Annual report should be presented electronically

All Estonian companies have to present electronically their year 2009 annual report to Commercial Register using web page https://ettevotjaportaal.rik.ee/.  Access is allowed with Estonian ID-card, Mobile-ID or through Estonian Internet banks. The annual report will be presented by fulfilling given forms in the portal. Representative of the company, member of the board, has the opportunity to authorize accountant to enter the necessary data.

To use this opportunity, Commercial Register has to know the representative’s local identification code.

Member of the board can authorize only someone, who has Estonian identification code, to enter the data. Besides entering data, authorized person can present the signed annual report to Commercial Register. Representative can also give the rights to their Auditor, so an auditor can follow the making of the report, during the process or after signing.

After annual report is ready all signatory persons must sign it. Signatures can be given digitally or on paper. Digital signature must be used in case if all signatory persons have ID-cards, the rights to use digital signature and Commercial Register has their identification code. In case if one signatory person doesn’t have an opportunity to give digital signature, the report must be printed out from the portal, signed on the paper and then it must be uploaded into the portal as PDF-file.

After signing also the Auditor will include his/her opinion. If the report is signed digitally, the auditor will include opinion through the portal, if it is signed on the paper and uploaded as PDF file it might already include auditor’s opinion, but Auditor can also include his/her opinion through the portal. 

After the report is signed and auditor’s opinion is included, companies can make profit distribution proposal or loss coverage proposal and then the report is ready to be submitted to the Commercial Register.

Please read further information about authorization process, especially if you are a Member of the Board and you have Estonian ID code.

Read more information from the accounting firm LEINONEN website: E-annual report

Bank Robbery and The Temptation of St. Tony were last year’s most popular Estonian films

“Bank Robbery” (“Pangarööv”)

According to Statistics Estonia, during the last decade on an average four full-length feature films per year were made in Estonia, but in 2009 the corresponding number was seven. This is also the record after the restoration of independence in Estonia.

In 2009, a total of 86 films were made in Estonia — 25 full-length films and 61 short films. Last year the total number of produced films was nearly a half of the average of the last decade. 8 of 25 full-length films were feature films (of which 7 were movies) and 17 full-length documentaries. The total number of full-length films increased by three films compared to the previous year. The number of short films has considerably decreased during last years.

According to the data of Estonian Film Foundation, the most popular premiered films in Estonia were “Bank Robbery” (“Pangarööv”) and “The Temptation of St. Tony” (“Püha Tõnu kiusamine”), correspondingly with the audience of 6,500 and 5,800 persons. Although these numbers are smaller than these of the previous popular movies in Estonia, it should be mentioned that both these films were released at the end of 2009 and gathered their audience during a couple of months. Most popular documentaries were “Disco and the Atomic War” (“Disko ja tuumasõda”), and “Betrayer of the State” (“Riigireetur”) released at the end of the year, which gathered the audience of over 4,000 and 1,300 persons, respectively.

In 2009, the cinema attendance was 1.7 million in total, of which 28,000 was the attendance of domestic films. The gross box income of cinemas was 117 million kroons, of which Estonian films earned 1.2 million kroons.

In total 313 films were screened in Estonia in 2009, of which 8% (24 films) were domestic production. On an average 4% of films screened in cinemas were of domestic origin during the last decade.

In 2009 the average price of a cinema ticket was 68 kroons. The prices of cinema tickets have remained relatively stable during the last five years.

A full-length feature film is at least 60 minutes long, produced for showing in the cinema. In addition there are also full-length video films which must be at least 52 minutes long.

Short film — a movie of duration up to 59 minutes or a video film of duration up to 51 minutes.

Cinema attendance per 100 inhabitants, 1999–2009

Source: Statistics Estonia

Production of construction enterprises 2/3 of last year

According to Statistics Estonia, in the 1st quarter of 2010 compared to the same period of the previous year, the total production of Estonian construction enterprises in Estonia and foreign countries decreased 34% at constant prices.

In the 1st quarter of 2010 the production value of construction enterprises amounted to 3.0 billion kroons, of which the production value of building construction was 1.9 billion kroons and the production of civil engineering totalled 1.1 billion kroons. Compared to the same period of 2009, the volume of building construction as well as the volume of civil engineering decreased more than third. If up to now the decline has been caused mainly by the decrease in the volumes in building construction on domestic construction market, then the severe weather conditions at the beginning of this year brought about the 40% decline in the civil engineering as well. By the 1st quarter of the current year, the construction market had fallen to the level of the 1st quarter of 2003 in real terms.

The construction volume in foreign countries decreased 5% compared to the 1st quarter of the previous year. The volumes of building construction stayed on the same level as in the previous year. The decrease was caused by the civil engineering. In the 1st quarter, the share of construction in foreign countries was 12% of the total volume of construction.

Compared to the 4th quarter of the previous year, the seasonally and working-day adjusted construction volume decreased by 16%.

According to the data of the Register of Construction Works, in the 1st quarter of 2010, the number of dwelling completions was 663, i.e. 68 dwellings more than in the same period of 2009. More than a half of completed dwellings were situated in blocks of flats. Continuous cheapening of construction services and positive expectations for the improvement of the general economic situation have increased the demand for new dwellings. In the 1st quarter of 2010, building permits were granted for the construction of 841 dwellings, which is about three times more compared to the same period of 2009. The most popular type of building was blocks of flats.

In the 1st quarter of 2010, the number of completed non-residential buildings was 164 with the useful floor area of 84,000 square metres. The useful floor area of commercial and sport buildings increased the most. Compared to the 1st quarter of 2009, the useful floor area and the cubic capacity of completed non-residential buildings decreased.

The construction volume index and its trend, 1st quarter 2000 – 1st quarter 2010 (average of quarters of 2005 = 100)

Source: Statistics Estonia