Life in Estonia (summer 2014 issue)

SUMMER I 2014

SPECIAL! Global

Estonians

land & people I state & society I economy & business I technology & innovation I culture & entertainment I tourism

Estonia’s Friends

Meet Again

Become An e-Estonian Now!

Made In #SmartEstonia Time To Sing

Together!Colours Of The Golden Age

Reet AusTurns Trash

To Trend

COVERReet Aus

Photo by Madis Palm

Executive publisherPositive ProjectsPärnu mnt 69, 10134 Tallinn, [email protected]

EditorReet [email protected]

TranslationIngrid HübscherAmbassador Translation Agency

Language editorRichard Adang

Design & LayoutPositive Design

Partner

SUMMER 2014 I LIFE IN ESTONIA 3

Worldwide Network Of Estonians

“There is an Estonian in every port” is Ernest Hemingway`s famous quote. There are a mere

1.3 million of us, but throughout our history we have been keen travellers around the world.

All the experience Estonians have gathered from these ports that Hemingway refers to is put

to good use when our businesses look to go global.

And Estonian businesses really are going global. For example, our pianos—bearing the name

of our country, Estonia -- are regarded as amongst the very best in the world. Those who

know about music want the best, and that means Estonia.

Another example is the global rising star

TransferWise. Born in Estonia, Transfer-

Wise helps people make currency trans-

actions from one country to another with

greater efficiency and at substantially

reduced cost. The fast-growing compa-

ny has just recently added Sir Richard

Branson to its list of savvy and respected

investors.

And, of course, although Estonians may be

apart from each other from time to time,

we are always connected through Skype,

an application created in Estonia and now

shared across the globe.

Going global not only means that Estonian

companies are expanding out to the world.

In this edition of Life in Estonia, you can

also read about the innovative idea of e-res-

idency: a concept that allows entrepreneurs

around the world to use the many possibili-

ties of our attractive business environment

and advanced e-governing, independent of

their physical location. Time will tell, but in

ten years’ time there may well be a tenfold

increase in “Estonians” in every port.

Anne Sulling

Minister of Foreign Trade and Entrepreneurship of Estonia

6 Where To Go This Season? Life In Estonia Recommends

8 News

11 A Summer Gathering Of FriendsEstonia’s Friends International Meeting recognises investors, politicians

and artists whose activities and advice have helped Estonia to develop

into a European country with a dynamic economy and vibrant culture.

This year, Enterprise Estonia will hold a seminar, “Estonia—contributing

towards a country without borders”, which will focus on Estonian in-

novation and start-ups.

13 GrabCAD Leading The Way In Modern Product Development

One of the speakers at the business seminar held

during the Estonia’s Friends International Meet-

ing is Hardi Meybaum, the co-founder of Grab-

Cad, a start-up that has created a CPD tool which

helps engineering teams manage, view and share

CAD files in the cloud. Hardi recently published

The Art of Product Design: Changing How Things

Get Made.

15 If Estonia Had A Fan Club, Sonny Aswani Would Be Its Cheerleader

The Singaporean businessman Sonny Aswani, Director of the Tolaram

Group, with businesses on different continents, discovered Estonia in

the early 1990s. Ever since, he has remained a devoted fan of the tiny,

yet ambitious country.

19 The Woman Who Sets Snowballs Rolling

Reet Aus is a fashion designer, theatre and film artist, entrepreneur and

advocate of recycling who moves beyond the level of pretty slogans.

Reet is unique in the Estonian culture industry, as she has found a way

to incorporate powerful mass production, change routines and make

use of production waste and over-production.

24 Estonian Representation To The European ParliamentAs one of the smallest countries in Europe, Estonia elects only six MEPs

to the European Parliament. Get acquainted with the Estonian represen-

tation elected on 25 May.

28 E-Citizenships Available: Become An e-Estonian Now!

What does Estonia have that people around the world associate the

country with? Taavi Kotka, the Estonian government CIO, is convinced

that Estonia’s unique characteristic is its extremely comfortable business

infrastructure, with the e-Estonian services that the country runs on.

With the help of ICT, there may well be ten million Estonians by 2025

instead of the current one million.

30 Estonian Business Ambassador Network:

The Global Business Family Of Estonia Indrek Pällo, Head of Export Advisers of Enterprise Estonia, introduces

the Estonian Business Ambassador Network – a kind of global business

family which helps rookie exporters to make market entry smoother.

31 Welcome To The Estonian Time MachineThe technology evangelist Indrek Vimberg calls the new e-estonia.com

showroom a time machine. Find out why and what the new showroom

has to offer compared with the previous ICT Demo Centre.

34 Estonian Shoe Design Picking Up The PaceOriginal Estonian shoe design has not died out. On the contrary, the

number of craftsmen is growing. Will shoe design remain a pleasure of

the select few or grow into a significant branch of the economy?

I CONTENT

SUMMER_2014

LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014 SUMMER4

60 Enn Kunila: Estonian Art Is Estonia’s Business Card

The entrepreneur and art collector Enn Kunila is a true gentleman with

faultless manners. He owns a large painting collection, mainly Estoni-

an traditional paintings from the early 20th century on. Life in Estonia

asked one of the most well-known art collectors in Estonia where and

how it is possible to buy Estonian art.

63 EXPO Milan 2015: Gallery Of Estonia – Nests And Swings

Andres Kask, the EXPO 2015 Vice Commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion,

introduces the concept of the Estonian pavilion at EXPO Milan 2015.

66 Kristjan Randalu - A Talent Who ReturnedThere are several famous musical families in Estonia, the Järvi family be-

ing the most famous among them. In this issue Life in Estonia presents

Kristjan Randalu who comes from a family of pianists and has become

an acclaimed pianist himself. Find out what made the young and suc-

cessful musician, who had all doors open to him, return to Estonia to

his roots.

69 Indrek Laul – The Estonian Piano ManIndrek Laul is another acclaimed Estonian pianist who comes from a mu-

sical family. In 2001, Indrek, a recording artist with a doctorate in piano

performance from the Juilliard School of Music, became sole owner of

the Estonia Piano Factory. He introduced Estonia pianos to the US mar-

ket with the ambition of making the pianos internationally recognised.

20 years later, his efforts have paid off.

73 Estonian Song Celebration Time-line

The Estonian Song Celebration is a unique event that has become the

main anchor of Estonian identity. Twice the song celebrations have led

to Estonia’s independence. The Estonian Song Celebration 2014 is the

twenty-sixth of its kind. Have a look at the time-line, which highlights

the most important instances of this unique Estonian tradition.

77 Estonia In Brief

78 Practical Information For Visitors

37 Reval Denim Guild - The First Denim Guild In The World

MINU is a denim brand with a difference. It focuses mainly on jeans,

while Reval Denim Guild produces statement collections each fall. Rich

in details, the range of heavyweight fabrics speaks clearly of the north-

ern spirit: hand-crafted coats, capes, suits, dresses and even hats, all

with a hint of nobility and a bit of magic.

39 True Grit: The Story Of Renard Speed Shop

In 2008, a group of Estonians joined

forces to revive the Renard brand. In April

2010, the first “modern” prototype, the

Renard Grand Tourer, was unveiled at the

Hanover Technology Fair. The Renard Speed

Shop was founded with the aim to offer

café racers and customs at more affordable

prices. Get acquainted with the newest mod-

els created at the Renard Speed Shop.

42 Viks: Steel Urban Bicycle Made In Estonia

The Estonian bicycle brand Velonia has introduced the Viks, an urban

commuter bike with a striking design and uniquely shaped frame. Re-

cently, as a result of collaboration between VIKS from Estonia and the

Dutch WOODaLIKE, a sensational urban commuter has been created:

The VIKS WOODaLIKE I.

44 A Revolution in Estonian BrewingRecently Estonia has been witnessing something of a beer revolution,

as many small producers have entered the market with exciting beers.

Find out who is who.

51 Portfolio – Colours Of The Golden Age The exhibition in Tallinn’s Mikkeli Museum is entitled “Colours of the

Golden Age” and it consists of paintings from Enn Kunila’s collection.

The majority of the paintings are by Estonian artists from the first half

of the 20th century.



I WHERE TO GO THIS SEASON

PIRITA CONVENTTALLINN, ESTONIA8TH – 17TH August 2014

08. August 19:00Leonard Bernstein’s Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers “MASS“

10. August 19:00

Aram Khachaturian’s ballet “SPARTACUS“

14. August 19:00 Wolgang Amadeus Mozart’s comical opera “THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO”

15. August 19:00 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “A MASKED BALL“

16., 17. August 19:00 A produced gala concert in honour of the 75th jubilee of maestro Eri Klas, the Artistic Director of Birgitta festival “ERI KLAS OPERA GALA“

Artistic DirectorEri Klas

Tallinn Philharmonic Society, phone +372 669 9940Tickets: www.piletilevi.eewww.birgitta.ee

MAIN SPONSORS:


In the Tallinn Town HallOn July 15 at 19.00Luc Robert (tenor, Canada),Kadri Kipper (soprano, Estonian National Opera), Tarmo Eespere (piano, Estonian National Opera). Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Cilea, Tost.

Supported by www.opera.ee

Organised by MTÜ Musicante, Estonian National Opera. Ticket: 15/12 EUR Tickets available in Piletilevi and Piletimaailm ticket centres,Tallinn Tourist Information Centre and 1 hour before the concert in the venue.Info and booking: [email protected], +372 5114442

On July 18 at 19.00Kataržyna Mackiewicž (soprano, Poland), Rauno Elp (baritone, Estonian National Opera), Jaanika Rand-Sirp (piano, Estonian National Opera). Bizet, Puccini, Verdi, Lehár, Kálmán, Johann Strauss.

On July 22 at 19.00Angela Papale (soprano, Italy), Fabio Marra (piano, Italy). Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Martucci, Tost.

On July 25 at 19.00Joanna Freszel (soprano, Poland), Oliver Kuusik (tenor, Estonian National Opera), Tarmo Eespere (piano, Estonian National Opera). Mozart, Gounod, Verdi, Britten, René Eespere.

On July 29 at 19.00Iveta Jiřiková (soprano, Czech), Filip Bandžak (baritone, Czech). Maria Bachmann (piano, Estonia). Mozart, Rossini, Gounod, Massenet, Tchaikovsky.

JULY 20–27 2014

Presenting the Ukrainian National Opera!

Verdi “DON CARLOS“Lysenko “NATALKA POLTAVKA“

Bellini “NORMA“OPRERA GALA

CHILDREN GALA

Artistic director of the festival: Arne Mikk

saaremaaopera.eufacebook.com/saaremaaopera

New Estonian language-teaching startup raises EUR1 million

Lingvist, a new Estonian startup which aims to teach

a new language in 200 hours, has raised EUR1 million

in a round of funding.

Lingvist has developed a software programme to help people learn any

language in just 200 hours by applying mathematical concepts to the

learning process. In a personalised approach, using mathematical opti-

misation, the tool tailors tasks according to one’s knowledge and skills.

It takes languages apart and arranges them into micro-lessons which

each learner completes in the order which is the most efficient for them.

The company claims its adaptive learning approach, in which the soft-

ware tracks what the learner knows in order to determine what one

should learn next to fill the gaps most efficiently, sets Lingvist apart from

its competitors.

The company was co-founded by Mait Müntel, previously a nuclear

physicist at CERN, who developed the prototype software to learn

French in 200 hours. Encouraged by his progress, he launched it as a

startup. “Our programme changes the way in which people all around

the world learn languages. We are in the business of connecting peo-

ple,” added Ott Jalakas, a co-founder of Lingvist.

Although just a year in the making, Lingvist has already raised EUR1 mil-

lion in a round of funding – from SmartCap (the investment arm of the

taxpayer-funded Estonian Development Fund), Nordic VC Inventure and

several angel investors, including the co-founder of Skype, Jaan Tallinn.

Currently, it’s in a beta testing phase for French and Spanish learning

modules.

www.lingvist.io

Richard Branson invests in Estonian startup TransferWise

British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, the founder of

Virgin Group, has invested in a London-based startup that

offers to send money overseas for less than the cost charged

by traditional banks.

TransferWise, started in 2011 by two Estonians, Taavet Hinrikus and

Kristo Käärmann, said it raised $25 million from Branson and others,

adding to $6 million previously invested by firms Index Ventures and

Valar Ventures.

“I’m delighted to be investing in such an innovative company as Trans-

ferWise,” Branson said. “Financial services, such as foreign exchange,

have been ripe for disruption for decades and it’s great to see Transfer-

Wise bring transparency to the market. It’s encouraging to see entrepre-

neurs using technology to reinvent the old-fashioned FX industry and

make a real difference in the market. I see tremendous opportunity for

startups like TransferWise to offer breakthrough financial services and

products.”

Instead of actually sending money across borders, TransferWise match-

es up customers’ transfer requests and uses its own bank accounts in

various countries to make the trades. The company has been looking to

expand in the U.S., including options such as becoming regulated on a

state-by-state basis or partnering with a federally chartered institution,

Hinrikus said.

The London-based company has pledged to use its new funds to raise

awareness of the hidden fees applied to overseas money transfers.

According to the company, banks and brokers “disguise the full cost of

their fees by hiding it within the exchange rate they offer. World Bank

research shows that this significantly misleads consumers – almost two-

thirds of those polled by them were unaware that there was any other

component to the cost beyond the transaction fee.”

TransferWise added in a statement that it “believes that all costs should

be presented upfront and only the mid-market exchange rate should be

used to process transactions”.

www.tranferwise.com


I NEWS

Port of Tallinn opened a new cruise ship quay

On 17 May, the Port of Tallinn opened the new 9.34 million euro

cruise ship quay which will allow larger cruise ships than before

to be docked and thus increase Tallinn’s attractiveness for cruise

operators. The opening of the quay was marked with the moor-

ing of the Royal Princess, the largest cruise vessel to have ever

visited Estonia so far.

With the new quay, the Port of Tallinn will be able to moor cruise ships

up to 340 metres in length, up to 42 metres in width, and with the draft

of up to nine metres. The first vessel to moor at the new cruise quay

was the 330-metre long Royal Princess, bringing over 3,000 tourists to

Tallinn.

“For the Port of Tallinn, the construction of the new quay was the larg-

est single investment last year,” said Alan Kiil, the Board Member of

AS Tallinna Sadam. “This investment will, on the one hand, satisfy the

growing demand for Tallinn as a tourist destination and, on the other

hand, help us meet the needs of cruise operators that want to use larger

and larger vessels.”

According to Urve Palo, the Minister of Economic Affairs and Commu-

nications, there is still potential for the increase in the numbers of cruise

tourists on the Baltic Sea resulting from the joint marketing of Tallinn

and other cruise destinations of the Baltic Sea, which will obviously af-

fect the economy of the tourist destinations.

“It is estimated that a cruise tourist leaves an average of 56.7 euros in

Tallinn, buying goods and services,” minister Palo noted. “Even at the

present half a million of cruise tourists per year that amounts to over

30 million euros injected into local economy, in addition to such indirect

effects as the jobs created in tourism agencies and catering facilities and

the taxes received from these.”

Tallinn is to welcome around 300 vessels bringing approximately

470,000 cruise tourists during this cruise season. The summer cruise

season lasts until 26 September, but cruise tourists are expected to visit

Tallinn in October and December as well.

Taxify named Estonia’s best mobile application

Taxi ordering application Taxify was named Estonia’s best

mobile application 2014 by the Minister of Economic Affairs

and Infrastructure, Urve Palo. The contest was organised

by the Estonia’s State Information System Authority.

Taxify’s founder Markus Villig said that the company was hoping to win

the competition. “We’re proud and happy to be the best smartphone

app of the year. Now we have to work even harder to grow and become

widely used in other regions as well,” he added.

Team management tool Weekdone won the top award in the category

of business and commerce, together with the taxi ordering application

Taxify. Weekdone was also awarded a special prize for the security solu-

tion Nutikaitse 2017.

In the category of education and culture, the winner was the mobile

application of the bookstore Rahva Raamat. A travel app, Like A Local

Guide, for tourists to help finding cool and cozy spots where locals

like to hang out at and miss the tourist traps, won in the category of

entertainment and the RMK app was named the best in the central

and local government category. The top prize in the category of health

and sports went to the Sportlyzer workout app, which also won the

Facebook vote.

