Lawmaker lays out obstacles for Center Party

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 26, 2005
Official confirmation of the Tallinn municipal poll has been postponed due to MP Igor Grazin’s legal protest, putting off a decision on who will become the capital’s new mayor.
Grazin (above), who had been a candidate for the City Council as a member of the Reform Party, originally wanted [...]

Metal rules in Estonia

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 26, 2005
Estonia’s largest manufacturing industry is engineering and metalworking, comprising one-fifth of the country’s total industrial output and one-third of exports. Although the Baltic state is losing its price advantage to China, companies from Northern and Western Europe prefer Estonian producers for their flexibility and fast delivery.
The industry reported [...]

Galvex hits major development slide

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 26, 2005
Galvex, the U.S.-owned steel galvanizing plant in the Muuga port, has brought in professional management consultants to reinvigorate the company. It’s the largest foreign investment to date in Estonia, and could possibly lead to business with a foreign strategic investor. The Eesti Paevaleht reported this week that ownership [...]

Center Party takes Tallinn, Narva; Savisaar set to occupy mayor’s

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 19, 2005
Estonia made a small contribution to the history of electoral democracy last weekend as thousands were allowed to cast their vote from home, the first instance of online voting, while the poll itself propelled Edgar Savisaar and his Center Party back to power in the Estonian capital.
The left-of-center [...]

State-run Kredex fulfills vital financial role for exporters

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 19, 2005
Kredex, a state-run credit agency, may have to limit its short-term export guarantees to companies dealing with EU and OECD member states next year. The restriction is a result of the European Comission’s preliminary assessment of Kredex, which determined that some of the agency’s financial support mechanisms could [...]

Without leaving home, Estonians submit their electronic vote

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 12, 2005
For the first time in history, citizens voted in the local government elections without leaving their home – in fact, they could do it at the office or even a coffee shop for that matter. All the mobile voter needed was an ID card and a PC hooked [...]

Aspen pulp mill highlights Estonian advantages

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 12, 2005
Estonia’s most recent foreign investment is also proving to be one of the country’s largest. Estonian Cell, an aspen-pulp mill, will begin operation in the small northern city of Kunda next year. The project costs 2.4 billion Estonian kroons (153 million euros) and will provide 75 people with [...]

Easterners fill labor gap

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 05, 2005
For the last few years the tendency to hire people from abroad has increased, particularly among blue-collar workers from Russia and Ukraine, as a growing number of highly-qualified Estonians find better paying jobs in the West.
According to a recent study by Turu-Uuringute AS, 14 percent of Estonian companies [...]