Tag Archives: Estonia
40% Of Estonian Companies Failed To Submit Annual Report
For the first time ever, all companies in the new euro zone country – Estonia – were required to submit an online annual report. But only 60% of Estonian businesses managed to do so, the web site aripaev.ee reports.
"Not all businessmen know that they are required to submit an annual report."
Piret Meelind
Although all 93,402 companies registered in Estonia were required to submit their annual report by July 1, only about 60% did so. However, the percentage of complying companies went up slightly since a year ago it was 58.6%.
For the first time, all companies were required to submit an online annual report, reported aripaev.ee
As in earlier years, the lion's share of annual reports were submitted in the last days of June. For instance, in the last three days, 23,378 companies uploaded their reports and signed them digitally.
For the first time, also non-profit organizations were required to submit their report.
As of 27,631 non-profit organizations, only about 49% had complied with the requirement.
Another 3,212 companies had uploaded their reports online, but not yet submitted them.
Piret Meelind, deputy manager of the Centre of Registers and Information Systems, said that there have been no technical problems with the submission of reports. "The system enables up to 20,000 users to operate in this online environment simultaneously, but the number of users who had logged in was much lower," she said.
Meelind said that, historically, many companies will submit their annual reports in the first week of July.
A representative of the justice ministry said that although the law allows to fine business owners who fail to submit their annual report by the deadline, the authorities would send out a written warning instead of imposing an actual fine.
"In many cases, companies fail to submit their annual reports by the deadline because of unawareness or carelessness. For instance, not all businessmen know that they are required to submit an annual report also if the company had no operations during the financial year," she added.
Source: balticbusinessnews.com
Related by the Econotwist:
Welcome To The Euro, Estonia! Here's Your 4,5% Extra Risk Premium
Businessman To Declare Hunger Strike If Not Paid
Estonia: Banks Lost USD 23 million in Q1
Morgan Stanley To Buy Bad Baltic Loans?
Finns Outraged By Swedish Plans To Bring Estonian Builders To Finland
Estonia: Something Doesn't Seem Right
An Estonian Mystery
Estonian Newspapers Protesting With Blank Front Page
Estonian Policy = Stubbornness (laf.ee)
Estonia and the Euro – A Reminder (laf.ee)
Estonian start-up creates virtual fitting room (theworld.org)
Commission proposes Estonia joins euro area in 2011 (politics.ie)
Goodbye, Kroon. Hello, Euro! (npr.org)
Bloomberg on Estonia Joining the Euro Zone (laf.ee)
Filed under International Econnomic Politics, National Economic Politics
Tagged as Annual report, Business, Company, Company Information, Embassies and Consulates, Estonia, European Union, Eurozone, Financial Markets, Government, International Econnomic Politics, Major Companies, Non-profit organization
June 30, 2010 · 19:10
Norway Takes Over Presidency Of Baltic Council
On July 1th 2010, Norway will take over the presidency over the Council of Baltic Sea States from Lithuania, according to representatives of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Lithuania-Nordic-Cross-Border Banking Flag
The most important event during the period of Lithuanian chairmanship over the CBSS, was the meeting of the heads of the Council of Baltic Sea States that was held on June 1-2 in Vilnius and was one of the largest international events in Lithuania recently, The Baltic Course writes.
During the meeting, the Vilnius Declaration "Baltic Sea Region Vision 2020″ was adopted that defines ecological, economic and social aspects of development in the region, and establishes political commitment to turn this vision into a reality, informed BC Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, The Baltic Course writes.
The Baltic Development Forum that took place simultaneously with the meeting of the heads of the Council of Baltic Sea States attracted the region's business elite to Lithuania. At the forum, Lithuanian experience in overcoming the consequences of economic downturn and steps in addressing the current economic problems and using the experience of other countries were presented and discussed.
According to the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the year of its presidency Lithuania mainly focused on promoting innovations, strengthening cooperation across borders, fostering a clean environment and ensuring of safe living conditions in the region. A number of events dedicated to these topics were held in Lithuania and abroad.
Credit Still Contracting
However, Lithuania's recession is still ongoing, with domestic credit still contracting.
Domestic credit volume contracted by 244.8 million litas in Lithuania in May 2010: credit to general government diminished by 99.8 million litas, while credit to other residents went down by 145 million litas, of which lending to non-financial corporations and households went down respectively by 375.5 million litas and 95.2 million litas, while loans to financial intermediaries increased by 292.1 million litas, the Bank of Lithuania reports.
A year-on-year decrease in other monetary financial institutions' (MFIs') lending to non-financial corporations and households made up 9.8% and 4.8%, respectively.
Lending by other MFI's to households shrank in May as follows: consumer loans went down by 47.4 million litas, lending for house purchase declined by 15.0 million litas, and other loans fell by 32.8 million litas. For the subsequent sixth month the annual growth rate of lending for house purchase was negative, making up –1.1% at the end of May.