Palo said mobile applications that were submitted to the contest showed

that Estonia has world-class application developers. “The mobile app

segment is very competitive, but it is also rapidly growing. This contest

showed that we have the potential to be internationally successful in

this field. Moreover, our event has also succeeded in raising the inter-

est of young people towards the IT industry which is one of the largest

investments in this sector,” Palo said.

A total of 71 apps were submitted to the contest in five categories.

The best applications will represent Estonia at the World Summit Award

Mobile, an international contest of mobile apps.

www.taxify.eu


On 3-4 June, the joint 16th Baltic Development Forum Summit and 5th

Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region - “Growing

together” - held in Turku, Finland, brought a record-breaking 1,400

decision-makers from the entire region to engage in dialogue and

knowledge exchange through plenary sessions, seminars and a lively

networking village. Key areas addressed were outlooks on governance,

the digital economy, regional cooperation, smart urban solutions, blue

growth, innovation and competitiveness.

This year’s State of the Region Report highlighted the transition to

a “new normal”, characterised by lower growth rates in the future.

Although the region continues to display strong macroeconomic fun-

damentals, decreasing trends in export market shares and internal in-

vestment signal opportunities for action. There is a need for continued

investments in knowledge-based assets and competitive infrastructure,

as well as developing more distinct areas of competitive advantage.

BDF and Microsoft have launched a new think tank initiative on ICT

“Top of Digital Europe” is a new think tank initiative which will address

key topics related to ICT as a driver for growth and competitiveness in

the Baltic Sea Region. Among the speakers were the Prime Minister Jyrki

Katainen of Finland and Prime Minister Taavi Roivas of Estonia, who

encouraged other BSR countries to follow their lead and “go digital”,

stating their desire to develop more cross-border services in the region.

The Baltic Sea Region has all the prerequisites to become a global fore-

runner in promoting ICT-driven start-ups and SMEs. “The Nordic/Bal-

tic region is one of the world’s leading ICT powerhouses”, said Craig

Shank, VP and Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft International. ”In

the last decade, Microsoft has invested more deeply in this region than

in any other part of the world. I am convinced that Top of Digital Europe

will be a source of inspiration to overcome challenges together.”

Estonia and Finland – two ends of one bridge ”Estonia and Finland are established partners and strong allies in shap-

ing the Baltic Sea Region,” said President Toomas Hendrik Ilves during

his state visit to Finland on 12-14 May.

Estonia and Finland, together with Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway,

Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Poland and Russia, also take part in the

work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), created in 1992

with the objective of strengthening and intensifying co-operation

among the states. Currently the work of the council is led by Finland.

Estonia’s presidency begins on 1 July 2014 and lasts for a year.

During the state visit, President Ilves opened the Estonian-Finnish busi-

ness seminar and visited several companies in Helsinki, including Rovio.

The ports of Helsinki and Tallinn signed a Memorandum of Understand-

ing (MoU) in order to develop a cargo route between the Vuosaari and

Muuga harbours in the near future. According to the MoU, the ports

wish to offer an interesting alternative for traffic between the Muuga

and Vuosaari harbours to complement the Ro-Ro capacity of on-board

passenger ferries.

“We are connected by hundreds of thousands of human relations, close

co-operation in the spheres of economics, trade and culture, e-govern-

ance, Estlink power cables, soon the Balticconnector gas pipeline and in

the future, hopefully, also the Rail Baltic railway, together with shared

responsibility for the Baltic Sea and the security of the region,” said the

Estonian Head of State, in expressing his desire for a quick solution and

decision regarding the location of the planned LNG terminal.

“The depth and closeness of relations between Estonia and Finland

should set an example of internal integration within the European Un-

ion,” stated President Ilves.

The Baltic Sea Region: Growing Together

LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014 SUMMER

I EVENTS

10

In his address, the Estonian PM Taavi Rõivas encouraged other BSR countries to go digital.

President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, together with President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, during the state visit to Finland in May 2014.

Phot

o by

Rai

go P

ajul

a

Phot

o by

BDF

Photos by Raigo Pajula


A Summer Gathering of Friends This summer the Estonia’s Friends International Meeting is celebrating its fifth

anniversary. The idea was born in 2010 in a meeting between President Toomas

Hendrik Ilves, the entrepreneur Margus Reinsalu and the management of Enter-

prise Estonia. The aim of the event is to recognise investors, politicians and art-

ists whose activities and advice have helped Estonia to develop into a European

country with a dynamic economy and vibrant culture.

President Toomas Hednrik Ilves gives a keynote address at the symposium “Quo vadis, Estonia?” in the Estonian Academy of Sciences.


I EVENTS

Another goal is to spread the message that Estonia is successful, in-

teresting and open to investments. In introducing Estonia, Margus

Reinsalu has found that when someone simply talks about Estonia to

foreigners they will politely listen but will soon forget. “However if these

same people can visit Estonia and see for themselves how successful

Estonia is, what good opportunities there are for investments and how

beautiful the environment is, then they will remember and will return.”

Every year a slightly different selection of friends is invited to Estonia,

since the organisers would like Estonia to have a lot of good and influ-

ential friends all over the world.

The meeting gives those who have an interest in Estonia an oppor-

tunity to meet and exchange ideas. Last year discussion of Estonia’s

role in the European Union and the future of the European Union was

the main focus of the symposium. This year the main theme of the

symposium will be e-democracy and e-governance, and their roles in

modern societies.

As is traditional, one of the keynote speakers of the symposium will be

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who is widely recognised for his exper-

tise in e-governance, cyber security and cloud computing. The other

keynote speaker will be Andrew M. Thompson, President, CEO and co-

founder of Proteus Digital Health. Proteus has created a digital health

feedback system to allow people of all ages and cultures to power their

own health, to take better care of themselves and each other.

This year the symposium will be held for the first time in the new in-

novation and business centre Mektory, where guests will be able to ac-

quaint themselves with the latest technologies in Estonia. The attendees

of the Estonia’s Friends International Meeting will also be joined at the

symposium by Estonia’s honorary consuls, which will bring more inter-

esting viewpoints to the discussion.

On the same day, the friends of Estonia will be able to meet Prime

Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas, who will introduce the Estonian e-gov-

ernment system. In addition, Enterprise Estonia will organise a seminar

on the topic „Estonia–contributing towards a country without borders”,

which centres on Estonian innovation and start-ups.

Besides discussions of Estonia´s development, innovation and invest-

ment opportunities, the participants in the meeting will be offered a

wonderful cultural programme. It has become a tradition that on the

first night of the meeting there is a concert by the Estonian National

Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the renowned maestro Neeme

Järvi. This concert has become a popular cultural event in its own right.

Prime Minister at the time Andrus Ansip gives the friends of Estonia a tour of Stenbock House in 2013.

Estonia - Contributing To A World Without BordersThis year’s Estonia’s Friends International Meeting will

feature a business seminar hosted by Enterprise Estonia,

focusing on the initiatives and ideas of Estonian entrepre-

neurs worldwide who contribute to a world without borders.

Estonia is the native home of several successful entrepreneurs who

have achieved global success or have created ideas that disrupt the

world order as we know it today. The seminar which will take place

on 3 July will shed light on some of these projects, including Trans-

ferWise, Teleport Inc, PlanetOS and GrabCAD.

Estonians are playing a key role in shaping the future of the world, by

introducing peer-to-peer currency exchange, by helping people find

the most suitable location for living, by bringing engineers together

to work on exciting projects and by collecting and analysing big data

from the planet’s ecosystem. The distinguished foreign investor Mr.

Sonny Aswani from Singapore will give a presentation on his time

in Estonia during the past two decades and on further growth op-

portunities for a country with a unique geopolitical position.

The CIO of the Government of Estonia, Mr. Taavi Kotka, will intro-

duce an ambitious programme to increase the number of Estonian

digital citizens to over 10 million. The Estonian government has ap-

proved the concept of issuing digital IDs to non-residents. From the

end of 2014, foreigners will be able to receive a secure Estonian e-

identity. This creates a unique opportunity to create a new set of

remotely usable global services.

The development of the appropriate infrastructure and a range of

services require the coordination and stimulation of the public and

private sectors. The aim is to make Estonia great: make sure that at

least 10 million people around the world choose to associate with

Estonia via e-identities.

The seminar not only aims to promote Estonia as a hotspot for foreign

direct investment, but also to demonstrate the truly global reach of its

brightest young minds. By combining these efforts, the world will be-

come more integrated and thus will move closer to being without bor-

ders in human interaction.

The next evening there will be a concert by the Andres Mustonen Jazz

Quartet in the Oandu watermill in Lahemaa, surrounded by beautiful

Estonian nature. Exceptionally this year, the guests will also be able to

attend the famous Estonian Song and Dance Celebration ”Touched by

Time. The Time to Touch.”

The Estonia’s Friends International Meeting is jointly organised by the

Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia, Enterprise Estonia

and the entrepreneur Margus Reinsalu. Feedback from previous events

has been very positive and surely this year’s event will be memorable for

all who attend, and will instigate many new friendships and interesting

discussions on the future of Estonia.


This rocking virtual environment designed by the Estonian company Grab-

CAD stands for everything linked to mechanical product design. Some

years ago, GrabCAD began to intermediate challenges to its adrenaline-

craving community of engineers, which today numbers over 1.3 million:

different companies approach the engineers via GrabCAD and ask them

to apply their imaginations to come up with product design or product

engineering solutions within given guidelines and time frames.

GrabCAD has intermediated around two hundred such challenges and

the co-founder of the company, Hardi Meybaum, believes that eve-

ryone involved is a winner: the engineers enjoy the excitement of the

competitive challenge, companies receive new design ideas and Grab-

CAD has been able to secure its position among engineers all around

the world as their main “playground”.

For example, an Indonesian engineer used GrabCAD to design a new jet

engine bracket for GE, one of the world’s largest industrial corporations.

He received 7,000 USD prize money for winning the challenge. The aim

of GE was to have engineers design a significantly lighter jet engine

bracket which could be printed in 3D, but which would retain its stiff-

ness. Engineers from 56 different countries racked their brains over the

challenge and, in a short time, came up with 700 different design ideas

for the company, out of which the best one was chosen. The Indonesian

winner, M. Arie Kurniawan, got a kick-start to his engineering career

and started his own company.

“A representative of GE approached us and told us that they had a prob-

lem: they were spending billions of dollars each year on decreasing the

weight of aeroplane engines by a couple of percent. Perhaps the Grab-

CAD community with its more than 1.3 million engineers could help.

The result was a bracket which was on average 70% lighter than the

previous one! The CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt, was totally stunned and

admitted that the company had to rethink how their products were

designed and brought onto the market,” explains Hardi Meybaum.

Here’s another example: the US car manufacturer Shelby offered the

GrabCAD community the challenge of designing the interior of their

new super car Tuatara. Within two weeks, almost half a hundred de-

signs were submitted and Carroll Shelby, the president of the company,

spent the entire time, from morning to night, at GrabCAD providing re-

al-time feedback to the engineers. The challenge was won by an Indian

engineer for whom this experience was life-changing: he now works for

the company in Las Vegas.

GrabCAD Leading The Way In Modern Product Development By Toivo Tänavsuu

It is as if over 1.3 million mechanical engineers all over the

world sat at their (virtual) desks designing incredible things at

unbelievable speed. Companies watch in astonishment. Some

decide to go along for the surprising ride!


I EVENTS

Hardi Meybaum

Meybaum’s background in en-

gineering, process automation

and IT has provided him with

unique insight into how shifts

in technology change the ways

in which physical products are

designed. After graduating

from the Tallinn University of

Technology with an MSc in

Production Development (Me-

chanical Engineering), Hardi

worked as a Computer Aided

Design / Computer Aided

Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) en-

gineer for Saku Metall, design-

ing elevator systems. He soon

moved to a position overseeing

the company’s implementation

of Product Lifecycle Manage-

ment (PLM) software, before

becoming CIO of the company.

Hardi left Saku to join Colum-

bus IT, where he implemented

ERP systems and spent two

years helping manufacturing

companies implement new

systems and improve effi-

ciency. After leaving Columbus,

Hardi started his first company,

Futeq, to help manufacturers

get products onto the market

faster. Hardi spotted the oppor-

tunity to help use open, web-

based systems to accelerate

the design process, and started

GrabCAD.

At the same time, the company did not

let go of its own engineers. Meybaum

explains that, from the American per-

spective, product development based on

crowdsourcing is “not about giving some

pointless tasks to Eastern Europe, India

or China, receiving brilliant solutions and,

consequently, getting rid of jobs in Amer-

ica. Rather this way of working helps to

generate new half-baked ideas which

can be developed further.”

This kind of effective, open approach to product

development and design, which is based on crowd-

sourcing, requires out-of-the-box thinking and this,

according to Meybaum, is still considered strange

by most companies. But GrabCAD is definitely

breaking through. If the engineering community of

the company continues to grow at the present rate,

they will reach two million soon.

Recently GrabCAD started to sell a product called

Workbench. This tool enables small and medium-

sized companies to manage their documents and

designs, and to share them easily between depart-

ments and within supply chains. American produc-

ers no longer have to e-mail designs to Asian sub-

contractors; the files are shared seamlessly. Similarly,

several engineers can be working on the same de-

sign in parallel. Now purchasing managers or mar-

keting people can easily access the design process;

previously this area was hidden from them. The

work and design processes of companies are be-

coming much more transparent and efficient: it is

possible to design products and bring them onto the

market faster than ever before. Welcome to the 21st

century! Already 50,000 companies are using Work-

bench; GrabCAD earns its main profits in the US.

Back in 2009, two young Estonian mechanical en-

gineers – Hardi Meybaum and Indrek Narusk - no-

ticed huge problems with their industry. No good

library of CAD parts and assemblies existed, it was

difficult to find talent, and it was a real pain to work

with other engineers. Meybaum and Narusk started

GrabCAD with the core belief that by embracing

new internet-based technologies, they could radi-

cally transform a stagnant and old-fashioned

industry. They envisioned new forms of col-

laboration and openness to help mechanical

engineers around the world save time, stay

super-organized and have more fun.

The initial goal was to develop an “all-in-

one” web environment which would be-

come indispensable for engineers, planners

and designers. It was meant to become

an operating system for engineers and

designers, where engineers could connect and

gather information, manage their designs and

communicate with their partners.

To date the company has attracted several rounds

of investments, totalling 17 million dollars, from

prominent venture capitalists, and it offers online

community and cloud-based collaboration tools for

those involved in designing and building physical

products. The company’s offices are situated in Bos-

ton, Cambridge (England) and Tallinn.

According to Meybaum, companies are starting

to come round to the new way of thinking about

product development, and GrabCAD has users in

all sectors of the economy, with the exception of

companies linked to the US defence industry, for

whom they still do not meet the standards.

What about profits? Meybaum calculates that if all

Original Equipment Manufacturers in the US which

employ 5-50 mechanical engineers used Work-

bench, GrabCAD would be making a billion dollars

annually. Clearly the company is enjoying operating

in a potential billion-dollar market.

In order to raise awareness of opportunities in 21st

century product development, Hardi Meybaum

recently published The Art of Product Design:

Changing How Things Get Made, which is sold

at the Amazon Kindle Store and other major book

stores, such as Barnes and Noble.

Meybaum says this book was born out of fear that

GrabCAD was developing products that were too

innovative and the industry’s way of thinking was

lagging behind.

“We wrote this book to change the way the indus-

try thinks. We do not predict how things will be in

the future, but we let about 50 companies tell their

stories of how they are doing things differently to-

day.” Read the book to find out how modern prod-

uct design, prototyping and marketing work. How

the digital revolution gets physical and how there is

only hope for survival for those companies that un-

derstand the principle “disrupt or get disrupted”.

15 SUMMER 2014 I LIFE IN ESTONIA

If Estonia Had A Fan Club, Sonny Aswani Would Be

Its Cheerleader

By Toivo Tänavsuu / Photos by MaRgus johanson


I LAND AND PEOPLE

The Singaporean businessman Sonny Aswani (51), Director of the Tolaram Group, with businesses on different continents, discovered Estonia at the begin-ning of the 1990s. He has remained a devoted fan of the tiny, yet ambitious country since.

