Ferry competition intensifies between Helsinki and Tallinn

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Stefan Andersson private investor
New capacity will increase competition among ferry operators between Helsinki and Tallinn this year. This should contribute to low ticket prices in spite of rising fuel costs.
Approximately six million passengers travel by sea between Helsinki and Tallinn every year. As we approach the summer season, there are now [...]

Estonian GDP-growth in euros has been close to 20pct

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]Stefan Andersson
private investor
Measuring the Estonian GDP in fixed Eurozone prices suggests that annual growth peaked close to 20% in 2005. With such a ”euro-perspective”, the Baltic economies have been more overheated than broadly understood.
According to public statistics the Estonian real GDP-growth was 10-12% on an annual basis during the period from Q2 2005 to Q1 [...]

Estonian kroon grossly overvalued

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]Columnist Esko Passila writes in Äripäev that the strong kroon policy of the government is becoming a huge problem for Estonia.
“The actual value of the kroon to euro is only 50 percent of its current nominal value if you adjust it to inflation. Estonia should join the euro zone only after it has established a [...]

Make no mistake: Estonia’s long-term economic trend is sharply upwards

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]Stefan Andersson
private investor
Yes, everything looks bleak in the economy now. But that is when one has to take a look at the bigger economic picture. I think the Tallinn Stock Exchange is interesting again.
These days when the Estonian economic growth is slowing, the real estate market is sharply correcting and the Tallinn Stock Exchange has [...]

Air Baltic takeover talks

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]Photo: Rodolfo Clix
Scandinavian airline SAS continues negotiations on taking over Latvian national carrier Air Baltic.
In an interview with the Latvian business magazine LietiskaDiena, Latvian head of the Scandinavian company Marek Pedersen said: “I think negotiations are in an early phase. There has been lot of speculation, but so far there have been no decisions. According [...]

Dimas: no trade-off between nature and economy

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The idea that protecting biodiversity must harm economic progress is “outdated and mistaken”, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas told a seminar on development and Europe’s Natura 2000 nature protection network in the European parliament on Wednesday.
Mr Dimas described Natura as “one of the most advanced, extensive and flexible systems of nature protection in the world”. [...]

Estonia goes cyber "thanks" to occupation

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Photo: Patricia Dekker

DUBLIN – Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said in Dublin on Tuesday that Estonia became an e-country “thanks” to the Soviet occupation lasting nearly 50 years.

“When Estonian independence was restored in 1991, there was nothing to be done with the structures that the occupation regime left behind. Many of the features that are [...]

Military steps up

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]Photo: Jim Birt
It started out as a normal Monday morning in the Baltics, but by evening, dozens of military stories hit the wires.
Estonia’s Prime Minister Andrus Ansip spoke up in defense of Estonia’s participation in military missions abroad, calling it Estonia’s moral duty to the West.
“It’s very important for a small country to take part [...]

OSCE starts Latvian tour

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]By Mike Collier

Photo: FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS TO PARTIES: Vollebekk’s visit will address voting and educational rights / (c) OSCE
RIGA – The latest in the never-ending round of inspections of Latvia’s citizenship rules and minority rights provisions has kicked off with the arrival of Organization for Security and Co-operationn in Europe (OSCE) high commissioner Knut [...]

Gottvater des US-Avantgarde Films von Bundespräsident Fischer ausgezeichnet

[Are_PayPal_LoginPlease]von Florian Widegger
Er gründete nicht nur die Zeitschrift “Film Culture” und beeinflusste damit wesentlich die Entstehung des US-Autorenkinos Anfang der 70er Jahre, sondern wird in aller Welt als “Gottvater des amerikanischen Avantgarde Films” verehrt. Die Rede ist von dem mittlerweile 85 jährigen Jonas Mekas.
Er wird gemeinsam mit der “Großmutter der Performancekunst”, der 61-jährigen Marina Abramovic [...]