Postimees Digest, Wednesday, April 10
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Laar to head Bank of Estonia supervisory board.
The Office of the President revealed yesterday that it has nominated long time politician, former prime minister Mart Laar for the position of central bank supervisory board chairman. Opposition parties are not happy with the president's choice and say that a less politically invested candidate would have been better.
Deputy chairman of the Riigikogu Social Democrat Party (SDE) faction Eiki Nestor said that it is not a question of Laar's person but rather that people who have been in politics for a long time inevitably have political baggage that tends to move with them. Laar recently recovered from a stroke that forced him to step down as defense minister and IRL chairman last year. The term of the current chairman of the supervisory board Jaan Männik will end on June 12.
Allik: my words were torn out of context.
Member of the Social Democrat Party (SDE) faction of the Riigikogu Jaak Allik said on Monday's "Välisilm" foreign policy television program that Russia has never attacked Estonia or the Estonian state. The comment was met with furious reactions in the media throughout yesterday. The politician later specified that he should have said Russia has never invaded Estonia exclusively and that events that have transpired here have always been a part of larger wars.
Allik added that constantly talking about the Russian threat is nothing more than intimidation of the people and that the corresponding security threat always needs to be seen in wider context and met in cooperation with the EU and NATO. SDE chairman Sven Mikser said that Allik's statements do not reflect the position of the party in any way and that even though Allik had explained his train of thought to him beforehand, the Soviet occupation is such a painful and emotional matter for the Estonian people that experienced politicians should be extraordinary precise in their utterances.
Chairman of the conservative Pro Patria Res Publica Union (IRL), defense minister Urmas Reinsalu said that victims of aggression care little for whether the aggressor attacked a single country or whether it happened as part of "the great redistribution".
Prosecution investigates Ida-Viru Central Hospital.
Viru District Prosecution has launched an investigation at the Ida-Viru Central Hospital as out of nine bariatric surgeries performed at the hospital last year, three ended in severe complications while one patient died. The investigation aims to ascertain whether the patient's death could have been the result of medical mistakes and whether there is grounds to charge the hospital and doctor Jaak Lind with negligence. The Health Insurance Board has said it will conduct a bariatric surgery audit this year.
Estonian Air lays off 19 pilots.
National airline Estonian Air has sent out notices of dismissal to 19 of its pilots as the next step in the company's cutbacks program. Pilots are not happy with the airline's 3-4 month advance notice policy, however, as they say it is demoralizing and stressful to have to do such responsible work for such a long time with no perspective. The airline's staff has been cut from 337 people last year to just 197. Estonian Air's press representative said that the airline is actively looking for additional work for its pilots and aircraft and that planned layoffs could be avoided or their extend cut in case of success.
Teachers miss out on 2 million euros of salary money.
The Ministry of Education and Science has said that the average salary advance of teachers missed the full extent of state support made available in January-February as teachers were, on average, paid 84 euros less than state support would have facilitated. The ministry's overview suggests that 121 local governments raised the salaries of teachers by less than the full extent of state support would have allowed while 69 local governments paid teachers extra out of their own pocket. All in all, local governments held on to 1,949,192 euros of salary money.