Always relaxed, like a seasoned Estonian, Aswani sits at his kitchen

table in his Tallinn Old Town luxury residence. Pagari 1 is a historical

apartment building which the Singaporean has restored to its original

purpose. After decades of being used by military and police forces, it is

again a majestic residential building. Almost all of the 42 apartments of

the prize-winning building have now been sold.

The summer has just started, along with the strawberry season and a

pipeline of truly Estonian events ahead, including the Song Festival in

July, where Estonian fans from all over the world will gather to sing

along with the nation.

How does flying back from Singapore to Estonia make you feel?

This is pretty much like home. This is the place where I am the most fond

of spending my time. When I come to Estonia, I always feel excited.

There is still a lot for us to accomplish here.

I usually come to Estonia about five or six times a year, and usually

spend about two weeks here. We have made various investments in

Estonia, particularly in the pulp and paper sector. Currently, I am look-

ing forward to establishing a world class data centre in Estonia, and I

have some real estate projects in the pipeline.

Why data centres?

The timing is right now. Estonia is very strong in terms of IT and soft-

ware development, but there’s not enough infrastructure to back it up.

If we are to store everything in the cloud, if Estonia does what it plans

to do – back its e-government services fully in the state cloud - there will

be a lot of infrastructure needed to support it.

When Google acquired an old factory building in Hamina, Finland for its new data centre a few years ago, rumour has that they were also considering Kehra?

When Google went out to look for data centre sites, they eventually

narrowed it down to two countries: Estonia and Finland. They chose

Finland because of the energy costs. In Estonia the cost of energy is still

comparatively high due to high excise tariffs.

Google acquired an old pulp and paper plant and converted it to a

data centre. They got some green energy benefits, too. The Finnish gov-

ernment met Google half way and brought Google to Finland. Esto-

nia should think about that when developing its strategies to keep the

country competitive.

Back in the 1990s, what attracted you to Estonia? At the beginning of the 1990s we had a distribution business in Moscow.

The volume there grew to such an extent that I needed to relocate our

warehousing to meet the just-in-time delivery demands of our customers.

I travelled to neighbouring countries to explore the possibility of relocat-

ing my logistics. I visited Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and finally Estonia.

When I discovered how convenient and transparent it was to do business

here compared to all the other countries, Estonia was a natural choice!

Even back in the early days you already had e-banking and currency

backed by the Deutsche mark. The strategic geographical location was

an additional attraction.

Estonia has changed quite a bit during the past 25 years. What keeps you emotionally attached to the country?

There is a phrase I have been using for years when introducing Estonia

to foreigners: the one thing you need to bring when you visit Es-

tonia is not a thick sweater, but rather your sunglasses, as the

future there is so bright, you are going to need them!

Our experience in Estonia has been wonderful. We have been here for

almost 20 years and feel very comfortable doing business here.

The motivation is also country specific. In the pulp and paper industry,

we need to be in a country like Estonia, because of the high-quality raw

material that is available here. That raw material we need – long-fibre

wood, such as pine and spruce - is not available in many countries,

including the emerging southern countries. It is only available in the

northern hemisphere, and here we have competition only from Canada,

Scandinavia and partly Russia.

Why is it good to live and do business in – or from – Estonia?

One of the things that first attracted us was that Estonia is one of the

few countries in the world where foreigners and locals are treated

equally. They both can buy land, they pay the same taxes, and every-

thing is the same. Not all countries have that.

If you are a foreigner and you want to be a part of the emerging MINT

markets (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey), you go to any of these

countries and discover that you cannot buy, or are restricted in buying,

land as a foreigner. In Singapore, for instance, a foreigner can own an

apartment, but not freehold land.

The IT sector and start-ups have increasingly added excitement to the

business environment, which is very important for innovation and crea-

tivity. We shouldn’t underestimate the fact that the world has noticed

Estonia as the next possible Silicon Valley. Estonia should set that as a

goal.

The values what we have already achieved or own by default are no

less important: transparency, geographical location and ease of doing

business have kept our company and many others here, and we are

here for good.

Of course, in our changing world Estonia must adjust its sail in the direc-

tion of economic growth. p. 18 >


Sonny Aswani

Sonny Aswani has been with the Tolaram Group

since 1985 and has vast experience in setting up

and running businesses in Asia and Europe. He

has successfully developed paper, textile, real es-

tate and life-style businesses in Estonia. Currently,

he oversees the group’s interests in the Baltics.

He has a degree in Business Administration and

Economics from Richmond College (1984) and a

master’s degree in Management Science from the

University of Kent at Canterbury, UK (1986).

He was awarded the White Cross medal by the

President of the Republic of Estonia in 2001 and

has been the Honorary Consul-General for Estonia

in Singapore since 2008. Among the awards

he has received are “Best Foreign Investor” and

“Best Promoter of Estonia and for Job Creation”.

Aswani is the Founder of the Tolaram Foundation,

a non-profit entity helping the less fortunate.

Date of Birth: 12 April 1963

Place of Birth: Indonesia

Citizenship: Singaporean

languages: Sindhi (native language), English, Hindi,

Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia

and Javanese

hobbies: Chess, sailing, skiing and reading

Estonian Honorary Consul to Singapore, Mr. Sonny Aswani at the symposium “Quo vadis, Estonia?” in the Estonian Academy of Sciences. 05.07.2013

p. 18 >


I LAND AND PEOPLE

difficult for a bigger country. For businesses, this provides the versatility

to deal with changes, and we live in an ever-changing world.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for Estonia in the future?

Estonia’s geopolitical location should be used: the closest European city be-

tween Europe and China is actually Tallinn. Why not make Tallinn an air car-

go hub? It should also invest in world class exhibition and convention centre.

Estonia’s opportunities also certainly lie in the IT sector and above all in

its skilled people.

Today I worry about the brain drain. Over time, Estonia may lose the skill

sets it has nurtured. As I mentioned before, people are Estonia’s primary

resource, and in attracting talent and raising the quality of the existing

workforce, there is a lot to learn from Singapore.

I also see an active discussion in the society about the future, and I

believe that in trusting cooperation between statesmen, entrepreneurs

and people the best solutions will be found.

Do you use the Estonian e-services?

Yes. One of the advantages of Estonia is the ease of doing business. E-gov-

ernment, e-taxes, digital signatures, going online to form a company – that’s

fantastic! Far better than in Singapore, which could learn a lot from Estonia.

Here we have been paying for parking by mobile phone for 12 years. It

has been almost ten years since the first electronic elections. We are way

ahead here in Estonia.

In terms of organisational culture and business mindset, I am sure that Tolaram has addedinternational scope to Estonia. But what has Estonia given to Tolaram?

This spring Tolaram Group leaders from all around the world had their

strategy meeting in Estonia, hosted by our team here. Everybody was

amazed at our Estonian team’s integrity, competence and loyalty. That

created such a fruitful and inspiring environment for the meeting that

everybody had the confidence and security to set future goals very high,

which united our whole international team more then anybody expect-

ed. Estonia has given us amazing people and inspiration.

How does the current crisis in Ukraine make you feel?

It is an opportunity for Estonia. There are, for example, Asian companies

in Moscow that don’t want to take risks in Russia or store their goods

in Russia. But at the same time they want to be able to deliver in Russia

within 24 hours. Countries like Estonia could benefit from this; com-

panies want to mitigate their risks by diverting all the stocks that they

usually keep in Russia and relocate them outside of Russia, but continue

to do business in that emerging market.

Estonia has been highly successful so far but it must remember

that… success is a journey not a destination.

Estonia’s costs and wages have risen drastically. How has that influenced your pulp and paper business in Kehra?

We have kept on investing. If I don’t keep modernising the factory, we

will not survive. The paper that we make is not exactly a commodity; it

is a very specific packaging paper, which is environmentally friendly, one

that you can only make from soft wood pulp and this pulp you can only

make from wood that you get from countries like Estonia.

If it was a common commodity, we would be selling the majority of our

products to China. Instead, we are opening new doors in such markets as

Japan, Australia and South America. So we have hence found ourselves a

great niche, which allows us to export to 55 different countries every month.

We have restored Estonia’s position in the global pulp and paper sector.

And we continue to invest. Originally I had plans to increase the capacity

in Kehra by 50 per cent, but just recently we decided to triple it: from

70,000 tons to 210,000 tons a year.

We have excellent local raw material. I dislike the idea of raw material

being shipped from Estonia to Finland in the form of logs, without adding

any value to it. Why should we send logs to Finland, where they would

make toilet paper and send it back to us? That doesn’t make sense!

Instead, you add value …

Estonia has two main national resources: forest and people. Making

such products as pulp, paper, pellets, panels and wooden houses: this

is what should be championed. It is the people that make a country,

not the other way around. And I see great value in the Estonian people.

Estonians are hard-working, focused and behave in a pragmatic man-

ner. They are my trusted team members and I really value the loyalty and

dedication of the people I have found here in Estonia. Many key people

have worked closely with me for 20 years and that’s an asset that helps

us to drive the business.

Have you ever considered moving your paper production away from Estonia?

No chance. I would move an industry like textiles, because we don’t

have the raw material here. I worked with cotton from Uzbekistan many

years ago. Those kind of industries would not survive in Estonia. But an

industry where you have a local raw material and you add value to it

before exporting, these work well.

We used to be a little too dependent on textiles and got burnt. Even-

tually we had to shut down the production, because it was no longer

viable in terms of labour costs and competitive raw material availability.

We focused on pulp and paper extensively and started our real estate

business in Estonia.

Estonia can adapt more easily in times of global economic turbulence.

Yes, it is like a sailboat that can adjust its sails. In a rapidly changing

world, the beauty of a small country is the ability to adapt, which is very

By anneliis aunaPuu / Photos by MaDis PalM

The Woman Who Sets Snowballs Rolling


I COVER STORY

It is typical of everything that Reet Aus undertakes to develop a snowball effect. Her activities, which are born out of creative impulses, soon begin to take on a global dimension.

School

Reet Aus holds a doctorate in art and design. At first it may seem that

fashion and research are worlds apart, but in the last few years the

activities of the textile and fashion departments at the Estonian Uni-

versity of Art have taken a huge leap forward from decorative arts and

crafts, developing in depth and becoming serious players in the field.

Of course, the effective and decorative nature of art is still important,

as the annual high-flying fashion show of the university, approaching

performance art in its execution, demonstrates (Reet was the main or-

ganiser of this event from 1995-2002).

Together the students and tutors of the Estonian Academy of Art seek

unused opportunities in local production and create bold visions of the

future. They learn to orientate themselves in contemporary technologies

and new trends in research, and they have a bold approach to trying

out options, as the “sky is the limit”. Students successfully compete

with students of industrial design. They have reached an understand-

ing of “the global” through the concepts of design - mass production

- energy use - resources - waste… It seems that the process is taking

on momentum.

When you meet the direct and confident Reet Aus and look into her

clear eyes, you immediately see that she is not one of those artists brim-

ming over with unexpressed thoughts or desperately seeking a stage.

This girlish woman (who is a mother of three!) works at a fast and

steady pace on a wide scale: fashion designer, theatre and film artist,

entrepreneur and advocate of recycling who moves beyond the level of

pretty slogans.

For someone who has a large international upcycling project on her

hands, with many setbacks and surprises, she looks admirably calm,

convinced that one person can indeed make a difference and stop the

world from galloping over a cliff. The success of one project leads to

success in other projects. One product today, an entire branch of the

industry tomorrow. Dripping water can break down a rock.


I COVER STORY

Work

Reet’s MA project started to live its own life. The Hula Collection pre-

sented the idea of local production and quickly found popularity, be-

coming a recognised brand created by fashion students. Reet Aus’s

principles started to find an outlet and her collections received more

and more attention. But collections and small output did not seem like

a sufficient solution to Reet, and this led to her commencing her doctor-

ate studies by exploring the upcycling possibilities of the waste of the

textile industry.

After successfully defending her PhD thesis “Trash to Trend – Upcycling

in Fashion Design” at the Estonian Academy of Art, Reet Aus received

her doctorate in 2011. As a direct outcome of her research, she trav-

elled to Bangladesh in order to participate in the creation of a docu-

mentary film, together with Jaak Kilmi and Lennart Laberenzi, about the

environmental problems related to the textile industry. Quite unexpect-

edly, an even bigger snowball started to roll.

In observing the inner workings of the textile industry in Bangladesh,

Reet Aus became painfully aware of huge environmental problems re-

lated to the mass production of textiles, which are not always the result

of carelessness or greedy grasping at profits. In talking to the manage-

ment of Beximco, a large Bangaldeshi corporation, common ground

was quickly found. This laid the foundation for a collaboration that led

to killing two birds with one stone. Textiles are the main exports of

Bangladesh, but more and more we hear about the dire working condi-

tions within the industry. One of the best representatives is Beximco,

which employs 32,000 workers, who produce clothes for such world-

famous brands as Tommy Hilfiger, Bershka, Calvin Klein and Zara. The

company guarantees human rights and decent salaries. Reet was able

to undertake an analysis of production at the factory, which helped to

assess the extent of waste and create opportunities to direct it back into

production within the factory.


Reet Aus in brief:

BRANdS:

* Hula: created in collaboration with Anu

Lensment, Marit Ahven and Eve Hanson

as their final MA project (2002, cum

laude), a brand which continues to live in

the daily activities of former students.

* ReUse: a collection created in 2006 in

collaboration with the Recycling Centre,

based on the principle of valuing the

recycling and reuse of materials. The idea

grew into an NGO, and a waste-mapping

service was created on the webpage

www.reuse.ee. This maps textile pro-

duction waste in our region, offering use-

ful information for local designers who

value recycling.

* TrashToTrend: the platform

www.trashtotrend.com began with

her doctoral thesis in 2011; it introduces

the idea of upcyling and sells designer

goods produced by this method.

* Upmade: a brand which uses the up-

cycling method to create a collection in

cooperation with Beximco.

* Aus design: Reet is the Creative Direc-

tor and designer of her own company.

www.reetaus.com

ACTIVITIES:

* Reet designs costumes for theatres (Von

Krahl, Eesti Draamateater, Pärnu Endla,

Tartu Vanemuine, Polygon, Nargen Opera

and Tallinna Linnateater)

* ... and films (“Tallinn Sprat”, “December

Heat”, “Tabamata ime”, “Kuhu pogene-

vad hinged” etc.).

* Designs costumes for national celebrations

and events: for example the concert of the

anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in

2013. The newest project is the famous

upcycle-technology T-shirts created for the

Dance and Song Celebration 2014.

* Studio at the Estonian Design House at

Kalasadama 8.

* Heads the sustainable textiles study group

at the Estonian Academy of Art.

* Is thinking about collaborating with cor-

porations in order to reduce the ecologi-

cal footprint of the textile industry.

AWARdS:

* “Väike Noel” (Small Needle) (2003, the

brand Hula),

* Cultural Award of the Republic of Estonia

(2004 “Estonian Ballads” production),

* Estonian Theatre Award and Natalie Mei

Costume Designer Award 2007,

* Moemootor (Fashion Motor) 2009.

* Woman of the Year 2013 (the magazine

Anne ja Stiil)

* Entrepreneur of the Year of Civil Society

2013 (Union of NGOs - EMSL)

* Environment Act of the Year 2013: the

Ministry of the Environment named Up-

made the most environmentally friendly

company of the year.

ROLES:

* Senior Researcher and tutor at the Esto-

nian Academy of Art, costume designer

in theatre and film, and Creative Direc-

tor and Designer of her company Aus

Design.

* Participates in the buzz of fashion shows,

global fashion weeks and exhibitions as a

participant and organiser.

* Member of the Board of the Union of

Estonian Designers and the Union of Es-

tonian Performance Designers.

* Member of the Lilleoru eco community.

www.facebook.com/lilleoru.

* Mother of three.

Upcycling and production

In seeking solutions to the problems, Reet Aus felt the need for more

specific environmental know-how and this brought her together

with the environmental specialist Markus Vihma. Their collaboration

led to the creation of the “T-shirt with the smallest environmental

footprint in the world” (the T-shirt was chosen as a test product

because it is one of the most pointless textile products: about four

billion T-shirts with logos are produced each year for various events

and most of them become direct waste). The new shirt - the upshirt

- was assembled from production waste of quality rib knit fabric.

