07.12.19 ... The Ministry of Defence denies allegations that its radars are not working at a high enough capacity to make wind farm activities an issue. At the same time it says that solutions exist to solve the current impasse in the private sector wind farm market, which has seen developers having to put their projects on hold due to issues of radar interference.

07.12.19 ... The Estonian and Latvian states are planning a joint offshore wind park in the Gulf of Riga, aimed at contributing to electricity grid security in both countries.

06.12.19 ... Several entrepreneurs representing private sector wind farm projects in Estonia held a press conference Friday in which they accused the Ministry of Defence of obstructing their plans. Finance minister Martin Helme (EKRE), who has lately emerged as something of an ally to the entrepreneurs despite the main issues not lying within his ministry's remit, was reportedly in attendance at the press conference.

06.12.19 ... The Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce and the Estonian Farmers Federation have started a petition to draw the attention of the European Parliament to unequal treatment of Estonian farmers in the payment of EU farm subsidies.

06.12.19 ... A major Europe-wide anti-money laundering operation identified dozens of suspicious individuals operating in Estonia, none of whom are Estonian citizens, ERR reports.

06.12.19 ... The Consumer Price Index increased by 1.8 percent in November compared to November 2018, figures from Statistics Estonia show.

06.12.19 ... No new Listeria bacteria traces have been found at Oskari Lihatööstus meat-packing company, the Veterinary and Food Board (VTA) says.

06.12.19 ... Estonian private sector wind-farm developers, including those behind the Aidu wind park, are holding a joint press conference at 12.30 p.m. on Friday.

06.12.19 ... Saaremaa Municipality will allocate €150,000 for three years so planes can fly directly from Kuressaare to Stockholm during the summer months.

06.12.19 ... There were over 11,000 job vacancies in the third quarter of 2019 following a trend which has kept labor market vacancies above 10,000 since early 2017, newly released data from Statistics Estonia show.

05.12.19 ... A farmers' demonstration promises to bring over 100 tractors to Toompea, seat of the Riigikogu, next week, ahead of the final reading of the state budget bill which they say has reneged on promised domestic support, and also the European Union's own budgetary strategy summit.

05.12.19 ... The coalition government has completely abandoned a bill which would have reformed the pharmacy sector in Estonia, and will soon put forward a bill with new proposals.

05.12.19 ... Two businessmen brothers behind a wind farm project which has been the subject of a long-running legal battle say they are ready to go to court over an injunction from a consumer body which prevents them continuing work. The issue has brought in comment from three different ministries; the two brothers, Andres and Oleg Sõnajalg, have also found an ally in finance minister Martin Helme (EKRE).

04.12.19 ... Pension reforms initiated by the Estonian coalition government are predominantly in line with the Estonian Constitution, a Tallinn law firm has found.

04.12.19 ... Two businessmen brothers behind a wind farm project which has been subject to long-running legal disputes are having their affairs dealt with via finance minister Martin Helme (EKRE), circumventing other ministries and their regulatory authorities, Baltic News Service reports.

04.12.19 ... The state will invest up to €600,000 in funding for four early-stage business ideas, hoping that at least one will become the same international success story as e-residency.

04.12.19 ... Research and development (R&D) spend in Estonia increased by around 20 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 2018 according to government agency Statistics Estonia. Estonia's R&D spend as a ratio of GDP places it around mid-way in the European Union as a whole, though meeting a level of 3 percent of GDP on R&D spend in 2020 looks unattainable, Statistics Estonia says.

04.12.19 ... Tallinn Administrative Court has partly agreed to a request from fish processing firm M.V.Wool for legal protection following the Veterinary and Food Board (VTA) order last week to close the company's two processing plants.

03.12.19 ... State-owned electricity generator Eesti Energia has reduced its CO2 emissions by 50 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) the company says, and has tripled its renewables energy production over the same period.

03.12.19 ... A 32-page document made available to ERR on Tuesday shows that traces of the most virulent strain of Listeria, ST1247 were present within fish-processing company M.V.Wool's facilities, processes and products as early as two years ago.

03.12.19 ... President Kersti Kaljulaid says that bottlenecks in Estonia's e-residency program still exist, particularly in the banking sector, with many e-residents experiencing difficulty in opening accounts, something which the larger banks should heed.

02.12.19 ... The council of the Estonian capital-based Coop Pank approved the bank's initial public offering (IPO) of €37.9 million at the price of €1.15 per share. In all, some 11,000 investors subscribed to nearly 33 million shares of Coop Pank during the IPO, the exchange trading of which is planned to begin on Dec. 9.

02.12.19 ... Estonian pensioners are among the poorest when Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries are compared, a new survey shows.

02.12.19 ... Minister of Finance Martin Helme (EKRE) speculated that the government's decision to reduce the alcohol excise duty was behind the 4.2 percent economic growth in the third quarter announced on Friday.

01.12.19 ... According to Statistics Estonia, freight carriage on Estonian railroads in October dropped by 17.7 percent on year to approximately 1.7 million tons.

