Postimees Digest, Wednesday, May 8
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Minister and central bank at odds over profit distribution.
The finance ministry is not happy with the Bank of Estonia's decision to allocate a quarter of its profit or 8.5 million euros to the state budget instead of the 12.8 million euros the ministry was looking for. Reformist supervisory board member Valdo Randpere who voted against the decision said that the central bank should have kept in mind that the government is obligated to return 5.7 million euros it made on Greek bonds. Randpere finds that the bank should have subtracted the Greek payment from its profit and allocated the 5.7 million and a quarter of the remaining profit instead, making for a total of 12.8 million euros. "I believe the Estonian state budget is very tense as it is and I see no desire in the Riigikogu or among the people to have the government cut social or educational measures. I was surprised to find myself the only member of the board who felt that way," Randpere said. Chairman of the supervisory board Jaan Männik said that the bank allocated the maximum its long term profit distribution strategy allows and that the appropriation includes proceeds made on Greek bonds. Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi said that Männik's statement is both cynical and insincere as the board fine tuned the profit distribution strategy for the meeting in question. The minister also claims that there was a separate agreement in place according to which the 5.7 million euros in question was supposed to be a separate profit appropriation to be returned to Greece by way of the state budget.
Aaviksoo: teachers not paid in full.
Minister of Education and Science Jaak Aaviksoo said yesterday that nearly two thirds of local governments have not made sums allocated for teachers' pay rise available to the latter in full. "There is an inadmissible amount of confusion surrounding salaries of teachers," the minister said. Aaviksoo added that 2,207,925 euros of salary support made available by the state is yet to reach teachers. "If that money has been allocated for a teachers' pay rise, then that is where it must end up. Parishes and cities cannot use the money for any other purpose." The ministry's report lists Tallinn, Ülenurme, Tartu, Pärnu, Kohtla-Järve and Rakvere as just some of the municipalities that have not made salary support available in full. Local government officials say, however, that schools have different systems of bonuses and salaries and maintain that sums will be made available to teachers.
Estonia to apply for state aid for airports.
The government plans to propose changes to the European Commission's state aid rules that would make it easier for members to make support available to airports. Riigikogu Economic Affairs Committee chairman Kaja Kallas said that the state plans to propose more lenient state aid regulations for regional airports as a separate measure. The government approved the commission's proposals to ease up on EU state aid regulations on April 18.
First Estonian satellite makes it into orbit.
Estonia's first satellite ESTCube-1, launched yesterday at 5.06 a.m. from the Guiana Space Center and currently travelling at 7.46 kilometers per second at an average altitude of 650 kilometers, has transmitted its first data packets, signalling a successful launch.