Port Strategy: Tallinn's multi-level investment strategy

These include the formation of a container hub with initial capacity of 1.2m teu, and with the potential for up to 3m teu, increasing new car handling capacity to 300,000 units a year, entering the LNG and or LPG logistics market by enabling the construction of gas terminals at the port, and increasing the competitiveness of storage services for oil and oil products.

Within its real estate targets, the port is looking to develop industrial parks at Muuga and Paldiski South Harbour for value-added activities linked to the port and promoting and developing Muuga Harbour as a centre creating added value for business. There are also plans to buy additional land bordering the port. Reclamation at Muuga Harbour has been the major development in the second half of 2008, and this will continue into 2009.

This 27 hectare expansion and the construction of two new berths with 14.5 m depth will add capacity of about 350,000 teu a year. Work is due for completion at the end of next year. At Paldiski South Harbour, the construction of two new berths and the reclamation of 2.7 ha are due for completion in July 2009.

This will enable the Port of Tallinn to separate dry bulks and car handling areas.

Source http://portstrategy.com/archive101/2008/december/regional_fe~

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Unemployed have to fight for the compensations in Estonia

Although the new employment act gives compensation for those who have left work for their own initiative, many unemployed currently can’t get their benefits, Postimees writes.

So the unemployed that were in the Labour Market Board were upset for they can’t get compensations.

“The company dismissed tens of people at the same time, but officially – we were forced to sign demission,” a Russian woman told her story.

“The employer said – otherwise he’ll find so many mistakes they’ll fire me for doing my job badly,” the woman said. So the woman does not get any subsidies, although she could get 40 pct of her salary.

Her husband was dismissed also in a way that doesn’t give him any compensation.

“The situation is bad, but luckily our son has a job and we don’t have big loans,” the woman said.

The consultants and the Labour Market Board said that the situation in which employers use such methods are more common. Vacancies are gone fast and the amount of job offers abroad has decreased.

Two last months the Unemployment Insurance Fund had to use reserves for unemployment compensations for the amounts paid were bigger than amounts collected. The fund has to use reserves next year as well for the worsened situation and the new employment act.

Source http://balticbusinessnews.com/default2.aspx

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Ansip suggests Maastricht revision

Maybe it is time to re-evaluate, change the interpretation of the Maastricht inflation criteria," Ansip told Reuters. As it currently stands, in order to ascend to the euro zone, the country may not have an inflation higher than the average of the top three nations in the group of 27. There is a 1.5 percent added leeway as well.

While prices have gone down from 9.8 percent to 8 percent in the last year, inflation is still too high to imply long term price stability according to the European Central Bank. Ansip said that Estonia did not have full control over inflation as they cannot be responsible for oil and energy prices.

He also added that a slowing of inflation in other EU member states would make it even harder for Estonia to decrease its consumer price growth and bring it down to the necessary level as outlined by the treaty.

Prime Minister Ansip also said that it will be very difficult to achieve the targets by the 2010 deadline and that the government was already reviewing other dates for the accession to the euro zone.

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