The total production of industrial enterprises in Estonia declined by 10.5% in 2023 at constant prices compared to 2022, according to Statistics Estonia’s data, ERR reports. Output decreased in all three industrial sectors, including in energy production by 21%, in manufacturing by 9.8%, and in mining and quarrying by 4.7%. Production volumes fell every month…
Estonian political parties received more than EUR 4.9mn in private donations in 2023, according to data from the Political Parties Financing Surveillance Committee (ERJK), ERR reported. The total does not include donations made to the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) in the fourth quarter of 2023, however. The opposition Fatherland (Isamaa) party received altogether…
The speakers of the parliaments of the three Baltic States visited Canada and the US to discuss regional security issues and cooperation, BNS reported. They met with with the speaker of Canada’s House of Commons, Greg Fergus, and members of the Canada-Nordic-Baltic Parliamentary Friendship Group. In the US, the Baltic speakers met with the speaker…
Lithuania’s Vilnius City District Court has approved a request from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to arrest Sarunas Stepukonis, former partner at Estonia-registered BaltCap Infrastructure Fund (BInF), BNS reports. Stepukonis is suspected of embezzling at least EUR 27mn from the fund. His current whereabouts are unknown. BaltCap has sued Stepukonis and casino operator Olympic…
Estonia’s retail turnover totalled EUR 10.5bn in 2023, which was down 8% at constant prices compared to 2022, according to preliminary data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. The retail turnover of grocery stores declined by 4%, automotive fuel by 5%, and manufactured goods by 11% over a year.
An investigation into the outage of the EstLink 2 power interconnection between Estonia and Finland has so far found no “intentional external damage” in the undersea cable, Estonian transmission system operator Elering announced, ERR reports. The exact location of the fault and the specific cause of the outage remain to be determined, however. Finnish transmission system operator…
Estonia’s real GDP will continue to decline by 0.3% in 2024 but will increase by 2.8% in 2025, according to Swedbank’s latest macroeconomic forecast, ERR reports. The bank expects the current recession in Estonia to end in the middle of 2024. Moderate growth will return in 2025, driven by stronger domestic demand and exports. Annual…
Estonia’s GDP declined by around 3% over a year in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, ERR reports. Robert Müürsepp, team lead of national accounts at Statistics Estonia, said that the current recession has slowed down compared to preceding quarters. Compared to the third quarter of 2023, the GDP remained…
The Estonian Educational Personnel Union (EHL) has ended a nationwide strike of teachers and accepted the government’s proposal allocating an additional EUR 5.7mn to raise teacher salaries in 2024, ERR reports. Under the agreement, the minimum salary for general education teachers will rise by EUR 17 to EUR 1,820 per month. Also, collective negotiations will…