Postimees Digest, Thursday, May 30
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Sports Direct buys Sportland.
UK sporting goods retailer Sports Direct International has obtained 60 percent of the shares of Estonian market leader Sportland for an undisclosed sum. Head of investments at Sports Direct Jeff Blue said that the transaction is part of the company's expansion strategy and that Sportland will continue under recent management and retain its brand name. Consumers will be treated to a wider selection of goods and a more flexible price range. Blue said that it is not out of the question Sports Direct will open a few shops of its own in Estonia but added that it is still too early to talk about that in more detail.
Public sector decisions to become more transparent.
The Ministry of Justice has sent out for coordination Estonia's anti-corruption strategy for 2013-2020 that aims to make use of electronic solutions to make public sector decisions and activities more transparent. Local governments will gradually switch to electronic public procurements in 100 percent capacity and people will have access to data concerning local government transactions. Citizens can also view the digital health care registration system online to see waiting lists all over the country. Minister of Justice Hanno Pevkur said that the strategy prescribes raising the number of corruption investigators from 30 to 50 and more resources made available to the prosecution and courts. The minister added that Estonia aims to make it among the least corrupt countries in the world by boosting its Transparency International perception of corruption index score to at least 75. The strategy also includes measures to make information on corruption available in Russian as corruption perception tends to be lower among the Russian-speaking population.
Committee looks into major donation for Center Party.
The Riigikogu Party Financing Monitoring Select Committee has turned to 85 year old Donate Rõõmus to inquire about the origin of the 15,000 euros the old lady donated to the Center Party towards the beginning of the year. The oppositional Center Party received a total of 70,000 euros in donations in the first quarter of the year, 15,000 of which came from Rõõmus who has been a member of the party since 2006. Chairman of the committee Ardo Ojasalu informs Rõõmus in a letter that donations made to political parties need to be based on a person's own income and cannot come from someone else and asks the old lady to explain where she got the money and when. "If you received this sum from someone else, please let us know who it was," the letter reads. Secretary general of the Center Party Priit Toobal said that it seems the committee is trying to scare away the party's supporters and that it has clearly misused its powers. Toobal added that while he recognizes the committee's authority to monitor the legality of parties' activities, he questions the committee's objectivity and the intensity of its actions in this case.
Justice ministry plans to ease up on detailed plan requirements.
The Ministry of Justice has reached the home stretch with amendments to the Planning Act that aim to ease up on detailed plan requirements, reduce red tape and make it easier to secure building permits. The amendment would make it possible to erect new buildings or extend existing ones without the need for a detailed plan provided the object is located between existing buildings. The bill prescribes a new set of rules that would make it easier to flexibly complement existing detailed plans so people could install solar panels or renovate facades of buildings with far less paperwork involved. Applications would move through an electronic construction registry that would streamline proceedings and make building permits available inside 30 days. The minister hopes to send the bill out for coordination in June.
EC expectations unchanged concerning Estonia.
The European Commission published a list of recommendations for Estonia yesterday that remain largely the same compared to last year. The commission believes Estonia should maintain its trustworthy fiscal policy, make social services more efficient by bringing long term unemployed back to the labor market and supporting areas where unemployment is high, offer lifelong learning for unskilled workers and bring education in line with the needs of the labor market, lay down a car tax or hike the fuel excise duty to contain energy intensity in transport and reform local governments to operate more effectively and boost quality of services. Economic affairs advisor with the Estonian representation with the EC Katrin Höövelson said that compliance with the commission's recommendations requires long term activities, which is why it is understandable the guidelines have remained largely the same compared to last year.