29.03.23 NEWS ... Minister of Finance Annely Akkermann (Reform) called for state-owned energy company Eesti Energia's supervisory board to review performance bonuses for its outgoing managers. She said cooperation has been insufficient.
29.03.23 NEWS ... Although timber prices fell in the fourth quarter of last year, timber market surveys show that the price of firewood remains relatively high.
29.03.23 NEWS ... The coalition-to-be plans to cut the state budget deficit by €400-450 million per annum, Minister of Finance Annely Akkermann (Reform) says.
29.03.23 NEWS ... Rapid inflation has also driven up the price of tires and tire services. The price difference between premium European tires and the cheapest Chinese alternatives has grown.
29.03.23 NEWS ... Since Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine began last February, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board has identified around 3,000 attempts by private individuals and legal entities to circumvent the sanctions imposed in response.
29.03.23 NEWS ... The latest round of EU sanctions will further reduce the flow of goods to Russia. One of the side effects of the sanctions is the additional challenges it will cause for haulage companies in Ida-Viru County, most of which are involved in transporting goods to and from Russia.
29.03.23 NEWS ... Residents of Estonia made over a million outbound overnight trips in 2022, a rise on year of over 90 percent and indication of a move towards pre-pandemic levels of travel, though these still have yet to be fully attained, state agency Statistics Estonia says.
28.03.23 NEWS ... On Tuesday, the Estonian government confirmed, that amount to be paid out in dividends by state-owned energy group Eesti Energia for 2022 will be €68.9 million.
28.03.23 NEWS ... District heating prices have gradually dropped over recent months and the compensation measure is due to end in April. However, the geopolitical risks that pushed up prices have not disappeared and customers may see their bills rising again in the future.
28.03.23 NEWS ... Estonia issued €125 million worth of six-month and €125 million worth of 12-month bonds at a low-bid auction on Tuesday, with interest rates several times higher than last year.
28.03.23 NEWS ... The Bank of Estonia's investments made a loss of €157 million last year for the worst ever result.
28.03.23 NEWS ... The Estonian economy is on course for a 0.6 percent recession this year, while economic growth will bounce back to around 3 percent in the coming years. Inflation should come down to around 4 percent by year's end.
28.03.23 NEWS ... Lithuanian grid operator Litgrid is planning to carry out another 24-hour de-synchronization test from the Russian grid on April 22. According to Taavi Veskimägi, chair of Elering's management board, Estonia is well prepared for the Lithuanian test to take place. However, having weighed up the potential benefits against the risks and costs involved, it does not consider a similar test necessary in Estonia and Latvia.
27.03.23 NEWS ... The opening of a new shale oil mine is dependent on a decision by the future government, Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut (SDE) said on Monday. Viru Keemia Grupp and Eesti Energia are awaiting the outcome of coalition negotiations.
27.03.23 NEWS ... Tallinn will not give up its free public transport policy even though expenses have rapidly increased, Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart (Center) said on Monday. The new coalition is debating the abolishment of free rural buses.
27.03.23 NEWS ... The price of raw milk has begun to decrease, whereas the price of dairy products has remained unchanged since the raw milk price peak.Valio's managing director, Maido Solovjov, said that the decrease in costs could be passed on to customers only if dairies were able to recuperate the losses incurred as a result of record high raw material prices.
27.03.23 NEWS ... Minister of Finance Annely Akkermann (Reform) has filed annual reports on some of the companies of which she is registered owner. Reports on the companies in question had not been submitted for several years, while the minister pledged to file them, after she took office last autumn.
27.03.23 NEWS ... The success of building more wind farms than Estonia needs depends on energy links to neighboring countries. At worst, developers would have to pay to maintain idle turbines.
27.03.23 NEWS ... Estonia plans to support a European Commission proposal to extend the period of time in which European Union member states were asked to limit their gas consumption.
27.03.23 NEWS ... Top civil servants will see double-figure percentage pay increases for 2023, with both the Tallinn mayor and the Tallinn city council chair due to get more than €8,000 per month, gross.
25.03.23 NEWS ... A call by Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut (SDE) for a bar on constructing any new oil shale mines came as a surprise to industry chiefs, ERR reports.
25.03.23 NEWS ... The news that Estonia's PPP in comparison to the European Union average fell slightly last year was to be expected, according to one expert, and heralds a slower growth and convergence towards European Union averages, though not the end of that growth.
25.03.23 NEWS ... The Estonian state is set to issue more short-term government bonds at the end of this month. The issue is intended to refinance those bonds distributed last year, and will be to the same total value - €250 million.
24.03.23 NEWS ... Minister of Culture Piret Hartman (SDE) said that the coalition plans to invest the funds generated by the anticipated streaming platform tax into Estonian film production. Also, the government wants to increase the size of the ERR's supervisory board.
24.03.23 NEWS ... According to Ministry of the Environment figures, 10.7 million tons of oil shale were mined in Estonia last year, marking the highest volume of oil shale mined in the past three years. More than half, or 6.2 million tons, was mined by Enefit Power, a subsidiary of the Estonian state-owned energy group Eesti Energia.