And it looked great. The creators then turned to the crowdfunding

platform kickstarter.com and found an unexpectedly large number

of supporters (among them Jeremy Irons) who ensured half of the

necessary starting capital. This helped to start production of the

shirts.

The design of the first product with the label Ausdesign (thank to Reet’s

surname Aus, it translates as “honest design”) presented the logo of

the company, an arrow pointing upwards, which is an ingenious way

of visualising the concept of upcycling. The label of the shirt states that

its production created 82% less CO2 and used 90% less water. It is the

first known attempt in the world to mass produce the producer’s own

production waste through upcycling.

The next project was creating the T-shirts for the biggest national cel-

ebration in Estonia: the Song and Dance Celebration 2014. This has

made the eco-shirt into a mass product. The T-shirts reached Estonia at

the end of May.

The fact that Reet Aus’s doctoral work and activities in upcycling also

have a local impact was demonstrated at the exhibition of student work

at the gallery of the Estonian Academy of Art last December. The works

were created in the framework of the international innovation project

“Trash to trend”. For two weeks, students attended lectures and master

classes, resulting in clothes lines which were created out of the waste and

defective products of the textile industry. Many of those could become

industrial prototypes in the future.


I COVER STORY

T-shirts for the Song and Dance Celebration 2014

Theatre and cinema

Along with her efficient and thorough activities in various fields,

Reet Aus still finds time to design theatre and film costumes. Like

the fashion runway, the world of theatre and film is radically different

from global industrial problems. Stage productions allow for creative

fantasy and different themes help Reet to maintain a flexible frame of

mind. But those activities would require a separate article.

Reet Aus has participated as a costume designer in at least seven fea-

ture films and has helped to create the stage look for numerous theatre

productions. “This is where I find creative freedom, making costumes

which are larger than life,” she says with a smile. This activity has also

brought her recognition: the Cultural Award of the Republic of Estonia

(2004, for the costumes of the epic production “Estonian Ballads”) and

the Estonian Theatre Award 2006.

Activities on the horizon

The roots of Reet Aus’s current activities go back years and she is unique in

the Estonian culture industry. Many designers have tried to organise their

own production, but their volumes remain very limited. Others have found

their niche in tailor-made costumes.

Reet has found a way to incorporate powerful mass production, change

routines and make use of production waste and over-production. This

helps future consumers save money (which would be spent on products

made of new fabric), reduces the costs of material and fabric produc-

ers (lowering production-processing costs) and reducing overhead in the

sewing factory (lowering the costs of waste management). In addition,

this helps to alleviate over-production, which is created by the unpredict-

able demands of the market. At the same time, environmental risks are

reduced.

This kind of environmentally sustainable thinking is becoming increas-

ingly popular, but these ideas are seldom put into practice. Reet is a

tough girl who has reached real tangible solutions with her activities.

There is a product, there is mass production based on ideals and the

products have also reached shops.

It seems that Reet Aus has reached the status of ideal designer (for

example in the production of song festival T-shirts): she has designed a

product which is ready for production and fills a market need in Estonia

and Bangladesh, which helps to save costs for everyone involved.

Estonian producers should take notice of what designers have been

trying to express for years: in the long term designers help save on

costs, not create pointless costs! At the same time, our planet Earth

will have an easier time.

The acknowledgements keep coming in. Last year the Estonian wom-

en’s magazine Anne ja Stiil nominated Reet Aus “The Woman of the

Year”. This year the Ministry of the Environment chose her company

as the most environmentally friendly company of the year. The Union

of NGOs nominated Reet Aus as “The Entrepreneur of the Year”. She

has accomplished great things.


Estonian Representation To The European Parliament

Estonia joined the EU at the beginning of

2004. As one of the smallest countries in Eu-

rope, Estonia is among the four EU countries

which elects only six MEPs to the European

Parliament. On 25 May, 36.44 per cent of

Estonian voters participated in the European

Parliament elections, which is less than last

time (in 2009), when the turnout was 43.9

per cent, but more than in 2004, when Esto-

nia elected members to the European Parlia-

ment for the first time and the turnout was

26.83 per cent.

Of the six Euro-parliament mandates, the Re-

form Party took two, with a vote count of

79,849, with former Prime Minister Andrus

Andrus Ansip45,022 votes

The former long-time Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip can defi-

nitely be considered the winner of the elections to the European Parlia-

ment in Estonia. He won the highest number of votes as an individual

and contributed to his party, the liberal business-friendly Reform Party,

becoming the winner of the elections overall: Ansip, who stepped down

from his position as Prime Minister only at the end of March, collected

45,000 votes from all over Estonia.

This came as somewhat of a surprise, because the general opinion be-

fore the elections seemed to be that voters had grown a bit bored with

the man who spent the last nine years running the country. In the last

years of his career as Prime Minister, Ansip has tended to make public

declarations which the public deemed arrogant and haughty. Not a sin-

gle pre-election poll predicted his triumph.

The main basis for Ansip’s success may be the courageous decisions

made during his term which took Estonia into the euro-zone during the

most difficult economic crisis in the country. During his term, the global

economic crisis hit Estonia hard, but thanks to the previous conserva-

tive budget policy and subsequent bold cuts Estonia managed to make

it out of the crisis on its own and became the most rapidly growing

economy in the European Union.

It would be difficult to find anyone from Estonia on the same level as

Ansip in European issues who simultaneously possesses such firm au-

thority in Brussels. One of his clear strengths is Ansip’s brilliant memory

for facts. Journalists in Estonia know that his skill at citing research

results, figures and percentages with accuracy, depending on how he

needs them, is legendary.

Most probably Ansip, who will be a member of the liberal fraction, will

not stay in the European Parliament for more than a couple of months.

The Government of Estonia has already agreed that they will put Andrus

Ansip forward as the Estonian candidate for Commissioner of the Euro-

pean Commission, and he will be replaced in the European Parliament

by the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Urmas Paet.

SHORT BIO

Born: 1 October 1956 in Tartu

Political career: Mayor of Tartu 1998 - 2004

Minister of Economic Affairs

and Communications 2004 - 2005

Prime Minister of Estonia 2005 - 2014

Political party: Estonian Reform Party

Political Group in the European Parliament:

Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

24 LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014 SUMMER

I STATE AND SOCIETY

Estonian Representation To The European Parliament

Kaja Kallas21,498 votes

Kaja Kallas, a party colleague of Andrus Ansip’s, also won a place in

the European Parliament. But whereas Ansip is already a long-standing

figure in Estonian politics, the political career of Kaja Kallas is still in its

early days.

Kallas, a lawyer by profession, joined the Estonian Reform Party before

the previous parliamentary election in 2011. As a fresh face, she had

surprising success in the election and left her job as a partner and de-

partment manager of a leading Estonian law office to take up a seat in

the Estonian parliament.

Kaja Kallas heads the parliamentary Committee of Economics. Her

strengths lie in competition law and especially energy and sustainable

energy regulations. One of her tasks in the Estonian parliament has

been the compilation of the Code of Ethics for MPs but, due to a lack

of interest among colleagues, it has not been passed.

In running for the European Parliament, Kallas emphasised the impor-

tance of the free market in her election platform. “Only the free mar-

ket creates preconditions for fair competition, guaranteeing that, if we

make the effort, we have everything necessary to live as well as people

do in Finland, Belgium or Germany,” said Kallas.

“In the European Parliament, I wish to stand for the free market, ed-

ucation, creativity and hard work as the values which we emphasise

when talking about the EU and which underpin all our decisions,” she

promised.

It is worth noting that Kaja Kallas is a second-generation politician. Her

father Siim Kallas is the former Estonian Prime Minister and is currently

in his second term as a Commissioner of the European Commission.

SHORT BIO

Born: 18 June 1977

Political career: Member of Parliament 2011 -

Political party: Estonian Reform Party



Ansip alone receiving 45,022 votes. Besides

Ansip, the independent candidate Indrek

Tarand (43,369 votes), Social Democrat Mar-

ju Lauristin (26,868), Center Party MP Yana

Toom (25,251), Reform Party MP Kaja Kallas

(21,498) and European Parliament mem-

ber, Pro Patria and Res Publica (IRL) member

Tunne Kelam (18,767) were elected to the

European Parliament. With that, Estonia fell

into the category of states where generally

the government was supported, the politi-

cal mainstream favoured and every extreme

rejected.

Let’s get acquainted with the Estonian MEP’s.


Indrek Tarand43,369 votes

Indrek Tarand, previously a public official and diplomat, started his

rapid political ascent in the last European Parliament elections in 2009.

Back then Tarand decided to run as an independent candidate in or-

der to protest the closed list election system. Tarand claimed that the

rigid election system meant that nothing really depended on voters,

as parties had a free hand to decide who to send to the European

Parliament.

It seemed that Tarand’s ideas struck a nerve with people, as his popu-

larity as an independent candidate was unbelievable. He won the sup-

port of every fourth voter, more than 100,000 votes in total. Only one

party, with its entire list, collected slightly more votes than Tarand as an

independent candidate. With minimal campaign expenditures, Tarand

decided to run once more five years later and, although statisticians

might joke about him being the “biggest loser” of these elections, he

did receive the votes of more than 43,000 people and secured another

term in the European Parliament.

The charismatic Tarand, who can usually be spotted wearing sunglass-

es, is known for his direct and biting remarks. First and foremost, he is

opposed to the rest of the Estonian

political establishment, criticising

the concealed nature of political

decision-making, back-room poli-

tics, party financing and crazy

campaign costs.

Indrek Tarand’s father Andres

Tarand has also been an MEP

and was for years active in Esto-

nian politics as an MP and, for a

brief period in the mid-1990s, as

Prime Minister.

Yana Toom25,251 votes

The biggest surprise of these elections and the candidate who has

attracted the most controversy is definitely Yana Toom, a mem-

ber of the Estonian Centre Party. The 47-year-old native Russian

worked for years in leading positions of Russian-language media

in Estonia before joining the Centre Party and running for office.

Her position as Deputy Mayor of Tallinn was a great platform to

move into parliament some years later, and today Toom is moving

on from the Estonian parliament to Brussels.

It was predicted that Toom would do well in the elections, but the

fact that she triumphed over the Head of the Centre Party and the

heavyweight of Estonian politics - Mayor of Tallinn Edgar Savisaar

- came as a shock to Toom herself.

The great majority of Toom’s votes came from the Russian-lan-

guage areas of Estonia: the Tallinn area and north-eastern Estonia,

where the majority of the population is Russian.

Toom’s political career has been filled with controversy. For exam-

ple, in its Yearbook 2011, the Estonian Internal Security Service

wrote that as Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, Yana Toom cooperated with

the Human Rights Information Centre—which cooperates with

Russia in neighbourhood policy—to encourage the Russian schools

in Tallinn to refuse to transfer to Estonian-language learning. In

response, Yana Toom sued the Security Service and this court case

has not been resolved yet.

In addition, Toom has expressed opinions in the

media which other politicians have called

anti-state. Among other things, Toom

has said that the Estonian lan-

guage is going extinct. Just like

Kaja Kallas, Toom is a second-

generation politician.

26

I STATE AND SOCIETY

SHORT BIO

Born: 3 February 1964

Political career: Member of the European Parliament 2009 - 2014

Politically independent


Group of the Greens / European Free Alliance

SHORT BIO

Born: 15 October 1966

Political career: Deputy Mayor of Tallinn 2010 - 2011

Member of Parliament 2011 -

Political party: Estonian Centre Party



Photo by Olga Makina

Marju Lauristin 26,868 votes

The leading vote-getter of the Social Democrats, Marju Lauristin

has made a comeback in politics during these elections. Lauristin

has been well-known in Estonian politics for years, and in the

early 1990s she held one of the most difficult ministerial posi-

tions in the then young Estonian government: Minister of Social

Affairs. But for the last decade she has not been active in politics.

Instead Lauristin has been teaching students in her home-town of

Tartu and has participated in numerous socio-analytical projects.

For example, she has been one of the key people behind the an-

nual Estonian Human Development Report. In the Department

of Journalism at the University of Tartu, Lauristin (or Marjustin

as she is affectionately called by students) has been a legendary

teacher for decades.

Independent of her political background, Lauristin’s socio-critical

opinion pieces and analyses are truly valued in Estonian media.

It is hard to find another person whose opinions carry the same

weight.

After the elections, Postimees, the most read daily newspaper in

Estonia, called the decision taken by the Social Democratic Party

to have Lauristin as its top candidate a clever move. “She made

people who normally do not vote for Social Democrats give their

votes to the party. Estonia now has an

MEP who is able to think about and

speak on topics important for the fu-

ture of Europe,” wrote Postimees.

For the journalism and other stu-

dents of the University of Tartu, it is

of course a painful loss to have their

highly valued lecturer move from Tar-

tu to Brussels.

Tunne Kelam18,767 votes

Running as the leading member of the right-wing conservative Union of

Pro Patria and Res Publica, Tunne Kelam is a grand old man of Estonian

politics.

One of Tunne Kelam’s first political acts was the memorandum he

sent to the United Nations in 1972, demanding an end to the Soviet

occupation of Estonia and the restoration of Estonia’s independence.

He entered the public political arena at the end of the 1980s during

perestroika. After the restoration of Estonia’s independence, Kelam

was an MP for four terms. For eleven years he has been the Deputy

Speaker of Parliament and, in the early 2000s, spent three years lead-

ing the predecessor of his current party, the Pro Patria Union.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Kelam’s political career continued

in Brussels as Estonia joined the European Union. Tunne Kelam is the

only Estonian politician who has been elected to the European Parlia-

ment in all three elections in which Estonians have participated.

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Subcommittee of

Security and Defence, and a substitute member of the Committee on

Employment and Social Affairs, Tunne Kelam’s fields of activity include

the EU’S foreign and defence policy, as well as employment-related

issues. He is a standing member of the European Parliament’s Delega-

tion of Relations with the United States. In addition, he is a substitute

member of the Delegation for Relations with the NATO Parliamen-

tary Assembly and Delegation for Relations

with Iraq.

Kelam speaks seven foreign lan-

guages: English, Finnish, French,

Russian, Polish, Italian and Ger-

m a n .

One of

his hobbies

is bringing Eu-

ropean art-house

cinema to Estonia.

SHORT BIO

Born: 10 July 1936

Political career: Member of the European Parliament 2004 -

Vice President of the Estonian Parliament

1992 - 1995, 1996 - 2003


Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats)

SHORT BIO

Born: 7 April 1940

Political career: Minister of Social Affairs 1992 - 1994

Member of Parliament 1992, 1994 - 1995,

1999 - 2003


Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats

in the European Parliament


Egypt has the pyramids and the sun. The Alps have enough snow for skiing and snowboarding. Brazil has samba and, of course, football. But what does Estonia have that people around the world associate the country with?

“We can talk about our beautiful nature, but that is something that

every country on every continent boasts of,” says Taavi Kotka, the

Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “I also

doubt that our climate is something that people would be very fond

of,” he continues.

Rather than nature or climate, Kotka believes that Estonia’s unique

characteristic is its extremely comfortable business infrastructure and

the e-Estonian services that the country runs on. So if people travel

to the Alps for a skiing vacation and Egypt to have a sun-break in

winter, why can’t Estonia attract them with its simple e-services?

Ten million e-Estonians by 2025

This is exactly what Kotka and a couple of his colleagues have been

working on for some time now. They have worked out a way for anyone

in any country in the world to start enjoying the benefits of Estonia’s

comfortable e-services. The project is called “10 million e-Estonians by

2025” and it will be launched at the end of this year.

“What we are about to do will change the whole paradigm of citizen-

ship. You don’t have to ever come to Estonia, and you don’t have to

know much about us. But you will have the chance to become an e-

Estonian,” Kotka explains.

Let’s say there is a sheep-herder named John somewhere in New Zea-

land and he wants to start doing business in the European Union. Cur-

rently it would take weeks or even months of bureaucratic hassles to

start a company in any EU member state. John would either have to pay

thousands of euros for legal advice or travel across the world.

But now this is all about to change. All John has to do is visit his nearest

Estonian consulate, identify himself with his national ID card or passport

and give some biometric information, such as fingerprints and iris pat-

tern. When the consulate is sure that John actually is the real John, he

will be issued an Estonian non-resident ID card, which gives him instant

access to a lot of Estonia’s e-services.