Lending in euros prevailed in the lending structure of other MFIs by currency: by the end of May euro loans made up 69.5%, while litas loans made up 27.3%.
The Latvian Solution: Go Blonde!
Swedbank Buy Greek Bonds With Estonian Money
How To Make A Rat Look Like A Puppy
Latvia To Split And Sell Nations Leading Bank
Swedbank To Merge Baltic Subsidiaries Into The Group
Swedbank In Estonia: "Daylight Robbery"
Nordic Central Banks Agree On Baltic Bank Bailout
European Commission chief urges support for euro (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
A Taste of Lithuania: A Recipe for Lithuanian Deviled Eggs (trifter.com)
Warmer climate makes Baltic more salty (physorg.com)
Comments Off on Norway Takes Over Presidency Of Baltic Council
Tagged as Baltic, Baltic Development Forum, Baltic Sea, Baltic states, Bank of Lithuania, Council of Baltic Sea States, Estonia, European Union, International Econnomic Politics, Lithuania, Norway, Politics, Vilnius
Welcome To The Euro, Estonia! Here's Your 4,5% Extra Risk Premium
As some might have noticed, the euro zone – also known as EZ16 – has now become EZ17. It happened last week, as Estonia officially joined the European disaster zone. And the financial markets gave their official approval this week by kicking the price on Estonian CDS' up by 4,45%. The Baltic Euro newbee moves straight in among the Top 8 countries with the highest risk of default.
"Joining the euro is a status issue for countries seeking to cement their position at Europe's top table."
Simon Tilford
The funniest thing is that the first, and almost the only, newspaper outside the Baltic region reporting the historical event was The New York Times; on Thursday June 17th the representatives of the 27 European countries hailed the sound economic and financial policies that had been achieved by Estonia in recent years, and signed the paper that authorize Estonia to shift from the kroon to the euro on January 1th 2011.
For the leaders of the bloc, expanding the euro zone to 17 nations is tantamount to a show of confidence at an inauspicious time for the battered euro, which has lost about 13 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year, James Kanter writes in the NYT,
With a debt crisis that appears to be spreading from Greece to Spain, membership for the country, Estonia, might seem more like a curse than a blessing.
There has been speculations about the countries might change its mind and abandon the single currency, and some have doubts that Estonia is even ready for the move.
"Maintaining low inflation rates in Estonia will be very challenging," the European Central Bank warned last month.
Still, the euro remains among the strongest currencies in the world, and membership opens the door to a club with global influence.
For small and unsure countries on the fringes of the European Union, it doesn't get much better than this – no matter the mounting downsides for countries already on the inside.
Political Prestige
Estonia becomes the third ex-Communist state to make the switch to the euro, after Slovenia and Slovakia, and the first former Soviet republic to do so.
Membership is also an important signpost that a country is on the way to achieving Western European standards of living, an important goal for a former Soviet republic like Estonia that has long been eager to develop.
"It's a great day for Estonia," Andrus Ansip, the Estonian prime minister, told Latvian state radio in an interview.
"We prefer to be inside, to join the club, to be among decision makers."
And Estonia's central bank governor, Andres Lipstok, will now be able to take a seat on the European Central Bank's powerful council that sets interest rates.
Sheer Bloody-Mindedness
"Joining the euro is a status issue for countries seeking to cement their position at Europe's top table," says Simon Tilford, chief economist for the Center for European Reform, a research organization based in London.
"But you also could call it sheer bloody-mindedness of Estonia to join now with the outlook for the currency so uncertain," Tilford says according to NYT.
With a total output of about $17 billion, the Estonian economy is tiny.
It's placed as the sixth poorest country among the (now) 28 EU nations.
Public debt in Estonia is currently estimated at an annual 7.2% of GDP – a tiny deficit compared to most other countries in the bloc.
And right now it looks like the Estonian government will be able to keep its pledge to the euro.
But note; it looks like it.
According To Schedule
Just two days before the deal was to be sign in Brussels, the Estonian Ministry of Finance published it's budget figures for the first five months of 2010.
The Ministry of Finance estimated that the Government sector budget deficit by the end of April was 5.1 billion kroons, or 2.39% of the projected GDP of the year 2010, theBalticCource.com reports, quoting LETA/Postimees Online.
In five months of 2010 the State budget collected 32.5 billion kroons in revenue while the expenses amounted to 34.6 billion kroons.
The biggest State budget spending in five months are mainly social benefits – 15.3 billion kroons.
2.4 billion kroons were spent on investments. The payments on investments in the first few months of the year were by 10% higher than in the past couple of years due to improvements in the use of foreign aid.
Estonia's operating expenses in total as well as the human resources spending have fallen, the Ministry of Finance says. And the State's benefits paid to individuals, the private sector and to other Government authorities are on the same level as last year.
