Press Digest, Tuesday, January 22

Photo: Toomas Huik

Survey disproves labor market myth. Anvelt calls for VEB affair select committee. 

POSTIMEES: Survey disproves labor market myth. A recent survey by University of Tartu scientists suggests that labor market advantages provided by studying sciences instead of so-called soft subjects constitute a myth as humanities graduates are generally more successful on the labor market than their counterparts who studied modern subjects. While differences in salary remain negligent among BA graduates, master's and doctoral graduates of human, social and political sciences tend to earn considerably more than their counterparts who majored in natural or exact sciences. The survey looked at salary levels of graduates one year after graduation. In 2010-2011 Estonia had 23,333 social sciences graduates and 7,712 applied sciences graduates.

EESTI PÄEVALEHT: Anvelt calls for VEB affair select committee. MP Andres Anvelt said that an investigative committee would now be the only way to ascertain the truth in the VEB fund affair. He said that the prosecution cannot launch proceedings because the alleged crime has expired by today. Anvelt said that a Riigikogu investigative committee would have extensive powers with which to look into the matter, call witnesses, obtain evidence and employ the resources of the police or the prosecution in order to pursue certain things the committee couldn't on its own. The MP said that while the Social Democrat Party is considering making a corresponding proposal, it will definitely wait for the National Audit Office's conclusions on the matter. "Perhaps the most important thing today wouldn't be to punish someone, but simply to ascertain the truth so the Estonian people would know who to trust in the future," Anvelt said. A recent Bank of Estonia audit uncovered a letter signed in 1995 by the then president of the central bank Vahur Kraft that includes falsified data that "added" 32.2 million dollars to the claims TSL International had against the Russian Foreign Economy Bank (VEB).

Parliament parties support finance minister's tax idea. Both the Reform Party's coalition partner Pro Patria Res Publica Union (IRL) and oppositional Center Party and Social Democrat Party (SDE) support Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi's idea to raise the minimum exempt from income tax in the near future. Opposition parties believe the hike could replace the planned 1 percent reduction of the income tax rate. SDE and IRL have proposed the current minimum salary of 320 euros as the amount that should be exempt from income tax. Chairman of the Riigikogu Financial Affairs Committee Sven Sester said that reaching a 320 euro minimum would take quite a long time however, even up to a decade. Head of the Estonian Trade Unions Confederation Harri Taliga welcomed the idea and said that the government, employers and unions should restore three-way dialogue in order to discuss the matter.