“This is the only time that we actually need to see him. He will prob-

ably receive the ID card via post,” Kotka says. Straight after that, John

may establish his own company in Estonia via the National Company

Registration Portal and open a bank account using his digital Estonian

signature. “The best news? Establishing a company and opening a bank

account doesn’t take more than a day. John can start exporting wool

from day one.” He doesn’t ever have to step on Estonian soil.

E-Citizenships Available: Become An e-Estonian Now! By holgeR RooneMaa

Phot

o by

Hel

e-M

ai A

lam

aa


I STATE AND SOCIETY

Edward Lucas and Steve JürvetsonThe first two e-Estonian ID cards will be issued to The Econo-

mist’s journalist Edward Lucas and the American venture capi-

talist investor Steve Jürvetson.

The reasons for these choices are simple. Lucas has been one

of the most significant international messengers of the Estonian

story for years now, and he has also done great work in con-

tributing to the country´s e-reputation. Jürvetson has Estonian

roots, and he is a well-known VC investor in the US.

After these first two, there is no queue and everyone can apply.

The programme will be launched in October. At first, one can

only apply for it in Estonia, but soon afterwards all the Estonian

embassies and consulates will also start accepting applications.

Kotka reminds us, though, that e-residency is a benefit that the

country is offering, not a commitment. “This means that if we

feel that the benefit will not be used legally, we have the right to

decline the application,” he says.

A reputation project rather than a money maker

This might be very attractive for people in the EU’s other member countries

as well, because running a company in Estonia is cheaper and more com-

fortable than in the rest of the EU countries.

“We also have a simple and clear electronic tax system and Estonia doesn’t

charge a tax on reinvested profit. More and more of our tax board’s ser-

vices are becoming fully automated, so you don’t have to worry about

painful annual reports or anything like that,” Kotka says. Another thing to

keep in mind is that becoming an e-Estonian and starting your company

in the country allows you to always keep your own hands on the business.

You won’t need to hire locals for that. “You can sign an agreement using

your mobile ID while snowboarding down a slope in the Alps. I know, I

have done it.”

“Our idea is actually very simple. When someone becomes an e-Estonian,

we guarantee that this person is who he says he is.” He says that the

security level of this guarantee is two levels higher than anything that

a simple commercial bank can ever offer. “That is because commercial

ventures are not allowed to gather biometric information.”

What’s in it for Estonia? At first it certainly won’t be money, as the whole

cost of applying for a non-resident ID card barely covers the issuing costs

for the country. “Rather, it can be seen as a reputation project. We know

that we are the best in building an information society and instead of just

talking about it, we would like people in other countries to experience it

themselves,” Kotka says.

Country as a start-up

According to Kotka, the e-residency project will be implemented step

by step. He uses the phrase “country as a start-up”. Kotka, who has

significant start-up experience and who has been named Entrepreneur

of the Year in Estonia, knows what he is talking about. “At first we

just want to build our customer base. We are not afraid of making

mistakes along the way, because we are confident that we will learn

the right lessons from those mistakes.” The aim is to have 10 million

e-Estonians by 2025. For a country of barely 1.3 million people, that is

a lot. Kotka admits that the aim of 10 million might turn out to be just

a marketing slogan, but he says that we need to think big.

Phot

o by

Mich

ael S

oo


Wouldn’t it be great to travel to a foreign

country and have a friend waiting there? Isn’t

it much easier and more interesting to visit a

country you have never been to accompanied

by a local buddy who tells you about the best

sites and dangers to avoid? This is the logic

behind the Estonian Business Ambassador

Network: to have a global business family

which helps exporters new to the market with

experience and contacts to make market entry

smoother.

Enterprise Estonia is the Estonian national

export and investment agency which has

brought this network to life. “We saw so many

friends of Estonia willing to contribute and

help; however, there was no good framework

on the business side for this. I believe the Esto-

nian Business Ambassador Network will serve

as a framework to connect companies which

need assistance in export markets

with business people who are

willing to help. No less important

is the fact that with this network

we can extend our export pro-

motion organisation in a clever

and resource-efficient way to far

away markets“ explains Indrek

Pällo, from Enterprise Estonia,

who is behind the idea. However,

the network is not only for assist-

ing exporters, but also, with the

help of Business Ambassadors,

the aim is to collect interesting

investment leads from countries

and companies which so far have

been unreachable for Estonia, as

they are without direct coverage

from Enterprise Estonia.

Jana Krimpe, who resides and

conducts business in Azerbaijan,

was the first Estonian Business

Ambassador to sign up. “Estonia

does not have a physical diplomatic presence

in Azerbaijan, but it is very important to me to

develop relations between the two countries.

I am active in local business and I think Esto-

nian companies have a lot to offer Azerbaijan.

Therefore, I have made myself available to the

Estonian Business Ambassador Network. I be-

lieve I can assist and provide insight, which is

necessary when entering the market here,“

says Krimpe, who mainly works on conveying

the Estonian e-Governance and IT experience

to Azerbaijan.

When the network is launched in summer

2014, the Estonian companies will have a busi-

ness friend to contact and guide them in mar-

kets unknown to them. “We hope that good

news travels fast and we hope that Estonian

companies find this network and use it active-

ly. We also wish to see a lot of Business Am-

bassadors join the network so that in a year´s

time we have 70-80 countries covered,” says

Pällo, shedding light on the future ambitions

of the network.

If you would like more information or to be-

come an Estonian Business Ambassador,

please contact [email protected]

ESTONIAN BUSINESS AMBASSADOR NETWORK: THE GLOBAL BUSINESS FAMILY OF ESTONIA

Jana Krimpe

Indrek Pällo


I ECONOMY AND BUSINESS

Welcome To The Estonian Time MachineBy holgeR RooneMaa

“For our foreign visitors, it is like a time-machine, offering a glimpse into the future!” exclaims the technology evangelist Indrek Vimberg. The time machine in question is the new e-estonia.com show-room, which will open in Tallinn’s Ülemiste City be-fore Midsummer’s Day.

When Life in Estonia visited the e-estonia.com showroom in the last

days of May, it still smelled of freshly cut birch wood. The showroom

walls are covered in Estonian birch wood and the entire design concept,

from clothes hangers to the Threod drones hanging on the ceiling, was

designed in Estonia.

Back to the time machine. The newly opened showroom is called

“version 1.5” because its predecessor, “version 1”, was the Estonian

ICT Demo Centre, which opened its doors five years ago. During the

past five years, more than 1,300 delegations visited the Demo Centre,

among them ten presidents, around twenty prime ministers, numerous

ministers and business delegations. “Like all good things, the Demo

Centre had outlived its time: five years tends to be the maximum lifes-

pan of a project of this kind. Therefore, we needed an entirely new

concept and, when we found great new rooms in Ülemiste City, we

created a new solution,” explains Indrek Vimberg.Jana Krimpe Indrek Vimberg


Vimberg keeps referring to the showroom as a time-machine because

for many foreign delegations visiting Estonia what they see and experi-

ence here is often stuff of the future. “We have implemented many

excellent IT solutions which improve the standard of living of the people

in Estonia and, in order to explain and demonstrate those life-changing

solutions, foreign visitors who come to the new showroom benefit from

a central location and a guided tour by an expert,” Vimberg explains.

This means that in order to experience how one can start a new com-

pany in twenty minutes or sign a contract with one’s mobile phone

regardless of location, you need to have an Estonian e-identity and

knowledge of how to do it. Of course, business tourists to Estonia lack

this knowledge. “This is why we brought all of our e-solutions into one

location where we can paint a clear picture of Estonian e-opportunities

and the positive impact they have,” he continues.

What people see and hear in the showroom is a real experience. “Be

prepared for something special. It will change the way you think,”

promises Vimberg. His five years of experience at the ICT Demo Cen-

tre has shown him that nobody is left untouched. “People leave here

astonished. Nobody has left without being positively influenced,” he

confirms.

The showroom has a simple advantage. Instead of making your way

through dozens of Estonian government departments, boards, ICT

companies and start-ups, spending an hour here and another one there,

one location gives you an overview within just an hour and a half.

The new showroom consists of two parts: the “theatre part”, where

visitors receive a fast and detailed presentation about e-Estonia, and the

“gallery”, where everyone can get hands on experience with develop-

ments. “It is one thing to talk about the average Internet-voter needing

two minutes to cast a vote or the five minutes it takes to fill in a tax

declaration. But it is another thing to test those things on your own.”

Vimberg estimates that the ICT Demo Centre was one of the most vis-

ited locations by business and political delegations to Estonia. But now

he plans to double visitor numbers in the new, larger and more modern

showroom. This means hosting at least two delegations a day. “When

you travel around the world, you visit many attractions but do not re-

member many of them. We hope that the visitor will experience a para-

digm shift which is hard to forget,” he says, adding that although the

showroom does not have official opening times, it opens its doors to

visitors on request, even on weekends and during non-business hours.

COMMENT

Mike Gault / CEO, Guardtime

The showroom is an incredible

asset for Estonian companies.

In Guardtime’s case, we have had

the opportunity to be introduced

to senior public and private sector

executives, which has led to over

10M USD in new business for our

company.



e-estonia.com showroom

Opening times: upon request

Delegation size: up to 54 people

Duration of presentation: 1 hr

30 mins

Admission: free

Location: Ülemiste City, five

minute drive from the airport,

10-minute drive from Tallinn city

centre. Additional information

and bookings at

www.e-estonia.com

“The only thing we ask is to reserve the time for a visit a week ahead.”

Vimberg says that states cannot just copy-paste public sector e-servic-

es and the showroom is the connection between the know-how and

know-who. “Our goal is to show what technology enables us to do and

to offer people a different way of looking at things. In addition, we can

definitely help with our experience and know-who. We offer a complete

overview of the Estonian ICT sector network and we guarantee to be

able to put you in touch with the right contacts,” promises Vimberg.

In addition, he emphasizes that the showroom and its team can help

visitors to pitch smart ideas in their home countries. “Invite us to visit

and we will come and explain how analogous ideas have changed the

way things are done in Estonia.” Vimberg has through the years done

this in twenty countries all over the world.

One of the aims of the showroom is definitely to raise international

awareness of Estonia, but the other aim is more pragmatic. “The results

of our work should be seen in the export numbers of companies,” says

Vimberg. The predecessor of the showroom and the Export Cluster

project, perhaps not directly, led to the export turnover of partner com-

panies growing 250 per cent over the last three years. “We offer good

support for Estonian ICT companies and we create an additional com-

petitive edge for the entire industry. Public and private sectors together

can package the Estonian e-success story. Through cooperative efforts,

we are able to stand out in the world and be equal partners with such

giants as Amazon, Daimler and Ericsson.”

Although the e-Estonia showroom, version 1.5, opened its doors just

a few days ago, Vimberg is already thinking of version 2.0. “It will be

called ICT Lighthouse. It would be

fantastic if we could open its doors

by the end of the decade here at the

old water tower of Ülemiste City.”

This would open up an entirely new

dimension of the time machine by

using the four existing floors of the

historic water tower and adding an-

other two floors. The sketches of ver-

sion 2.0 already exist on paper…

See you in the time machine

of e-Estonia!




Although large shoe factories are a

thing of the past in Estonia, original

shoe design has not vanished into thin

air. On the contrary, there are more and

more craftsmen and, although there

are just a few designers creating hand-

made footwear, those shoes never fail

to draw attention to their wearer. Will

shoe design remain a pleasure of the

select few or grow into a significant

branch of the economy?

Life in Estonia presents three new shoe

designers and shoe brands that boldly

confront mass production with their own

unique styles.

Estonia has a long history of large-scale shoe

production and export. But today nobody re-

members Kommunaar (which grew out of the

Union factory of the first republic) or Pohjala,

the once famous producer of rubber boots.

Surprisingly, the design of unique handmade

footwear is now developing in Estonia and

first steps are being taken to start production.

These days handmade shoes are just as special

as tailor-made clothes: although they are more

expensive, they have a definite edge over mass

production when it comes to comfort and fit.

After all, they have been created especially for

the wearer. Designer shoes enable the wearer

to stand out from the masses, because they

are not available on the high street.

Estonian Shoe Design Picking Up The Pace

By MaRis Takk / Estonian Design Centre

Exclusively for menSille Sikmann’s brand Schekmann (after the Baltic German name of her

family, which means “stylish man” in German) designs shoes and boots

exclusively for men, mostly out of compassion for men who have always

had to make do with brown and black footwear as opposed to the more

diverse choice available for ladies. The brand Schekmann was born out

of the desire to enrich the wardrobe of local style-conscious and inde-

pendent men with extravagant and unique shoes and boots. In addition

to footwear, Schekmann offers other stylish accessories for men, includ-

ing braces, wallets and bags. The products are made of genuine leather,

inside the shoe and on the sole. “The men who wear my creations are

bold enough to be themselves,” says the designer. Regardless of the

fact that it is women who show more interest in Sille Sikmann’s designs

than men, the designer has no plans to start designing shoes for wom-

en, instead leaving them with the pure joy of shopping for presents.

www.scheckmann.com


Handmade shoesContemporary Estonian shoe design has been strongly influenced by

the passion and success of the designer Kaspar Paas. Having won the

Young Designer Award SÄSI in 2007, Kaspar decided to continue his

training in England, where he made shoes for several years at the old-

est still working shoe company in London, John Lobb. Shoes are made-

to-measure there and a pair of shoes can set you back 3,500-4,000

GBP. Boots are even more expensive. Kaspar even got the chance to

create a pair of shoes for Prince Charles. Today the shoe designer is

back in Estonia working on his new collection, but he is in such high

demand that he still receives orders from Lobb and does the work

from Estonia.

Trendy footwear for summer and winterStudio Nahk is a newcomer on the Estonian shoe design landscape.

The people behind the design company are Karin Kallas and Erik Past,

who use special self-developed lasts, which adapt to the foot, and shoe

designs which are specifically tailored for the Nordic foot type. The

designs by Studio Nahk are meant for active women who like to wear

extra comfortable but pretty footwear whilst going on about their eve-

ryday business. The selection ranges from black masculine high boots

to rainbow-coloured moccasins and ballerinas, to tailor-made wedding

shoes. The top, inner lining and the sole are made of leather, and all

shoes are handmade in the studio. In addition to shoes, there is a selec-

tion of handbags and other leather accessories available.

The seasonal collections are issued twice a year, but only a limited num-

ber of ready-made sizes are made and the work is based on orders. Thus

each model can be adapted to the customers’ feet and wishes.

www.stuudionahk.com

Led by the Estonian Design Centre and the Embassy of the Republic of

Estonia in London, the exhibition “Fashion Now: Estonia” opened dur-

ing the London Fashion Week in February. Marit Ilison, Kärt Poldmann

and Jonurm and Sille Sikmann presented their fashion, shoe and acces-

sory collections at the exhibition.

“Estonian designers have the unique skill of working with materials and

merging old handicraft techniques with a contemporary approach,”

commented Anna Orsini, from the British Council of Fashion, who vis-

ited Estonia and met all of the designers presented at the exhibition. “I

would really like to complement the designers on the high level of ex-

hibiting their collections and the photography”, she added. The fashion

specialist with over twenty-five years of experience in the field had only

praise for the state of Estonian fashion.



Kärt Põldmann creates shoes for hedonistsThe shoe designer Kärt Põldmann creates special shoes, which are

definitely not meant to be worn every day. She likes to say that the

shoes she designs are simple, yet speak volumes: like a sparkle in the

eye. Those stylishly glossy creations are the best companions for people

who love life, dreaming and champagne. Wearing them will make you

feel like a prince or a princess. Kärt, who claims that it is by pure chance

that she became a shoe designer, says that she does not think about

numbers, but focuses on the magical side of shoe-design, enchanted by

fairy-tales, legends, customs, traditions and symbols which are related

to shoes.

The designer uses quality Italian patent leather and boxcalf, velvet and

silk, as well as plant-based leather for the inner lining. The designs are

simple and laconic, mostly consisting of “one-cut” shoes, the special

feel coming from small tassels, piping, borders and so on. “I believe that

the wearer of my shoes stands tall even without having 10-cm heels

on,”says Kärt about her designs.

