Authentic design masterpieces Estonian way

In order to get to know Estonian national handicraft and get acquainted with different works of art of Estonian craftsmen, one can visit the newly opened design market which is situated on Rotermanni area and is held every Sunday from the beginning of August. The open-air design market also offers various kinds of original design masterpieces or just some creative works including different kind of stylish handmade jewelry, wooden art, pictures, as well as old-fashioned decorations, hand-knit woolen sweaters with traditional Estonian folk patterns, colorful glassware, original art such as graphic prints or fine ceramics and so on. While visiting the design market one can see a large choice of traditional and classical favorite souvenirs such as carved wooden beer mugs, fun felt hats, juniper coasters and limestone candle holders, which could be an ideal gift for a foreign friend.

Estonia faces more cuts for euro

Estonia s economy is to drop a worse than expected 14.5 percent this year and further budget cuts will be needed to keep if 2011 euro adoption hopes are to be met, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. Like Baltic neighbours Lithuania and Latvia, Estonia s economy has gone into a steep decline after several years of credit-fuelled boom. Though Estonia built up a reserve of funds during the good years, it is still having to hack back the budget to keep a cap on the fiscal deficit. Compared with spring, despite the economic contraction, you can see signs of stabilisation, said Finance Minister Jurgen Ligi. However, this means additional decisions are needed to continue to join the euro, if the country can afford the cost of course, he added in a statement.

»Alko Taxi» Delivers Drinks on Wheels

Finnish health authorities are launching an investigation into a business that delivers Estonian alcoholic beverages in Finland door-to-door. For the past few weeks an Alko taxi, a van painted in a garish yellow, has been delivering Estonian alcoholic beverages to thirsty dwellers in the capital city region. Customers place and pay for their orders online. To date some 50 orders mostly in Helsinki have been placed with this unconventional drink-dispensing service. Vasili Visnapuu, who s in charge of the cab s deliveries, says the business is legit as the alcoholic beverages are delivered for free and because the transaction occurs on the internet. «It would be illegal to import alcohol for sale in Finland. The purchase is actually made in Estonia, we simply don t charge for delivery,» says Visnapuu. Finnish health officials are, however, far from thrilled by the new service.

Rabarock in Estonia

I was last week end at the biggest rock festival of Estonia, Rabarock, for the very first time. After having experienced many festivals in Finland, I was curious and refreshed to visit one here in Estonia. Maybe the band list was not so impressive as usually can be in the biggest Finnish bands, but there were interesting artists visiting, like the English The Wildhearts or the American Anthrax. There were better and worse things than in Finnish festivals. Opposite to for example Provinssirock, people cannot enter with any alcoholic drink, and even for me, being a journalist, I still had to wait for the queue like anybody else. The freedom of movement was quite limited, although we had access to the VIP bar at the backstage (meaning cleaner toilets and more expensive coffee than outside ).

New City Hall in Tallinn

An international idea contest was held for Tallinn s new City Hall in Estonia and the best concept was presented by the Bjarke Ingels Group from Denmark together with Adams Kara Taylor of the UK. The purpose of the international idea contest was to find the best architectural solution for the new administrative building of the city government that will be situated on a 35,000 m2 plot near the Linnahall building. The contest for the new city was met with a great interest, 81 architects and their teams were willing to present an entry. Of those, the international jury chose the best 9 to shortlist as finalists into the second phase of the competition. By May 15 the finalists handed in their final solutions. The international jury s decision to award BIG s entry first place in the competition was unanimous and was presided by the vice mayor Taavi Aas.

Tallinn s Song and Dance Celebration to be an Unforgettable

Tallinn s Song and Dance Celebration to be an Unforgettable Experience Letting Estonians Breathe as One, Says Margus Reinsalu The Song and Dance Celebration is the internationally most famous event in Estonia. Margus Reinsalu, who does business both in his native country and elsewhere, is glad that the competition is the country s internationally most famous event: «The Song and Dance Celebration is not simply a big festival of singing and dancing but also a way to demonstrate the national spirit. It is definitely an unforgettable experience for anyone who attends it.» Estonia and Song and Dance Celebration these two belong together like Norway and skiing, Russia and bears or England and the Oxford-Cambridge boat race. The Song Celebration tradition started in the middle of the 19th century and has survived all of the twists and turns in the country s history.

Estonia s GDP 67 pct of EU s average

Estonia, which is aiming to be among the five richest countries, was holding position 21 for wealth in 2008, Eurostat announced, Eesti Päevaleht writes. Estonia s GDP was 67 pct of EU27 s average. GDP per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power Standards3 (PPS), is the highest in Luxembourg 253 pct. It is followed by Ireland (140 pct), Netherlands (135 pct), Austria (123 pct) and Sweden (121 pct). The poorest EU countries are Bulgaria (40 pct), Romania (46 pct) and Latvia (50 pct). Slovaki ais in front of Estonia (72 pct) and behind Estonia are Hungary (63 pct) and Lithuania (61 pct). Estonia has to reach Netherland s level to be among five richest countries.

Estonian Air to open route between Tallinn St Petersburg

Starting from 27 July 2009, Estonian Air will operate between Tallinn and St Petersburg with four weekly flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. «St Petersburg is the largest city in our region. It has many business and cultural connections with Estonia. By opening the Tallinn-St Petersburg route we would like to contribute to the development of these contacts. The schedule offers convenient connections for both business and leisure travellers,» says Rauno Parras, Estonian Air s acting Vice President Commercial. Departures from Tallinn on Monday and Wednesay will be 12:50 with arrival in St. Petersburg in 15:05 (all times are local). On Sunday the plane will depart from Tallinn 19:15 and arrive in 21:30. Monday, Wednesday return flights from St. Petersburg will leave at 15:45 and arrive in Tallinn at 15:50.

Elcoteq sells Tallinn operations to Ericsson

Finnish electronics maker Elcoteq said in a statement Wednesday that it is selling its manufacturing operations in Tallinn, Estonia, to Sweden s Ericsson. The deal is worth around 30 million euros. After the transaction is completed Elcoteq s high-volume production will be concentrated in Pecs, Hungary, the company s only remaining major production plant in Europe. Elcoteq said in its statement that it would continue small scale operations in Tallinn at a specialised plant. Source http: newsroom.finland.fi stt showarticle.asp

25 pct of borrowers have loan repayment problems

A survey by GfK showed that a a quarter of Estonians who have an outstanding loan have had a repayment problem in the last six months, writes Postimees. According to the survey, a third of Estonians aged 15 to 74 said that they had an outstanding loan and 25 percent of them admitted to have repayment problems. Mari Sööt, head of the Estonian division of GfK Custom Research Baltic, added that most respondents who admitted having loan repayment problems said it was connected with loss of job or a significant decline in income. 16 pct said that their living costs had increased notably. 14 pct of borrowers had a housing loan, 8 pct a credit card, 7 pct had consumer credit and 5 pct had leased a car and another 5 pct taken a student loan.