24.03.23 NEWS ... The Supervisory Board of the Bank of Estonia approved the central bank's 2022 annual report this week, confirming a profit of precisely €0 for the previous financial year.
24.03.23 NEWS ... Kalev Yacht Club (Kalevi jahtklubi) in the Pirita district of Tallinn is to start the year-long job of building a new clubhouse.
24.03.23 NEWS ... Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Riina Sikkut (SDE) has rejected Transport Administration (Transpordiamet) chief Priit Sauk's claims that flight and ferry links to and from Hiiumaa and Saaremaa are often an unnecessary extravagance and burden on the taxpayer.
24.03.23 NEWS ... The head of local government on the island of Hiiumaa has hit out at statements made by a state official that flight connections between the island and the mainland represented an abuse of taxpayers' funds.
24.03.23 NEWS ... In 2022, the housing price index (HPI) increased by 22.2 percent on year, but the rise in prices basically halted in the fourth quarter, Statistics Estonia said Friday.
24.03.23 NEWS ... Following a proposal from the Minister of Finance, the government has altered an order from February 22, 2022, which had allocated €74.5 million by way of compensation for domestic energy consumers, in the period from January to March of last year.
24.03.23 NEWS ... While general government deficit in Estonia stood at 1 percent of gross domestic product in 2022, state agency Statistics Estonia reports, government debt stood at 18 percent.
23.03.23 NEWS ... The supervisory board of the Estonian state-owned energy group Eesti Energia on Thursday approved the composition of its new management board, set to take over on April 1. Of its current members, only Raine Pajo is slated to remain on the board.
23.03.23 NEWS ... According to Eurostat's initial forecasts, Estonia will be the 17th richest country in the EU in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2022 and Estonians' standard of living will be 13 percent below the EU average.
23.03.23 NEWS ... The volume of aid European countries have made available to Ukraine pales in comparison to what has been spent on mitigating the effects of soaring energy prices.
23.03.23 NEWS ... Priit Sauk, head of the Estonian Transport Administration, finds that the air link between Tallinn and the island of Hiiumaa that regularly caters to three state officials constitutes misuse of state funds and a convenience service, which the taxpayer should not be paying for.
23.03.23 NEWS ... Estonian oil shale chemistry company VKG is preparing an €100 million investment to open its Uus-Kiviõli oil shale mine in 2026, while the plan has ground to a halt because Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Riina Sikkut has not granted the right of use for the future plant's substation.
23.03.23 NEWS ... There is no real reason to fear an imminent crisis in the banking sector, while countries' central banks must focus on getting inflation under control, Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) President Madis Müller says.
22.03.23 NEWS ... Maintenance and upkeep will be the new coalition's priorities when it comes to road building, it was said after negotiations on Wednesday. New building projects are assumed to be unlikely.
22.03.23 NEWS ... The city of Tallinn charges €25 per year for use of its registered trademarks, such as Old Thomas (Vana Toomas).
22.03.23 NEWS ... In a judgment issued Wednesday, the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia explained that a bank has the right to terminate a basic payment services contract concluded with a customer only under exceptional circumstances, i.e. only on compelling grounds. The judgment involved a case in which a bank had suspended the provision of services to companies allegedly tied to instances of money laundering in Russia in the so-called Magnitsky case.
22.03.23 NEWS ... Taavi Veskimägi, CEO of Elering, the transmission system operator for electricity and natural gas, said that there will be an energy surplus in the future, not a deficit, and society needs to think what will happen to offshore wind generating units, as not all of the energy they produce will fit into the Estonian system.
22.03.23 NEWS ... The key factor in keeping the Estonian economy on its path of growth is the competitiveness of Estonian companies in Europe and on the global market, the Bank of Estonia concluded in its latest Competitiveness Report.
22.03.23 NEWS ... Today, Wednesday, March 22, marks the full arrival of e-scooter season as Bolt, one of the main service providers, rolls out its vehicles again, portal Delfi reports.
22.03.23 NEWS ... It is up to the incoming coalition once it is installed, to decide on the future of state-owned freight rail firm Operail, sitting Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Riina Sikkut (SDE) says. Operail recently divested itself of over 1,500 rail cars, which had made up its rolling stock rental fleet – a business which accounted for nearly all of Operail's profits.
22.03.23 NEWS ... State-owned lottery operator Eesti Loto saw a turnover of €88.6 million in 2022, a slight rise on 2021's figure.
21.03.23 NEWS ... Eerik Heldna, director of the Customs Department of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (MTA), and Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) Director General Elmar Vaher were detained Tuesday morning on suspicions of fraud and aiding fraud, respectively, brought by the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS).
21.03.23 NEWS ... The state will begin collecting a reserve charge of 40 cents per megawatt-hour of natural gas on May 1, to fund the storage and maintenance of national gas stocks.
21.03.23 NEWS ... The Bank of Estonia, the country's central bank, has added Coop Pank to the state list of providers of vital services, increasing the number of banks in Estonia required to guarantee continuity of service even in crises to five.
21.03.23 NEWS ... The Ministry of Social Affairs and the Rimi chain of supermarkets are testing out a novel food cards systems in Harju and Rapla counties to replace the current system of distributing food aid. The government will transfer €30 per aid recipient to the card quarterly.
