Estonia

Amnesty International Fires Off Letter to Ansip

Recent ammendments on the "Law on Language" go into effect tomorrow March 1st which according to Amnesty International "extend the powers of the Language Inspectorate to recommending dismissals of employees for insufficient Estonian language skills, making people who already have a language certificate re-sit a language exam and nullifying the language certificates of those who fail a re-sit of their language exam."

This law targets ethnic Russians who make up one third of  Estonia's population.  While I have been sympathetic to the country's need to do what it can to preserve its cultural heritage, especially in light of its recent past as an occupied country by the Russians, the Germans and then by the Soviets after World War II, this law will do more to exacerbate the integration issues facing ethnic Russians and Estonians than ease them. 

A poignant story in Amnesty's recent letter to Andrus Ansip underscores this point:

I used to work as a taxi driver but lost my job thanks to the Language Inspectorate. They call you to the transport commission for the slightest infraction of the high way code where the ladies from the Language Inspectorate are waiting for you. Everything is well planned. They call only the Russian speakers. They can sack you not because you are a bad worker, not because passengers have been complaining but because you don't know Estonian well. I have three children, a mortgage and an alcoholic husband but nobody cares. I have to pay for language courses and they are not cheap -- two or three monthly salaries. I don't have a job and I cannot pay for the Estonian language courses. How am I going to live? Isn't this discrimination?"

Unfortunately, the Language Inspectorate appears to be employing the same draconian methods practiced by Estonia's past enemies.  I can understand the need for language proficiency, but Estonia should then do all it can to ensure that Russians can speak the language by providing free classes at a minimum.  Every economist knows that the key to sustainable GDP growth is increased productivity -- something Estonia has not been able to generate recently despite its progressive economic policies and technologically savvy work force, which has accrued benefits mainly to those in the big cities like Tallinn, but not for ethnic Russians particularly in rural regions. 

Estonia's economic miracle can only continue if the country insures that its labor force is highly competitive.  It must do more to integrate Russians more fully which means at the very least granting them citizenship while also providing them with the language skills and job training necessary to work alongside fellow Estonians as equals.   Marginalizing Russians can only prolong animosity and harm economic and social progress in the long run.

Estonia First to Vote Over the Web

TALLINN, Feb 28 - About one in 30 Estonian voters cast ballots via the Internet this week when the country became the first in the world to allow Web voting for national parliamentary elections, officials said on Wednesday.

Voters in the Baltic country were given the chance to vote via the Internet from Feb. 26-28 before the actual polling day on March 4.

A total of 30,275 out of 940,000 registered voters cast their ballots via the Web, said the officials.

"We are happy with this number. I personally would not have expected so many electronic voters," said Epp Maaten, deputy head of the national electoral commission.

Estonia used Web voting for elections once before but that was in more limited local polls in 2005 when nearly 10,000 voted through the Internet. It is a new sign of Estonia's strong embrace of technology since it quit the Soviet Union in 1991.

To cast ballots via the Internet, voters had to use their state-issued ID cards and enter two passwords.

Pollsters expect the present two main coalition parties, the centre-right Reform Party and left-leaning Centre Party, to both do well in the elections, but it is not clear which will be the biggest.

Reform leader Andrus Ansip is the current prime minister.

Copyright 2007 Reuters.

Bronze Soldier Gets Second Chance

President Toomas Ilves vetoed legislation to remove the notorious Bronze Soldier from the center of Tallinn today claiming the measure violated the constitution.  The WWII memorial has been at the center of controversy for months now.  Many ethnic Estonians see the statue as a reminder of Soviet occupation while ethnic Russians living in Estonia and in Russia (along with WWII veterans around the globe) feel its removal endorses Nazism since the statue commemorates the soviets who freed Estonia from German occupation during the War.   

Vociferous complaints have been made by the highest of Russian officials including Vladamir Putin.  These complaints add to the tension between the two countries.  Estonia continues to try flex its new found muscle as a newly independent state, though its attempt to remove the statue appears to be backfiring. 

Russians represent one third of the Estonian population, yet the majority of them have not been granted citizenship which does nothing to smooth relations between these two main ethnic groups.  Perhaps Ilves's recent veto is an attempt to soften his anti-Russian stance and begin the honorable task of truly integrating Estonian-Russians into Estonian society. 