Now – compare that with the projections charted below:
Source: http://www.indexmundi.com
The Estonian unemployment rate has increased by more than 150% between September 30th 2009 and February 19th 2010, to 14,3%, according to Index Mundi.
In addition, the Estonian credit agency, Krediidiinfo, estimates that the number of companies that will go bankrupt this year could amount to 1,700, especially in the construction business, accommodation business and catering business.
That's up by 700, compared with the 1000 bankruptcies in 2009.
Just to put the topping on the cake; Estonian overdue loans rose in May to the highest level since at least 2008 as troubles in the commercial property industry outweighed improvements in mortgage asset quality, Bloomberg reports.
The share of loans overdue for more than 60 days rose to 7 percent of total credit issued to companies and individuals, compared with 6.7 percent in April, central bank says, according to the balticbusinessnews.com.
According To Schedule?
In For A Shock?
For the first time in many years, the average wages in Estonia fell (about 5%) in 2009.
Kalev Petti, head of research at Faktum & Ariko, says that othewise optimistic Estonians may become more pessimistic in January 2011 when Estonia adopts the euro.
"When the euro arrives, people and especially older population, will understand how poor they are."
Petti says that while there were few other factors that are increasing pessimism among the older generation, it must be their feeling about the upcoming euro adoption and fear of prices continuing to rise. Pensioners are uneasy about the euro and the actual transition may cause psychological depression for many, the balticbusinessnews.com writes.
I guess the following statement made by Estonia's prime minister, Andrus Ansip, in a radio interview will not help the situation:
"Our banknotes are more beautiful than euro banknotes."
According to economists, the preparation to join the euro zone created some disadvantages for Estonia compared with neighboring countries, which enjoy a relative larger degree of flexibility by hanging on longer to their legacy currencies.
Wrong Place – Wrong Time
But that seems to be very, very short-term advantages.
Since last week the price of insuring the Estonian Medium Term Loans has jumped 4,45%, and the spread compared to German CDS' has widened to nearly 8%.
The price on Estonian Sovereign CDS is now 113,01 basis points. That makes the insurance of Estonian government debt the sixth most expensive in Europe.
Source: Zero Hedge
Still, it a long way to go reach the Greek level that soared to nearly 1.000 basis points today.
Estonia is also an export-driven economy that quickly could be overshadowed by financial difficulties, particularly if the euro zone remains unstable, and neighboring countries like Poland and its Baltic neighbors insist on hanging on to their currencies.
"Investors will only be willing to lend to Estonia on favorable terms if Estonia can continue to compete," Mr. Tilford, the London economist, says.
"That is where the biggest risks for Estonia now lie."
Tallin In Trouble
And as all of the above is not enough; the Estonian capital – Tallin – is set to become the European Culture Capital in 2011.
But now, it turns out, that the city may lose 23.5 million kroon granted by the European Union because it has failed to provide Brussels guarantees for financing the culture capital programme, ERR reports, according to balticbusinessnews.com.
The so-called Mercour prize in the amout of 23.5 million kroons, a direct EU grant, has already been included in this year's budget revenues of the city, but right now that payment is doubtful.
According to Brussels, if Tallinn wants to secure the funds it needs to submit guarantees by 28 June at the latest when Tallinn is visited by Sir Bob Scott, chairman of the assessment committee.
This is unlikely to happen since the government has not plans to issue any such guarantees before September.
Estonian Minister Laine Jänes, on the other hand, claims that the commission has been informed of such circumstances.
Welcome to the euro disaster zone, Estonia.
Estonia Put Pressure On Journalists
What Crisis? The Euro Zone Adds Estonia (dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com)
Estonia eager to embrace euro despite currency's woes (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Tagged as Andres Lipstok, Andrus Ansip, Baltic, Baltic Sea, Baltic states, Embassies and Consulates, Estonia, Estonian government, Estonian language, Estonian Ministry of Finance, European Central Bank, European Union, Eurozone, Financial Markets, Government, History, International Econnomic Politics, Political Prestige Estonia, Simon Tilford, Soviet Union, The New York Times, Travel and Tourism, Views, commentaries and opinions
NYT DealBook
Chaos in Financial Markets are "Potentially Dangerous for Humanity"
You Sue Me, I Sue You, Oh Peggy, Peggy Sue
Are Governments Producing Conspiracy Theories?
Hackers: Wall Street Is An Easy Target
Financial Industry To Spend $90 Billion on New Technology
Looks Like A Classical Pump&Dump Setup
Report: Financial Crisis Could Have Been Avoided
Global Economic Growth Drop To Lowest Level In Two Years
The EU Stress Test: Working The Media
Financial Monsters Threaten Democracy, Former Portuguese President Says
Global Economy On Fast Track To Disaster
America – The 15 Trillon Dollar Baby
So, You Thought BP Was An OIL Company?
The Global Economy is about to Crash