Homeowners Name Friend, Bully of 2011
Estonia's largest homeowners' lobby group has named Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder Homeowner's Friend for 2011, while its Homeowner's Bully went to national energy giant Eesti Energia.
The Homeowners Association, an umbrella organization that unites 57,800 homeowners across the nation, announced the awards at its January 15 congress.
Homeowner's Friend and Bully were chosen through an online poll, in which Teder garnered 45 percent of the votes and Eesti Energia 82 percent.
According to Priit Värk, a board member of the association, the main reasons for naming Eesti Energia Homeowner's Bully were its non-transparent tariff hikes, lack of communication with customers and long power outages.
Like many others that have been given the dubious honor in the past, Eesti Energia refrained from collecting the prize, Värk said, adding that hopefully, the company will still think over its past actions.
Ingrid Teesalu