Central Europe Review - Estonian News Review

	Vol 2, No 9 6 March 2000

C E N T R A L E U R O P E A N N E W S:
News Review for Estonia
All the important news from Estonia
since 26 February 2000

Mel Huang

Politics and foreign affairs

The Estonian security police published a list of 23 KGB collaborators, which included the publisher of the Russian-language weekly, Russkij Telegraf. The listing of the names is in accordance with the law.

Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves travelled to Azerbaijan to promote bilateral ties. In Baku, Ilves met with the country's leaders, including President Heidar Aliev.

The IMF approved the annual memorandum with Estonia and approved a USD 39 million line of credit. However, Estonia has said it would not use it, as it has not over the past few years.

Former Agricultural Minister Ilmar Mändmets was appointed as Estonia's new envoy to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). This is the first time an Estonian has occupied the Rome-based post.

Hungary opened its new embassy in Tallinn on Narva mnt, just across the street from the Song Festival Grounds. Deputy Foreign Minister Nemeth Zsolt officially opened the embassy.

Hungarian Agricultural Minister Jozsef Torgyan discussed co-operation in Tallinn. Danish beef was banned in Estonia, due to an outbreak of BSE.

Economic and business

In the first two months of 2000, only 12.62 per cent of the planned budget has been collected.

American businesswoman Esther Dyson took a 13 per cent share in Estonia's CV-Online.

Estonian Air will soon discontinue the short flight between Tallinn and Helsinki. Finnair will continue that route.

Due to budget cuts, public television ETV will cut back teletext services starting May.

Ski equipment and furniture maker Viisnurk, one of the largest in the world, has announced that it will begin to produce hockey sticks for the NHL.

The new Tartu prison is to become the second most expensive building in Estonia, costing EEK (Estonian kroons) 19,000 per square metre. The prison will hold 500 inmates and each cell will cost EEK 850,000. The total cost of the prison is EEK 423 million.

Social and local issues

In 1999, 8786 individuals were convicted in Estonian courts. Of the total, nearly half were guilty of robberies or thefts. A total of 1532 were juveniles.

Some 23 per cent of 18- to 25-year-olds, or 49,574 individuals, are students at institutes of higher education.

A survey shows that 74 per cent of Estonians are confident in the work of the President. After that, 57 per cent expressed confidence in the church and 56 per cent in border guards, followed by the defence forces at 50 per cent and the Central Bank at 48 per cent. The lowest confidence ratings came for the Kaitseliit national guards and the court system, at 34 per cent.

A new survey shows that 67 per cent of Estonians expressed the desire to defend their country if attacked. Some 80 per cent of males would defend Estonia, along with 43 per cent of those not holding Estonian citizenship.

And in other news...

The notorious Voitka brothers, Aivar and Ülo, were finally caught by authorities after more than 14 years on the run from a robbery charge. After some embarassing misses and other incidents, the police finally caught the brother bandits with the help of a commando group.

The biggest lottery award in Estonian history of EEK 1.6 million was won by a Tallinn small businessman.

Starting in July, drivers in Tallinn can pay for parking with their mobile phones.

Estonian lawmakers make an average of EEK 23,000 a month, the highest among legislators in the Baltic states.

Exchange rates
As of 3 March 2000