the day, down 4.67 per cent. The Vilnius exchange in Lithuania was down 1.73 per cent. Meanwhile, Riga dipped just 0.75 per cent, despite the suffering of three of the larger listed Latvian companies. Drinks maker Latvijas Balzams, steel producer Liepajas Metalurgs and pharmaceuticals manufacturer Rigas Farmaceitiska Fabrika all suffered double-digit falls in their share prices. The Baltic Benchmark Index (BBI), which includes data from all three exchanges, closed down 3.88 per cent, at 299.17, repeating a similar fall from the day before. It is the first time the BBI has dipped below the 300 mark since February 2004. Indars Ascuks, head of development at NASDAQ OMX Baltic markets told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa: Crossing the 300-point mark today does not have a strong psychological effect because investors in the Baltics have witnessed high volatility and price fluctuations for a year already.

President: Estonia quite untouched by financial crisis

So far Estonia has been quite untouched by financial crisis and that is mainly due Estonian banking s integration with Nordic financial sector, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said at the meeting with German President Horst Köhler, postimees.ee writes. «Estonian economy s adaption began a year before financial crisis reached Europe, but next couple of years will be certainly complicated in economic policy means for Estonia,» Ilves said. Presidents said it must be and it is in EU s interest to restore the trust of banks and citizens, also general balance on world s financial markets. «In world s extension there are currently at least two problems in addition to stabilising financial markets it s necessary to avoid financial problems escalation into general economic crisis,» Ilves noted. He added that it needs coordinated activities both, in EU and larger international scale.

The freest media among Baltic countries - in Estonia

The media in Lithuania is becoming freer and freer, shows the research conducted by the international organization Reporters Without Borders. Estonia was ranked the third and Latvia 12th. This year, Lithuania shares the 16th place with the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Portugal in the international rating. Last year, our country occupied the 23rd place and two years ago Lithuania was ranked 27th. According to the research, Lithuanian journalists have higher press freedom than Germans, Brits and French, yet they are less free than their colleagues in other Baltic states. According to the annual rating, Iceland s and Norwegian journalists have the highest freedom of press. Estonia was ranked the third. Latvia also did better than our country it was ranked the 12th. A total of 173 countries were ranked. All EU member states were listed among the top 50 positions, except Bulgaria (51st position) and Poland (56th position).

Estonia c.bank gives bleak economic outlook

It said the Nordic banks which now dominate the Estonian banking sector should be able to withstand the slowdown, but that if Estonia s export markets ran out of steam completely then its own downturn would continue for longer. So far the economic correction has been more abrupt than expected primarily due to decreasing domestic demand, the bank said in its new forecasts, updated from April. It stuck to its outlook for inflation to drop to near the Maastricht Treaty level for the adoption of the euro by the end of 2010, but it also saw the budget deficit rising and urged the government to be prepared for further budget steps. It forecast a gross domestic product (GDP) drop this year of 1.8 percent and of 2.1 percent in 2009. Growth would resume the year after at 3 percent, it said.

Investment bankers expect growth of takeovers

Estonia s leading investment bankers say that this is a buyer s market right now and expect the number of takeover to increase. «If you compare it with the situation a year ago when we were contacted by buyers, now most enquiries are coming from owners that offer their business for sale,» Rain Tamm, senior partner of investment bank GILD Bankers, told Eesti Päevaleht. Tamm says that local business owners have become notably more interested in finding a buyer for their companies which means that there may a wave of foreign investments flowing into Estonia in the next few years. He added that the biggest obstacle to such takeovers is that sellers are demanding a much higher price for their companies than buyers are ready to pay. Tamm said that likely takeover targets are operating in very different business sectors and include some large enterprises, but did not specify which.

Estonian quarterly inflation rises

Estonia s consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, according to statistics released Monday. Prices in the Baltic nation rose by 10.9 per cent compared to the previous third quarter. The latest figures were mainly influenced by price increases of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, but were mollified by decreases in the price of fresh vegetables. Estonia s annual inflation currently stands at 10.5 per cent, but appears to be on a downward trend after peaking earlier this year. Figures released on the same day showed that producer prices remained unchanged from August to September and were up 6.3 per cent compared to September last year. Source http: monstersandcritics.com news business news article 143

Estonia may have 2009 budget gap

Estonia s economy may contract next year and the government may post a budget deficit after the economy entered a recession in the second quarter, Finance Minister Ivari Padar said, Bloomberg reports. Any shortfall would have to be covered by government reserves that equal EEK 28 bln or 11 percent of expected GDP this year, Padar told Parliament in Tallinn today. Governments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are struggling to collect budget revenue and reluctant to cut spending as growth falters and inflation cuts consumers buying power. They risk breaching the EU s budget deficit limit of 3 pct of GDP, officials in the three countries have said, Bloomberg writes. I practically don t see any space in this budget for additional spending cuts, Padar said. You cannot totally curb a country s budget in one year.

Specialist: The situation on Tallinn bourse is a small problem

What s happening on Tallinn bourse is a small problem considering current financial crisis, said Peeter Koppel, strategist of SEB private banking to ERR News. «The situation on Tallinn bourse is clearly nervous, but these turnovers are small and quite speculating small investors are operating there,» noted Koppel. «Our downturn started before that global one. Institutional investors have already left here and those, who are keeping large positions here, have bigger problems in the rest of the world. At current price levels it s not possible to sell large pieces and the second is whether they want to sell at all,» explained Koppel. Although time may seem good for buying stock, Koppel said that it s not knows yet what will be the rules after the crisis. «There is a problem with buying that markets are extremely scared.

Estonia raises bank deposit guarantee to 50,000 euros

Estonia more than doubled its bank deposit guarantee to 50,000 euros (68,000 dollars) on Thursday, in line with a European Union-wide move decided two days earlier. In a statement, the government announced that with immediate effect it was guaranteeing 100 percent of accounts, up to a maximum 50,000 euros or their equivalent in kroons, the national currency. Previously, the Estonian government had guaranteed only 90 percent of deposits, up to a maximum 20,000 euros. The aim of the decision is to treat people within the EU equally and to give additional security to people saving their money in banks in Estonia, the government said. Baltic state Estonia, which joined the EU in 2004, followed the lead of a handful of other members of the 27-nation bloc, even though most of its depositors had been protected by the existing 20,000-euro guarantee.

Real estate prices in Tallinn down 19 in September 2008

Despite slight growth in transactions and monetary volumes, the prices for apartments continued to decrease in Estonia in September 2008 as compared to September of the year 2007 the decrease in apartment prices in Tallinn was 19 in September 2008, BBN reported. Prices of dwellings located in the very centre of the city fell even 25, real estate company Ober-Haus said in the market overview. As compared to April 2007 or a period of real estate boom in Estonia, the decrease in prices in Tallinn was 22 on average, and in the centre of the town 30 on average. Today prices for apartments in older apartment buildings of dormitory suburbs start from 13,000 kroons per m². Most of the transactions with such apartments are made in a price category from 15,000 to 18,000 kroons per m².