Postimees Digest, Tuesday, April 9
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Internal minister nominates Elmar Vaher for PPA chief.
Minister of Internal Affairs Ken-Marti Vaher nominated current Northern Police Prefect Elmar Vaher to head the Police and Boarder Guard Board (PPA) yesterday. The minister said that Vaher has shown himself to be a strong leader and that he expects the new director general to take charge and aim for results. Unlike the minister's previous candidate, Vaher seems to enjoy broad-based support among parliament parties and it is probable all four will endorse his candidacy. The new candidate said he will work towards better integration of the police, border guard and the migration board and will try to create a favorable environment in the agency and on the streets.
Companies plan to raise salaries.
The "Pulse of the Economy 2013" survey suggests that 79 percent of entrepreneurs plan to raise salaries this year due to labor shortage and wage hike pressure. Only 17 percent of companies associate higher salaries with increased productivity of the workforce. 36 percent of survey participants plan to hire new people while 10 percent are looking to cut back on staff. The survey also points out that Estonian entrepreneurs prefer to cooperate with Russia, Germany, China and Sweden while 87 percent of Lithuanian entrepreneurs believe Estonia to be the best place for foreign investments.
Kallas returns to splitting up Eesti Energia.
Chairman of the Riigikogu Economic Affairs Committee Kaja Kallas wrote in her blog that the electricity transmission network should be separated from Eesti Energia do avoid the possibility of unfair advantages. Kallas also wrote that currently Eesti Energia lacks stimuli to invest in the transmission network. "As long as the transmission network and production are not separated, there is the danger that the high risks of launching a refinery will be managed at the expense of networks."
Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi said that while Kallas' arguments are based on free market logic, the situation of the state-owned energy giant is far from the free market as there are only a few companies that make use of oil shale, that market access is restricted and the market is international neither in terms of oil shale or the network. Ligi added that while equal access to oil shale would be ideal, it is a fact that all oil producers own mines and that oil shale is not profitable on its own. "Splitting up Eesti Energia is expensive and there are no simple solutions," the minister said. Heads of the company said in a memo sent to journalists and politicians that they are interested in network investments and that network fees have not been used to finance oil investments.