Kärt studied leather design at the Tartu Arts School and the Estonian

Academy of Arts (both BA and MA). Her shoes have received a great

deal of international attention at exhibitions in Finland, Latvia, Germany,

Great Britain, France and Spain.

www.kartpoldmann.com


Reval Denim Guild The First Denim Guild

In The World

MINU is a denim brand with a difference.

dedicated to excellence and innovation,

it invites you into the world of vision to

explore the possibilities of denim and its

endless flexibility over time. Inspired by a

vibrant heritage, it was brought to life by

Sten Karik and Joan Hint in their native Tal-

linn (known as Reval from the 13th century

until 1917, and from 1941-1944), one of the

oldest capital cities in northern Europe. In

2010, after months of research on Tallinn’s

long forgotten roots and traditional craft

heritage, the MINU brand was finally born.



Life in Estonia asked Sten Karik to tell their story

Sten Karik: MINU was born out of a great vision. The idea came in 2009

and by the beginning of 2010 my muse Joan and I had found com-

panions willing to give birth to something so new and unknown. We

started with cotton shirts and before we knew it we were in the world

of denim. We did not plan to create a denim brand; we just wanted

to create great things and jeans just happened to be the first big step.

But the world of denim is very complex. We had to delve into it, and

the deeper we went the more we were affected by this incredible blue

material. The roughness and the softness, the way it ages, fades, resists

and transforms over time. In 2011 our first two-coloured iconic jeans -

The Visionary Pants - were patented worldwide.

In 2013 we brought Reval Denim Guild into existence. Since the very

beginning, we’ve focused on every little detail, great fit and how eve-

rything merges together in the most unexpected ways. As time went

by, we realised that how we created was not so different from our an-

cestors, who joined together in guilds, taking an oath to do their best

in everything they did. Highly inspired by our heritage and very much

in love with people who do their own thing and who think of their

work as continual movement toward absolute craftsmanship, we united

the greatest denim masters and tailors under one roof of the very first

denim guild in the world.

Reval Denim Guild is a philosophy. It is a common vision behind a brand

where people love what they do. Inspired by our vibrant heritage and

timeless grace of fine craftsmanship, we want to bring back the mean-

ing of what we wear and how it is made. The future of luxury is tradi-

tion, time and craftsmanship, combined with never-ending innovation.

Naturally, MINU is not going anywhere. It is the brand’s name. With a

philosophy behind it. MINU focuses mainly on jeans (which are also

crafted by the guild artisans), while Reval Denim Guild produces state-

ment collections, such as Chapters, each fall. Rich in details, the range

of heavyweight fabrics speak clearly of the northern spirit: hand-crafted

coats, capes, suits, dresses and even hats – all with a hint of nobility and

a bit of magic that mark our approach to denim, while supporting the

revelation of our inner natures.

Just like in olden times, all is done by the same hands under the same

roof in the guild’s hometown, Tallinn, and this is the way we will always

keep it.


Almost everybody who knows something about Estonia knows that we are

a very small country, but they also know that we are capable of great things.

It is not news that we can hold our own in the global IT race, but when it

comes to motorcycles I bet Estonia does not instantly come to mind.

I have always seen Estonia as a slow country, because we seem to be a year

or two behind the world’s trends. Are we really behind the rest of the world,

or are we smart?

As a nation, we watch what is going on in Europe, Asia and the US, and we

pick only the coolest trends. That explains why we have such cool districts

as Kalamaja and Uus-Maailm, and why locals flock to such places as Loome-

linnak, with its alternative cosy bars and cafes. Despite the best efforts of

Tallinn´s mayor and city officials, we have such amazing two-wheel activities

as Tour d´ÖÖ.

We have had to wait a long time for Estonia to become the birthplace of

some the most radical and trendy motorcycles the world has ever seen. There

are now features and articles in the coolest motorcycle design blogs (bike-

exif.com, Return of the Cafe racers.com and Pipeburn.com), not to mention

a beautiful feature in the cult motorcycle book The Ride.

I´m talking about the Renard Speed Shop, or Renard Motorcycles as some

of you know it.

By villu viikholM / Photos by kalle veesaaR

True Grit: The Story Of Renard Speed Shop

Renard Grand Tourer



Rebirth of the Renard

The name Renard has been associated with two-wheelers since the end

of WWI, when the company made 98cm3 mopeds. Unfortunately, the

factory was bombed in 1944, putting an end to the Renard name. The

name stayed buried until 2008, when a group of radical thinking entre-

preneurs decided to resurrect the name Renard and put a new spin on

the art of making a motorcycle.

Contrary to the normal behaviour of an Estonian, the gentlemen behind

Renard Motorcycles dreamt big and were able to achieve their goals.

The finished Renard motorcycles are some of the coolest looking and

technically advanced machines that have ever come out of the old So-

viet republic, or from the cold north for that matter. Renard motorcycles

have special characteristics: carbon/kevlar monocoque main-frames,

and hollow load-bearing unibodies that sport airbox and rubberized

fuel cells, from which the engines and all major components are hung.

Do not overlook the girder front end and the wheels, because both are

also made from carbon fibre. The heart and soul of these awesome

machines is also full of character and flamboyance, which you might

expect from an Italian motor. In my opinion, Moto Guzzi’s air-cooled

Quattrovalvole V-twin is a very suitable motor for such a masterpiece

of engineering.

Actually the only thing that can disturb Renard Motorcycles’ plans to

take the world by storm is the price of these exclusive bikes. With a

hefty price tag of 49,000 €, the clientele for such bikes is not massive,

which does not mean that there will be no Renards riding around the

world. This autumn Renards will appear in the biggest motorcycle fairs

in Europe.

Renard Motorcycles’ production is currently limited, but the driving

force behind Renard Motorcycles, Andres Uibomäe, is a visionary and

an extraordinary fabricator who also thinks fast on his feet, so he has

decided to offer the motorcycle public his creations at more affordable

prices.

From a single vision, the Renard Speed Shop was born. Andres has gath-

ered around him some of the very best fabricators and mechanics in

Estonia, and together they are on a mission to make the most stylish

cafe racers, scramblers and customs the world has ever seen. The basis

for these creations are barn-finds that scavenged from the cold storages

of southern Europe.

The Honda CB500T known as “Kuri Kuldnokk“For this article, we decided to choose two bikes that show the crafts-

manship of the Renard Speed Shop and its master fabricators.

We live in a time when trends are born in one place in the world and the

next day they can be all the rave in another part of the world. Of course,

trends can fade as fast as they spread, so being versatile is one of the

biggest strengths an individual or a company can have.

The two bikes featured in this article lie on the opposite ends of the

motorcycle design world but, being created by the same company, they

are the best examples to showcase the Renard Speed Shop´s craftsman-

ship and versatility.

“Kuri Kuldnokk“

Andres Uibomäe


The protagonist of our story, the Honda CB500T, or “Kuri Kuldnokk“

(“wicked starling”), is the perfect example of a slick cafe racer. The

Honda in question came on the radar of the RSS guys when they were

on another hunt for projects in Germany. The Honda was well looked

after and had low mileage, but at some point in its life it had been in

an accident, was left in storage and was never repaired. Fast forward

about 10 years and fortunately Andres found it rotting away and saw

the potential in it.

The bike found its way to the Renard Speed Shop and was stripped to

bare metal, exposing a bare canvas for Andres and his team to work

their magic on.

The Honda got the full cafe racer treatment. The rear subframe was

cut off and replaced with a handmade subframe, on which now rests

a custom-made seat and tail. The front forks were reworked and they

now have a new stance and triple trees. A big factor in the bike’s stance

is the rear swing-arm, as that was made longer by 70mm and now

works in unison with a pair of Öhlins gas shocks from a Yamaha SR500.

The main focus of the front end is of course the headlamp, which was

found in a swap meet and began its existence as an old car´s fog lamp.

What really makes this cafe racer stand out is the paint job. Every piece

of old paint was stripped and the bike was repainted with a flash black/

white/gold paint. Even the wheels were painted gold and re-laced. Of

course, no paint job would be complete without pinstripes, so the tank

got pinstripes and its very own logo.

When you look up the meaning of cafe racer in a dictionary, you will

find the picture of the Kuri Kuldnokk illustrating it.

The Renard Speed Shop´s BMW K75

We now move on to the antagonist of our story and the complete op-

posite of the slick Kuri Kuldnokk. Please welcome the Renard Speed

Shop´s BMW K75.

Usually when we think about a BMW K75, it does not strike us as a likely

donor for a major customisation project. It is even more unlikely that the

donor bike in question will be involved in an accident and left to rust in a

barn in Germany, where Andres and his team discovered it.

Fortunately, the Renard team saw the potential in the bike and decided

to completely overhaul it. So they fired up the gas-torch and reworked

the whole back end of the bike. The K75 now has an adjustable mono-

shock set-up that lies parallel to the swing-arm.

The front fork is from a Moto Guzzi and is fitted with Brembo radial

callipers that can stop a bus if needed. The wheels were upgraded to

17-inch items and now sport rain-slicks that give some serious grip.

For me, the most beautiful details on the bike are the seat unit (fur-

nished with alcantra leather) and the Danmotos silencer, which co-exists

harmoniously with the BMW 1150R tail light.

Unlike a regular custom show bike, this BMW will be ridden hard and

often, like a real street fighter.

The owners of our two Renard Speed Shop built bikes have one thing

in common, they both possess bikes that are unique and special. The

guys at the Renard Speed Shop are not only enriching people’s lives by

giving them amazing bikes to look at and ride, but they are also doing a

service to the environment by giving old and abandoned bikes a chance

to shine again.

Thank you all at Renard Speed Shop for making Estonia a household

name in the world of custom-built motorcycles!

BMW K75



The Estonian bicycle brand Velonia has introduced the Viks, an urban

commuter bike with a striking design and uniquely shaped frame.

Thanks to its unique construction, with two identical steel tubes that are

joined together in the front of the bike, there is no need for a seat tube

and the bike weighs only 5 kilograms. Until recently, the Viks was still

in prototype phase, but the first bicycles can now be ordered through

their website.

Indrek Narusk, the creator of the Viks, answered our questions.

How did the idea of starting your business come about? It was quite simple actually. I wanted a commuter bike for summer and

didn’t really fancy anything available in shops. I wanted something dif-

ferent, something unique. As I’ve dealt with bikes before, I thought

“why not build one?” I looked for inspiration online, did a couple of

sketches and then had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. I have a

mechanical engineering background and I’ve also done start-ups be-

fore, as I was one of the founders of GrabCAD.

I drew everything up in 3D CAD software and then it was ready to

build. I did the design in winter and started to actually build it in March.

Initially, the idea was just to build one for myself. But, once the images

were out there, a lot of people were interested. Then I thought maybe I

should start building and selling them. And here I am now.

What is your business model?Quite straightforward. I sell/ship directly from Estonia to all over the

world. I myself am involved in building the frame/bike so there is a small

fee for me in there somewhere.

How are your bicycles priced?Currently there is a basic price line for the frame and for the entire bike.

There are also a lot of custom options available and then the price is

calculated per order. I might introduce two pricing models in the future

(a basic model and a premium) but it’s not clear yet if and when.

Where are you based and why?Tallinn, Estonia, because I live here. There are probably better places

in the world to build bikes (countries that have experience in this

field), but I’m here now and it’s about time Estonia had its own bicycle

manufacturer.

How were you able to fund the business?Well I’m doing everything out of my own pocket. I have customers who

are willing to place orders with down payments, so that helps a lot. I

Viks: STEEL URBAN BICYCLE MADE IN ESTONIABy silveR TaMBuR / Estonian World www.estonianworld.com


might look for funding in the upcoming autumn/winter, but it’s all de-

pendent on the market interest and how it changes.

How has your market changed since you started? How has your business changed to keep pace?I’ve been on the market with the Viks for only a couple of months, so

it’s hard to talk about any changes in the market. But, generally, the

bicycle industry is doing relatively well in the slow economy. More and

more people want to ride bikes and this opens up more opportunities.

What was the minimum viable product (MVP) you built? Has it changed and, if so, how?The first bike. Once it was built and the first images were online, I got

the first orders. Just like that, based on a couple of photos. I’ve made a

few technical changes since the very first prototype that have made the

Viks a lot better bike to ride. There are more changes to come, but the

current version is pretty good to ride. There is not much improvement

needed.

What would you say have been some of the key things you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?Don’t postpone anything; do everything now. Love what you do and

believe in it, even if the future is blurry. Don’t regret anything and re-

member that there is always time for a bike ride.

What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur looking to start a business?Start a business at least once in your life. It doesn’t matter if you succeed

or not; the experience is the most valuable thing. You’ll be a much wiser

man/woman. Don’t be afraid: just do it!

Where do you see your business in five years’ time?I want to see Viks bikes in every part of the world. I want people to

know about them and want them. I want a lot of happy people riding

bikes – Viks bikes.

The VIKS WOODaLIKE project

As a result of an extraordinary collaboration between VIKS (Ve-

lonia Bicycles) from Estonia and the Dutch WOODaLIKE, a sensa-

tional urban commuter has been created: The VIKS WOODaLIKE I.

The bike has been transformed into an even greater feast for the

eyes after being treated with woodgrain technique. Normally the

woodgrain technique is only used to renovate monumental build-

ings, but WOODaLIKE is not that fastidious. Frames, rims, saddles

and even handle bars have been subjected to this fascinating form

of craftsmanship. Although the bike appears to be made of wood,

nothing can be farther from the truth. You can only tell it’s made

of steel by touching it.

Steel, aluminium or carbon frames bring a number of advantages

into the game when compared to a model made of wood. It’s

stronger, lighter, more durable and offers more possibilities for

shaping the bike. The ‘Estonian’ has been given a magical effect

by the woodgrain applied to the frame. This has to be the coolest

bike in the world.

Indrek Narusk

44 LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014 SUMMER


By kaaRel Mikkinwww.vine.ee / thebrandmanual.com

A Revolution In Estonian Brewing


Estonia beat Norway to take the top three prizes at the beer championships

At the beer championships

held in Helsinki, the beers of

small Estonian breweries beat

Norwegian beers to take the

three top awards.

Estonian and Norwegian

embassies brought along five

different types of beer from

their respective countries to

be blind tested. In conclusion

Estonia beat Norway with the

score 631:454.

The best beer of the compe-

tition was “Virmalised” pro-

duced by Pohjala brewery, the

second place went to “Väike

India” by Lehe brewery and

the third place was taken by

“Kuldne Eil” by Õllenaut.

By kaaRel Mikkinwww.vine.ee / thebrandmanual.com

Worldwide, the production of beer has become

the domain of multinational companies, and

Estonia is no exception. The market share of

our largest breweries, A. Le Coq, Saku Õllete-

has and Viru Õlu, is 90 per cent. Yet recently

Estonia has been witnessing something of a

beer revolution, as many small producers have

entered the market with exciting beers. Local

home, hobby and small breweries have a very

small share of the market but have managed

to attract the attention of beer lovers, continu-

ing to win their hearts.

I am convinced that every large revolution begins

with a small one by an individual. Mine started by

collecting beer corks and continued with a real sur-

prise when a marketing genius I know left his day job

in order to start brewing and running a bar (crazy!),

when my politics course mate opened his own beer

shop in a small town (even crazier!), and when I vis-

ited friends in Belgium, where I could have instantly

grown my beer cork collection tenfold.

This is when it happened: I discovered some beers

which had found their way to Estonia via some spe-

cialised shops. Through trial and error, I discovered

an entirely new and exciting world in 0.33l, styles

and methods of preparation I had no idea existed,

weird taste combinations, and totally ugly and unbe-

lievably beautiful bottles, not to mention corks. My

wallet complained, but my heart sang. And when my

course mate with the beer shop started to send me

beer by post, I must have tasted beers produced by a

dozen local small and home breweries in the course

of a couple of months. Those beers were as different

from each other as strawberry and wasabi. I tasted,

took notes, gave ratings, provided feedback, talked

to the creators and asked for more. It turned out

there are more and more small producers out there!

And I don’t mean home-made malt diluters but real

hop-heads, who take their magnificent recipes and

brew their beers in nice bottles, with some crazy

names and brilliant labels. Various small producers

have now set up their breweries, while others are

still roaming around in existing breweries to create

their beers.