30.11.19 ... Prime Minister Jüri Ratas' (Centre) government has done away with any sort of predictability in taxes in Estonia, which is undermining businesses' courage to invest as well as consumer confidence, MEP Andrus Ansip (Reform/Renew) said at a conference in Tallinn on Friday.

30.11.19 ... The Estonian economy grew by 4.2 percent on year in the third quarter of 2019, and 1 percent on quarter. This growth was driven by exporting branches, while one-off factors played a significant role as well, Bank of Estonia economist Kaspar Oja said.

30.11.19 ... Kristjan Liivamägi, lecturer at the Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences and senior lecturer at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) Department of Economics and Finance, believes that shares in the Estonian capital-based Coop Pank are overvalued.

30.11.19 ... Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart (Centre) has said that the setting aside of the draft bill on alcohol sales restrictions in the capital stems from both sides of the argument, with opposition to the restrictions joining those who would like to see even stricter limits, including on casinos, in the city.

29.11.19 ... Supermarket Rimi is recalling all of its fresh salad products as a precautionary measure following the discovery of Listeria monocytogenes at a production facility, Baltic News Service reports.

29.11.19 ... Companies' profits are under pressure despite surprisingly rapid economic growth, said Madis Aben, analyst at the Ministry of Finance's Fiscal Policy Department.

29.11.19 ... The undersea portion of the Balticconector pipeline has been filled with natural gas, as a result of which, for the first time in history, the two countries' gas networks are linked and the two-way transport of gas between them made possible.

29.11.19 ... According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Friday, the turnover of retail trade enterprises in October totaled €640 million, increasing by 4 percent on year at constant prices.

29.11.19 ... According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Friday, Estonia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.2 percent on year in the third quarter of 2019. The Estonian GDP was €7 billion at current prices.

29.11.19 ... Though the Tallinn city council was set to approve the capital's alcohol sales restrictions bill during its sitting on Thursday, the city government withdrew the bill from the agenda.

28.11.19 ... Listeria bacteria have been traced to raw materials from meat packing company Oskari Lihatööstus, Baltic News Service reports.

28.11.19 ... There was a 5 percent increase in goods and services sold in the third quarter of 2019 compared to 2018, new figures from Statistics Estonia show.

28.11.19 ... Tartu's budget is expected to increase by €16 million next year which will see wage increases for teachers, cultural and social workers, as well as focusing on schools and improving living and business environments.

28.11.19 ... The Public Procurement Review Committee (VAKO) has granted Lithuanian airline Transviabaltika's request to lift a 20-year age limit for aircraft in its Tallinn to Saaremaa flight procurement, overruling a proposal from Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas (Centre), as well as the island's municipality, that the Road Administration (Maanteeamet) do just that.

28.11.19 ... Fish processing company M.V.Wool has applied to the courts for preliminary relief for an injunction which closed its two factories early this week.

27.11.19 ... The Prosecutor's Office has not launched an investigation into the actions of SEB Pank, spokespeople for the Office of the Prosecutor General said on Wednesday.

27.11.19 ... Hazardous rail freight transit should be banished from Tallinn city limits, according to Tallinn City Government, in connection with the Rail Baltic development, rekindling the possibility of a Tallinn ring railway which had been touted, then rejected, earlier in the year.

27.11.19 ... Estonian postal workers are in the same situation as workers in Finland who went on strike for several days this week, Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) chairman Peep Peterson told daily Postimees, but in Estonia there is no possibility to organize similar collective action.

27.11.19 ... This October, 437 gigawatt-hours of electricity was produced and 738 gigawatt-hours of electricity consumed, indicating that domestic electricity covered 59 percent of consumption last month.

27.11.19 ... Employees of the Rail Baltic parent company, RB Rail, have demanded the resignation of the company's supervisory board chair, claiming that the project has reached a critical stage due to poor corporate governance, misuse of EU funds, and conflict of interest situations. A statement issued by the employees also points towards virtual nationalization of the project as being a solution to its woes.

27.11.19 ... A nationwide postal strike and sympathy strikes are to end after parties to a dispute involving Finnish postal workers reached an agreement.

27.11.19 ... According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Wednesday, in the third quarter of 2019, the average gross monthly wages stood at €1,397, up 8.2 percent on year. Average hourly wages, meanwhile, increased 7 percent on year to €8.01.

27.11.19 ... Potentially suspicious transactions worth tens of billions of euros passed through Swedish bank SEB's Estonian arm in the period 2005-2018, Baltic News Service reports.

27.11.19 ... The coalition working group on pharmacy reform is considering lifting restrictions on pharmacy ownership, which would mean that ownership in the sector would not be confined to pharmacists themselves.

26.11.19 ... The Estonian Traders' Association (EKL) submitted a proposal to the pharmacy reform working group on Tuesday to completely free up the drug market, allowing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs to be sold at regular stores. This is one option to be discussed by the coalition working group that is reviewing the Medicinal Products Act.