Up Up and Away

(RTTNews) - Estonia average monthly gross wages and salaries grew 17.5% on yearly basis in the fourth quarter, the statistical office said Thursday. Average monthly earnings totaled 10, 212 kroons (approx. 850 USD) versus 9, 068 kroons (approx. 750 USD) in the third quarter. Average hourly gross wages and salaries climbed 19.2% annually.

Estonia Producer Price Index - PPI climbed 1.6% on month in January, the Statistics Estonia said Tuesday. The index rose 0.5% in December. On an annual basis, producer prices expanded 6.4%,larger than 5.9% recorded prior month.        

Export price index gained 1.7% on monthly basis and moved up 5.9% annually. Meanwhile, import prices fell 0.1% on month and advanced 3.4% on year.

Estonia set for world's first Internet election

Coming up on March 4th, Estonians will hold the world's first vote over the internet.  According to Reuters, E-voting will be introduced for a parliamentary election for the first time after it was used in more limited local elections in 2005. It is a fresh sign of Estonia's strong embrace of technology since it quit the Soviet Union in 1991 and another example of its innovative culture. 

Estonia pioneered a flat tax in 1992, is paying women to have babies in order to stem its declining population and built the world's first free city-wide wifi network in its capital city Tallinn.  Estonians were some of the first to use online banking 10 years ago even though many of its residents didn't have ready access to the internet or much money. 

The tiny Baltic country's infrastructure was decrepit after its independence in the early 1990's. Even today, outside the glitzy new skyscrapers of Tallinn city center, buildings look battered, roads are potholed and Soviet-era trolley buses still whirr around town.

"One of the most common explanations as to why Estonians have taken to new IT technology is that everything had to be done new here," said Jaan Tallinn, a senior programmer involved in the development of Skype.

"There were no legacies to deal with, like with bank cheques, which were already obsolete. So companies could create new systems and people just used them," he added.

Estonian real estate grows 33% in Q4

Estonia's real estate market was „a third larger” in the Q4 compared with the same period of 2005, the statistics office said.

The average value of property or land transactions was 1.4 million krooni ($118,000), Statistikaamet said on its Web site today. In all, 16,000 sales were concluded totaling 22 billion krooni in the three months ending December 31. The Baltic country's housing market is being fueled by Estonians' desire to move into modern accommodation and out of decades-old Soviet-era flats. Wages rose 16.5% in the Q3, boosting Estonians' ability to purchase real estate.

AS Hansapank, the biggest Baltic lender, said on February 16 its Estonian loan portfolio grew 50% in the Q4 to €6 billion ($8 billion). Estonian mortgage growth will „slow to some degree,” said Priit Poldoja, head of Estonian operations at AS Hansapank, in an online news conference on February 16. „Real estate prices have risen to a point where for many people, even in light of rapid wage growth, the opportunity of acquiring property is limited.” (Bloomberg)

Estonia Gross Domestic Product Rises 11.5 Percent in 2006

I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so before I really start jabbering about some of the really interesting stories that are grabbing headlines in Estonia (like the battle over whether to remove the Soviet war memorial in Tallinn or not), I'm going to add in some news about the economy... which also happens to be big news, just not as controversial. 

So without further ado, this from the AP today:

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Estonia's gross domestic product rose 11.5 percent last year, continuing its streak as one of Europe's fastest growing economies, the government said Tuesday.

In the fourth quarter, GDP surged 11.2 percent, according to preliminary data.

Booming household consumption, cheap loans from mainly foreign-owned banks and soaring real estate prices were the main drivers behind the stellar growth, said Kristjan Pungas, an analyst at the Finance Ministry.

Robust construction, service and wholesale sectors were further contributing to the growth rate, he said, adding that wages and costs were also on the rise.

Pungas warned that the Baltic nation of 1.3 million already was seeing "some signs of overheating."

Foreign investors are increasingly troubled by rising labor costs and inflation, and some are reportedly considering relocating production to Belarus and Ukraine, where costs are significantly lower.

Estonia's Q4 GDP up 11.2%

(RTTNews) - Estonia Gross Domestic Product - GDP rose 11.2% annually in the fourth quarter, a flash estimate from the statistical office showed Tuesday. In the third quarter, economy grew 11.3%. The statistical office noted that fourth quarter growth was led by expansion in manufacturing as well as wholesale and retail trade sectors. Further, transport, storage and communication as well as financial services impacted growth.