It must be said that the situation in the Estonian retail

shops is improving, mainly with the choice of beers

from foreign, but also local small producers. There

are specialised beer shops (Drink Shop, Gambrinus

Beershop No1, Špunka and Koht) and exception-

ally good beer sections in such stores as Stockmann.

When searching for exciting finds, one should visit

gourmet, deli and bio shops, where one can always

find new specimens not found elsewhere. Not to

mention beer bars, where one can drink local and

foreign tap beers which cannot be found in retail

outlets (Pudel, Möku, Schrammi Keller, Porgu, Pu-

nane Ronk, Moonshine and many others).

These are great times, as the market is growing and

developing. The increasing number of producers is

beneficial to all. It is an opportunity to come onto the

market with something new and special, and fortu-

nately many are taking advantage of this. Believe me,

this is only the beginning!



Hampelmannwww.hampelmann.ee

The concept of Hampelmann Brewery is very

simple: you can produce beer which corre-

sponds to the classic Reinheitsgebot anywhere

without compromising. Hampelmann’s aim is

to bring an Estonian taste to its beers, to give

the beverage a local nuance. On the basis of

this idea, four main beers were developed,

which include kama (a traditional Estonian

grain mix - ed.), wild rosemary, juniper,

and home-made apple wine. A whole list

of ingredients are waiting their turn to be

mixed into the beer: chestnuts, acorns,

horseradish, mulberries, cannabis, nettles

and wormwood, as well as the Estonian

national fish: Baltic herring.

The idea of testing everything and just

having fun also gave birth to the com-

pany name, Hampelmann. The aim of this

brand is to make others enjoy themselves

with its contents and its look. The names

of the beers follow this principle: why call

your beer something conventional, when the

vocabulary and language rules allow for anything?

Crazy laughter and joy are the reaction desired by Hampelmann

brewers. Their small home-based business has developed into an au-

tomated experimental brewery with a 100-litre capacity, and this is

surely just the beginning!

Lehewww.lehepruulikoda.ee

Lehe is a small Estonian brewery found-

ed by Tarmo and Gristel Tali, and it was

born out of the desire to share their

passion and joy of brewing. After

four years of producing beer at

home, more and more friends and

fans wished to buy good beer they

couldn’t find in shops or pubs. Thus

their hobby became a business and

the thought of brewing and mess-

ing around with malt, hops and

yeast, and large-scale production,

created a real spark in the eyes of

the couple.

In the Lehe brewery, which has a 1000-litre

brewing kettle, the beer is produced as a

traditional handicraft. Only malt, hops and

yeast are used, without preservatives or

pasteurisation.

The Lehe Brewery enjoys the freedom of

brewing exactly the kind of beer they like

and which will appeal to great beer enthu-

siasts. There is no need to compromise on

quality or product selection: the beer is born

out of love, not out of the desire to win a

share of the market or increase turnover.

Anderson’sSten Anderson works in sports and IT in Tartu,

but as a hobby he has been producing beer for a

year and a half. His interest in beer grew as the

beer culture developed and local shops and bars

started to offer a wider selection. The next logical

step was to try brewing himself.

Even if you produce only 50 litres at

home, the result should be of high quality.

Anderson´s beers have bold recipes and the

bottles are recognisable by their character-

istic labels, which have been designed by

the graphic designer Kristin Pärn. To date,

Anderson’s has made 15-20 brews. Sten pro-

duces beer for the sheer fun of it, providing

enough for friends and acquaintances. But

this activity is so infectious that it is likely that

at some point he will have to leave the field

of IT in order to brew on a larger scale.

WHO’S WHO?A little guide to breweries in alphabetical order:

Phot

os b

y La

uri L

aan

Chris Pilkington, the current brewing master, comes from the BrewDog factory in Scotland.


Põhjalawww.pohjalabeer.com

In 2011, the Pohjala Brewery was the first to actively try to restart the

Estonian beer culture, which had come to a halt during the Soviet times,

by producing and marketing handmade beers according to its own reci-

pes. The years have added experience and new team members: the

current brewing master came from the BrewDog factory in Scotland.

As the first brewery of its kind, Pohjala deservedly received a lot of at-

tention. Pohjala Öö received almost the maximum number of points

(95) from the beer bible www.ratebeer.com, and it is the highest rated

beer ever produced in Estonia. This high score was not awarded by

chance: from the start, the Pohjala team has worked with all its soul

and dedication, paving the way for all of the other newcomers.

Pohjala has managed to produce a range of great handmade beers. Its

own brewery was recently opened in Tallinn and soon true Pohjala beers

will be produced: Californian-style wheat beer, the powerful grapefruit

IPA and a new version of the good old rye ale. When the cold autumn

arrives, the new Pohjala Öö and many other interesting products will

come onto the market.

In contrast to many other local small producers, Pohjala has already

worked its way into the beer bar sector and is making a strong move to

start exporting to Europe and beyond.



Rabawww.rababeer.eu

The story of how Raba came into being is classic:

a couple of hobby brewers decided to put their

“hops into the same cupboard”. It’s obvious that

their aim was to drink great Estonian beer and

there was no other possibility except to make some

themselves as, so they claim, there was no

great Estonian-made beer in Estonia before

the beginning of 2013.

After a couple of years of independent

brewing, there was quite a range of differ-

ent beers in Raba and one of them created

the “wow” effect in the makers them-

selves. It had turned out special. In Au-

gust 2013, three “wow bottles” found

their way into the Gambrinus beer shop

in Tartu and received significant feed-

back. A comment on Facebook said:

“this you should bring to the people”.

And at the end of 2013 it happened!

As Raba does not have its own pro-

duction facility, they “gypsy” around,

producing wherever possible. The only

important aim is to produce good ale,

which first and foremost the makers

themselves need to like.

Tammelawww.facebook.com/tammelabrewery

Jaanis Tammela started to brew in the late 1990s, experi-

menting with maltose, malt bread and various herbs and

hops. The quality of the beer was demonstrated by how fast

his friends and guests consumed it. Important inspiration

came from small brewers he met in Florida in 2013, whose

products were extremely diverse. His own favourites are

IPAs, which come in endless taste and aroma variations. His

guests like Dry Stout or Lager, and he has also experiment-

ed with cherry and raspberry ales. Today he brews under

the Home Brew name just for his own consumption, as the

existing legislation does not make it easy to legally market

small quantities. Hopefully, the situation will change, as it is

nonsense to apply the same rules to small breweries as to

companies producing millions of litres.

Pöidewww.poidebeer.com

Regardless of the long history of and myths about beer brewing on

the island, Saaremaa has not had proper beer production for years,

if we disregard home-made ale. Koit and Kristel Oinberg-Kelder

decided to move to Saaremaa, into a farmhouse owned by their

grandparents in Pöide. The only thing certain at that point was the

plan to create an enterprise which would provide work and activity

for all their family members and for village inhabitants, and help to

promote the development of local life and tourism on Saaremaa.

The couple did not stop to think about it for long, and a few years,

lots of money, time and nerves later, the first load of local rye ale

rolled out of the Pöide farm brewery.

The brewery only makes rye ale, but once new kettles arrive, there

are plans to produce two or three main types of ale, in addition to

special brews, one of which will definitely be made of local raw

ingredients. “Unfortunately, we cannot be certain about the quality

of the malt, as it varies from year to year. Currently we import malt

from Germany,” explained the brewery master Koit. The production

capacity today is 500 litres per week, which will definitely double

due to high demand.

PühasteEero Mander started to brew beer in Pühaste three

years ago. The first load was made of maltose, but

the taste was beyond criticism and this made him

desire more control over the entire brewing pro-

cess. The next few batches were made of half-malt

and from then on purely of malt.

The early days were difficult due to the lack of

availability of raw ingredients, especially the rarer

types of hops. But in recent years the situa-

tion has improved drastically and they have

established good contacts with several direct

suppliers.

Today Pühaste is in the testing phase. There is

no official production yet but intensive work

continues on developing new recipes and on

continuous learning and improvement in or-

der to reach the goal of opening the brewery

in Pühaste with a 5-10 hl capacity. Five to six

beers are in rotation, in addition to many one-

off experimental brews to discover new taste

combinations.

Tänav & Kolk


Vormsiwww.pruulmeister.ee

Vormsi handmade ales are companions that tickle your

taste buds and relieve everyday stress. These unique beers

are unpasteurised and unfiltered, and are easy to enjoy.

Vormsi Brewery is mainly a lifestyle business for Arkadi

Tammik and not an Excel-based profit- and growth-

seeking business. Arkadi brews beer which he himself

enjoys. Many ideas are tried out as one needs space

for discovery and creativity, allowing for mistakes

which one can learn from.

Vormsi does not order his malt from the beer Mecca

Belgium, and the hops arrive from other parts of Eu-

rope, from Great Britain or from the USA. It is the

carefully selected aroma hops which give Vormsi

beers their special flavour. After all, every cake baked

by grandma tastes better than those bought at a

shop.

Throughout history, beer has

been a much loved beverage

of many nations. Beer is also

considered to be the oldest alco-

holic beverage, the first traces of

which date back 9,500 years. The

first written references to beer

come from ancient Egypt and

Mesopotamia. The art of beer

brewing spread throughout Eu-

rope via the Germanic and Celtic

tribes 3,000 years ago. In Estonia,

beer brewing has a long history.

Archaeological finds demonstrate

that approximately 1,000 years

ago barley was cultivated in Es-

tonia and it is most likely that,

together with grain cultivation, it

was learned how to make bever-

ages by fermentation in Estonia.

In addition, wheat, rye and oats

have long been cultivated in Es-

tonia. Traditionally, beer brewing

was a task for men. There were

special brewing methods and

recipes in different parts of Esto-

nia, with different taste, strength

and colour characteristics. The

beer brewed traditionally got an

additional kick from soaked juni-

pers, birch branches from bogs,

bread, raw rye flour and even the

water from boiled anchovies.

Tonis Tänav and Peeter Kolk are

schoolmates who began work-

ing together when Tonis returned

from the United States some years

ago. He was deeply impressed by

the culture of handmade beer in

America and this gave him the

impetus to start something similar

in Estonia. The young enthusiasts

built all their equipment them-

selves and this kind of brewing

was very experimental. In the pro-

cess, they have produced dozens

of small collections, have pack-

aged them authentically in ”al-

most-like-real“ bottles and have

given them impressive names with

designed labels.

Their longer term goal is to en-

large their hobby production and

to take T&K beers to a larger audi-

ence. They have given a hand to

the world of beer freaks and un-

derstand that the curiosity about

making, tasting and enjoying beer

in Estonia is on the rise.

Tankerwww.tanker.ee

Ants Laidam has been a beer enthusiast for a long time. As a serious

rock musician and band member, he has always known how to enjoy

a cooling beer and this in turn has played an important role in the

birth of Tanker. He got into more serious home-based brewing in the

spring of 2013, after he bought the previous equipment of Poh-

jala Brewery and created his very own first brew with the help of

the Pohjala brew master Chris. Since then, many new recipes and

beers have been created, always aiming to be different from the

products of large breweries. The current product range includes

Kyte Peale (“heat on” in Estonian), in which both more malt-

loving and hops-loving beer fans find something to enjoy.

The lack of finances and the “gypsy status” limit production ca-

pability, but the aim is to increase their volume and to bring new

surprising Tanker products onto the market.

The initial cool label was originally designed by the American designer Chris

Parks and completed by Sten Lindpere.

Photos by Lauri Laan

Award-winning designer Sten Lindpere and Ilmar Räni, Õllenaut's brewing master.



Õllenautwww.ollenaut.ee

Ilmar, who has become somewhat of a beer guru, started to brew beer

five years ago, when modern brewing materials became available in

Estonia. At first, it was all just for fun, but soon a circle of fans had

developed who wanted more. This led to a more active hobby with

degustations and training sessions, until the 55-litre kettle at home

became too small to meet the demand. This called for an action

plan, a budget and a detailed business plan in order to try for a

bank loan. When appropriate equipment was found in the UK,

the production was up and running.

In winter 2013, the first Õllenaut bottles landed on shop

shelves. The choice of products is large to meet various tastes.

All recipes are old favourites of the brewers, and have been

well-tested. There are very few small brewers in the world

who produce the same kind of beer over and over again:

brewing depends on the mood and the drinker, as peo-

ple like change. Today the company has tested about ten

products; some will remain in the main selection and others

are one-offs: everything depends on feedback, sales figures

and production opportunities.

The company produces 120,000 litres per year and there

are definite plans to expand production capacity and add

equipment in order to speed up and simplify production.

The post-fermentation of Õllenaut takes place in the bottle,

which is why there are no plans to produce draught beer.

Bottles provide the required flexibility and are certainly

more comfortable.

The labels on the bottles are designed by Sten Lindpere, who has won

the Pronksmuna (Bronze Egg) prize for advertising.

51 51

PORTFOLIO_ENN KUNILA's COLLECTION

Colours of the Golden Age

Herbert Lukk ( 1892-1919) „Street, Boards and Houses“ I 22.5 x 34.5 I oil on canvas, 1918

52

Endel Kõks (1912-1983) „View of Tartu“ I 90 x 100 I oil on canvas, 1938

53

Konrad Mägi (1878-1925) „Venice“ I 45 x 53 I oil on cardboard, 1922-1923

54

August Jansen (1881-1957) „Red House“ I 69 x 70 I Oil on cardboard, 1910s

55

Nikolai Triik (1884-1940) „Portrait of Aino Suits“ I 91 x 74 I oil on canvas, 1914

56

Ants Laikmaa (1866-1942) „View from Capri“ I 46 x 56 I pastel on paper, 1911-1912

57

Eerik Haamer (1908-1994) „Harbour“ I 41 x 33 I oil on cardboard, 1945

58

Andrei Jegorov (1878-1954) „Winter Suburb“ I 73.5 x 89.5 I oil on canvas, 1928-1930


The exhibition that opened in Tallinn’s Mikkeli Museum is entitled “Col-

ours of the Golden Age” and consists of paintings from Enn Kunila’s

collection. The exhibition is best summed up by Enn Kunila when he

says “Often people talk about motifs or literary content in paintings,

but for me those are not the most important aspects. Everything to do

with composition and colour is much more significant, especially the

strokes of the paintbrush.” It is according to this principle that Kunila

has selected works for his collection, the majority of which are paintings

by Estonian artists from the first half of the 20th century.

The exhibition has arranged the works into three sections: works com-

pleted in Estonia, works created abroad, and portraits and figural com-

positions, along with two paintings which are united by a certain Olym-

pian view of the world.

In the first hall, we see the portraits and figural compositions which are

united by a certain sense of melancholy. The figures in these paintings

never look the viewer in the eye, but have turned away, staring into the

distance, cutting themselves off from the audience: lost in loneliness.

When there are multiple figures in the paintings, they do not establish

contact with each other, remaining separate, divorced from other fig-

ures. Sometimes faces are hidden behind hair, and sometimes figures

have turned their backs or reveal only pensive profiles.

Some people consider melancholy to be one of the core characteristics

of Nordic people. Inexplicable sadness is created by living in darkness,

sensing the different seasons, which tells us that everything will pass,

everything is ephemeral.

On the first floor, there are landscape views painted in Estonia, as well as

travel works by Estonian artists. We often associate the paintings which

have been created at home with national identity. However, today we

can view those works separately from nationalism and, if desired, from

the opposite angle: for the authors those paintings were rarely linked

to a personal or national identity: their main focus was on landscape.

The second group includes paintings created by Estonian painters

abroad. In the first half of the 20th century, living abroad was very com-

mon for Estonian artists (as it was totally impossible during the Soviet

occupation in the second half of the 20th century). Going abroad was

“normal” and accessible to anyone, especially since often no visas were

needed, the train connections were great and the travel times not par-

ticularly long (the train journey from Berlin to Paris lasted 17 hours for

example). It was possible to live even if one lived in poverty. Some have

recalled that it was possible to find a roof over one’s head for two nights

in Italy for the money received from selling one postage stamp and

there was still some cash left over for food. One could drink from many

of the public fountains. There was no clearly sensed differentiation be-

tween the abroad and Estonia; one melted into the other and travelling

was organic, fast and ordinary.

