This rise in rents will in turn translate to price hikes for customers, AK reported.

High season at outdoor markets is likely to start next month with the first consignments of Estonian-grown strawberries.

Tallinn markets (Tallinna Turud) manager Kersti Otteson told AK that: "We have had to raise outdoor stall sales permit prices, in relation to maintenance costs and the rise in electricity prices."

This translates to stall rental increases of 20-30 percent in Nõmme.

One trader, Andrus, told the show he had run a stall there for 25 years.

"The warmer the weather the more customers there are; that's just how it goes. The season is just starting," he said, adding that so far, prices to customers had not yet needed raising.

Should a price hike emerge, Andrus said that he would make price adjustments where needed.

Stall spots are rented out via auction, Otteson said.

"All previous traders get the opportunity to take part in the written auction; some have been able to get their stalls back, others have had to drop out, in relation to the higher bids," Otteson said.

Tallinn central market (Tallinna Keskturg) CEO Rain Pärn told AK that stall rental prices had risen 5-10 percent, though no drop in traders had ensued.

Pärn said that: "First of all, inflation is over 10 percent, meaning in relative terms noone can say that our rentals are more expensive than last year. This is one aspect. The second is that, compared with last year, the number of visitors to our market has risen a lot."

In March this year, 20 percent more customers visited than in the following month, i.e. April, of 2021, which Pärn puts down to fears over Covid subsiding; a rise in turnover may also help to mitigate the hiked rental prices, he added.

Customer through-flow at the central market last year stood at 200,000 people per month.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!