Aleksander Vardi (1901-1983) „Notre Dame de Paris“ I 46 x 61 I oil on canvas, 1937

Colours Of The Golden AgeBy eeRo ePneR


I CULTURE

Enn Kunila: Estonian Art Is Estonia’s

Business Card

By eeRo ePneR / Photos by Meeli küTTiM

Enn Kunila with the portrait of his favourite painter Konrad Mägi by the master of modernism Nikolai Triik. The portrait is often referred to as “The Portrait of A Freezing Artist” (1908).


Life in Estonia asked one of the most well-known art collectors in Estonia where and how it is possible to buy Estonian art.

Enn Kunila owns a large painting collection, which mainly includes Esto-

nian traditional paintings from the early 20th century on, starting with

Konrad Mägi (1878–1925). Kunila admits that it is difficult to pinpoint

the exact moment when his interest in art became more serious, al-

though he began to collect art in a more studied way after Estonia

regained independence. “Being involved in art exhilarates me and it

is like a holiday. I like talking to artists in the evenings, as they have an

entirely different attitude to life, and I love to live in the same space

with paintings.” When asked about the size of his painting collection

and how much he has invested in it, Enn Kunila remains diplomatically

vague: “An art collection cannot be valued in terms of the number of

pieces. If my collection included just five significant paintings by van

Gogh, I would have a considerable art collection by world standards. I

buy paintings on the basis of their artistic value and when I like them.

I invest in art according to my means.”

You have organised several exhibitions on the basis of your collection and you never exhibit the same works. Your collection continues to grow. How does art in Estonia reach the art collector?

I believe that we have something in common with the experience

abroad but there are also differences. Similarly to other countries, there

is a functioning gallery system in Estonia and art auctions are held on a

regular basis. There is quite a long tradition of art auctions in Estonia,

dating back more than 15 years. A decade ago, during the height of

auctions, there might be twenty a year, organised by five or six galleries

and offering more than 400 paintings, mainly from the period which

interests me: 1900-1945. This is considerable for a small country. Today,

the number of auctions has really decreased, but they do take place on

a regular basis, and they are reliable and proper in every way.

Unlike in larger countries, pieces of art in Estonia also move around

from hand to hand. As there are about ten larger collectors and their

names are publicly known, people often make direct contact. I have

never hidden my contacts or remained under cover; this is why I have

had the pleasure of meeting many interesting and nice people. By the

way, the people who call me are not intermediaries but people who

have either inherited paintings or have owned them for dozens of years

and have now decided to sell them. The background stories are part

of the paintings and therefore I really enjoy talking to people who have

personal connections to their pieces. Collecting art is a very personal

thing for me, many works hang on the walls of my home and, when I

choose a piece for my collection, the main principle of selection is that

I personally like the work.

Can Estonian art be found at foreign auctions?

Yes it can. For example, Baltic German art, but also works by the first

professional painter Johann Köler (1826-2899), the landscape painter

Konrad Mägi, who was one of the most colour-sensitive Estonian paint-

ers of the first decades of the 20th century, and others. Estonian artists

fare well in comparison with European art of those days and therefore

those paintings are also included in foreign auctions.

To what extent is buying art an investment for you?

Of course it is an investment, and perhaps the most important in-

vestment of all. First and foremost, I invest my time and I receive a

great feeling as interest, as well as the aesthetic experience and an

inexplicable feeling of joy. I do not invest in art for financial profit,

but in the name of spiritual growth. I do not sell the pieces I have

bought. I have them restored, ask art historians to compile thorough

background information and exhibit them to everyone interested. This

is my investment.

Enn Kunila is a true gentleman with faultless manners. He is an entrepreneur, art collector and opera lover who donates significantly to both art and opera. Art needs support and Enn Kunila is a patron in the best sense of the word, not a sponsor. He does not expect

anything in return. For him, art patronage is not a business project.


I CULTURE

Does it make any sense to invest in Estonian art?

I wouldn’t recommend doing it for financial profit. There are easier

and faster ways to make money. But if one looks for art which em-

phasises the aesthetic experience which grows out of the unbelievable

use of colour, then older Estonian art is a valuable investment indeed.

This has been increasingly noticed in the art history writings on older

European art and, for example, an exhibition I organised in the Finn-

ish art hall Taidehalli in Helsinki was extremely successful and received

many great reviews. When thousands of people in Helsinki or Brussels

come to see Estonian art, the investment has been worth it for me;

I even consider it “profitable”, but not in terms of money. I consider

Estonian art to be Estonia’s business card and when thousands accept

this card there is hope that they will develop as people and as friends

of Estonia. If that is not a dividend of my art collection, I don’t know

what a dividend is.

Is it difficult to find new works for your collection?

It is indeed increasingly so. On the one hand, there are not that many

valuable pieces of art available. The Estonian art scene is quite thin in

terms of numbers. Very many works of art have been destroyed or

perished in wars and difficult times. A large percentage of remain-

ing works are exhibited by national museums. Therefore, building up

a distinguished collection is something which takes time. It would be

easy to go to an action, buy 40 pieces of art and call it a collection. It

has taken me two decades to build up my collection. You need time,

patience, determination and no tolerance for mediocrity. Every work in

my collection has arrived there after thorough research and sometimes

consultations. I have to consider not only whether I like the piece, but

increasingly whether and how the new painting adds some new shades

to my existing collection.

A work of art may be excellent and show the painter in a good light, but

not add anything new in the context of the collection.

What would you recommend to someone who wis interested in buying Estonian art?

Buy one painting. I consider it to be a unique characteristic of Estonian

art that each painting is a small collection. The mainstream of Estonian

art between 1900-1945 was very diverse, but also so harmonious that

one great colour-centred painting may contain the entire period. But

more specifically, I would of course recommend Konrad Mägi. He was

our most famous artist and he is by far my favourite. His works sell for

around 65,000 euros. If you are lucky enough to find a painting by

Konrad Mägi, by all means buy it, even sight unseen. Well, before you

buy you could call me, because perhaps that painting is still missing

from my collection...


EXPO Milan 2015: Gallery Of Estonia – Nests And SwingsBy anDRes kask / EXPO 2015 Vice Commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion

FACTS:* 147 participating countries so far

* 6.5 billion people represented, comprising 93%

of the world’s population.

* 56 self-built pavilions; currently organisers have contracts with 46

* Opening times: 9am-11pm every day of the week.

* Ticket price: average price 22€

Prices differ depending on the time and method of purchase

* Selection of mascot currently ongoing.

More information: www.expo2015.org/enFB: Expo Milano 2015 Eesti esindus

Where was your company when the revolution started? This is how EXPO Milan 2015 advertises itself on its homepage. Is there really a revolution under way?

In addition to targeting regular visitors, the

organisers aim to attract the attention of en-

trepreneurs, inviting them to use the world

exhibition as a chance to promote their busi-

ness activities. In other words, if you are not up

to date with what’s happening in the world,

you will be hopelessly left behind. EXPO is

certainly one of the largest international com-

munication events, a place where countries

can provide competitors and partners with

information on what is important to them in

their particular phases of development and

demonstrate where they have an edge over

others.

The organisers of EXPO believe that this event

is a unique opportunity to share the best inter-

national practices. This can be done through

the theme of EXPO, which this time is food

and world sustainability (with the slogan

“Feeding the planet energy for life”), but also

through the people who will gather in Milan

from all over the world. In addition to shar-

ing customs, the exhibition is a great opportu-

nity to participate in them. EXPO - the biggest

country branding project

Since the very first EXPO, which took place in

1851 in London, the world exhibition has been

the main event where countries showcase

their best scientists, inventors and the most

talented creations based on innovation and

inspiration. Over time, EXPO has also become

a place to demonstrate outstanding achieve-

ments in culture, education and science which

focus on larger global social processes, such

as the feeding of humankind at this EXPO. In

collaboration with participating countries, the

organisers seek answers to the question: How

can we feed the rapidly growing world popu-

lation of seven billion and guarantee good

quality of life?”


I CULTURE

World exhibition in Milan

EXPO 2015 will take place in Italy, in the Lom-

bardy region, in a suburb of Milan where a

special exhibition territory has been designed.

Open from the beginning of May until the

end of October, approximately 20 million visi-

tors are expected to see the exhibition on site

and another one billion via the Internet. The

organisers are creating a “smart city”, which

offers all kinds of services and is accessible

digitally: this means being able to use those

services from the point of arrival at Milan

Airport to downloading the photos taken at

EXPO after returning home. Theoretically it is

possible to visit EXPO via your smart phone or

credit card. You can also dig up some clean

clothes and show up, although the clothes

can of course also be purchased at the numer-

ous boutiques of the fashion capital.

What is EXPO?

Countries representing more than 95% of

the world’s population will come to Milan

with their exhibits. To date, there are 147 par-

ticipating countries, of whom 67 will create

their own pavilions and the rest will partici-

pate in shared pavilions. Representatives from

almost every country will gather on one mil-

lion square metres; it is like a mini model of

the world, focusing on one topic and on the

achievements of different countries in that

field. This time the focus will be on nutrition

and energy, which we need to stay alive.

What does EXPO give us?

The goal of the Estonian exposition is to at-

tract the interest of significant target groups

for Estonia and to win media coverage in the

Italian and international media. Estonia’s par-

ticipation in EXPO provides us with the oppor-

tunity to present our country. It comes as no

big news that Estonia needs to be introduced

to the world, but not many opportunities ex-

ist to do so. Often this requires significant

financial input to advertise your country, or

you need a more powerful economic or ter-

ritorial dimension (G8, G20 etc.), which Es-

tonia lacks. Just like the Olympics, EXPO has

no preconditions. It is up to the country to

decide how to participate. Like the other Bal-

tic states, Estonia will create its own pavilion.

The implementation of the project is being

organised by Enterprise Estonia. The Estonian

exhibition area - 1,010 square metres - has

been booked between two colourful coun-

tries, Russia and Oman. It is a good location,

close to the eastern entrance of EXPO. The

world exhibition has a separate day to intro-

duce each participating country, with themat-

ic meetings, exhibitions and other events. It is

also possible to make business contacts, and

hold conferences and cultural events at EXPO.

Estonia at EXPOs

The first World Exhibition took place in 1851,

in London.

In 1862, when another World Exhibition

took place in London, Estonian newspapers

announced that a glass jar of Tallinn ancho-

vies (Tallinna kilud), distilled liquor and other

drinks, vinegar and grain samples were on

their way to England.

The Estonian blue-black-and-white flag was

first seen in the World Exhibition in Brussels

in 1935. The country brought out its own ex-

position in 1937 in Paris, in the exhibition ti-

tled ‘The Art and Technology of Modern Life’.

During the years of the Soviet occupation,

Estonia was a part of the Soviet Union pavil-

ion, showing items ranging from textiles to an

electric organ.

Estonia had its own pavilion again in Hano-

ver in 2000, when it attracted attention with

a building which had spruce trees growing

on its swaying roof, but the trees reminded

many people of carrots instead. During a

five-month-period, 2.7 million people visited

the Estonian pavilion in Hanover. In terms of

the number of visitors, the Estonian pavilion

was among the top ten pavilions of the 173

countries. Although the Time magazine called

the Estonian pavilion the silliest of the exhibi-

tion, world architectural magazines were more

forthcoming with praise for Estonia: Archi-

tecture (USA) and Architectural Review (UK)

published a full-page photo of the Estonian

pavilion and called Estonia and Lithuania the

biggest surprises at EXPO. De Architect (Neth-

erlands) compiled a ranking of EXPO pavilions,

based on interviews with professionals, and

the Estonian ‘carrot field’ came in 11th.

The main theme of EXPO 2010, held in

Shanghai, was “Better City, Better Life”. The

pavilion introduced Estonia as an innovative

IT country. It focused on sustainable thinking

and the need for cross-border cooperation,

and it stood for the freedom to think outside

the frame and to include everyone in develop-

ing solutions. The facade of the pavilion was

covered in colourful Estonian ethnic patterns,

which made it stand out from its neighbouring

buildings. The emphasis inside was on 33 dif-

ferent coloured attractive piggy banks, a me-

tre in height, which had an opening through

which people could insert their wishes and

ideas how to make the world a better place.


The idea behind Gallery of Estonia

The Estonian pavilion is called “Gallery of

___Estonia”. The name symbolises the nature

of the pavilion and more broadly the idea that

Estonia is a dynamic and smart small country,

whose destiny is shaped by the initiative of

each citizen, as well as every foreign invest-

ment, international collaboration and foreign

visitor. Gallery of ___ Estonia is an open plat-

form for creative Estonian people, who will

fill the space with life and content. The archi-

tecture of the pavilion has been designed to

provide the best possible conditions for the

organisation of different shows, exhibitions,

activities and presentations.

The philosophy of the pavilion is based on

democratic, Nordic values, respecting each

individual’s right to self-expression and creativ-

ity. Moreover, the pavilion will be a model of a

dynamic, democratic small country: everyone

going about their daily business with the op-

portunity to shape their own destinies. It is

a joint creation which can be supplemented

with new ideas and modern applications. The

final character of the pavilion will be worked

out with Estonian partners, but also with all

the visitors, who will receive the experience

of Estonia through the joint forces of nature,

technology, culture and cuisine.

The open platform also indicates a broader

transparency and a flexible business environ-

ment which favours new initiatives, and re-

sponsible connectedness to global processes.

In fact this idea underpins every activity and

initiative which we as Estonians are proud of

and which we want to showcase in the chang-

ing thematic expositions on the first floor of

the pavilion: there will be a separate exhibition

space meant for the presentation of unique

Estonian inventions, innovative companies,

information society solutions, sustainable rural

enterprise, land tourism, creative economies

and fine arts. All themes and stories presented

and told will be interlinked with the general

theme of the pavilion, which will present Es-

tonia as a country where nature, creativity and

innovation go hand in hand.

The visitors to the pavilion will be free to cre-

ate their own personal experience of Estonia

by choosing which activities, facts and sto-

ries they weave together. Most importantly,

the pavilion will be memorable because of its

warm, open and hospitable atmosphere, com-

bined with exciting facts, moving stories, rare

nature sounds, elegant simplicity of technol-

ogy, tasty bites and good music.

The space concept

The pavilion will be created from wooden

modules or “nest boxes” stacked on top of

each other like building blocks. These will form

a gallery, bordering on the Russian pavilion

and the walking path in the interior quarter.

Between the modules, there will be swings to

provide visitors with the opportunity to take a

break. Thus the pavilion and visitors will form a

rhythmically moving joint installation.

The general space with a lot of greenery on

the ground floor will create a fresh and flex-

ible open area, making it possible to hold dif-

ferent events. This area will be bordered by

rhythmically interchanging swing nests and

nest boxes with LED screens. An open kitchen

will dominate the space, serving as a tempting

bar with a display of various herbs and four

selling sites. Prominent Estonian chefs will

work in the open kitchen, preparing fresh and

tasty food.

The first floor will be dedicated to content.

The central space will be taken up by a bar

with a rye theme and a relaxation area with

hammocks, supplemented by standing tables

where people can eat, drink and converse.

The spatial logic of the ground floor will con-

tinue here, as exhibition spaces interchange

with private swing nests. The first floor will

also house the permanent exhibition ”Good

Estonian Thing”, made up of the best Esto-

nian products and installations. Each nest box

will focus on one product, person or idea: the

motorcycle Renard, Skype, the Estonia piano,

Arvo Pärt etc.

The more private roof terrace of the second

floor will be open to everyone and will be bor-

dered by conference rooms for invited guests

and a room of Estonian design for pre-planned

meetings. The voluptuous and wild seating

area of the terrace is called “Music of the Es-

tonian Forest”, and typical Estonian trees and

plants will grow here. This area is designed for

easy relaxation and for getting to know Esto-

nian nature whilst listening to a soundtrack of

the Estonian forest playing in the background.

The programme of the pavilion

Estonia’s main objective at EXPO is to intro-

duce Estonia and to offer visitors a diverse

cultural and experiential sense of our country.

Hospitality, dynamic nature, traditions, creativ-

ity, innovation and nature are the keywords

which we would like visitors to take away with

them. The flexible architectural solution of the

pavilion will offer all Estonian organisations

and fields of activity the opportunity to create

the right environment for their specific event.

In the longer term, the programme aims to

increase export capacity and tourism and to

present our innovative and technological solu-

tions. One of the clear objectives of Estonia’s

participation at the Milan EXPO is to create

the best conditions for those companies and

organisations with export potential to present

their products and activities on location. For

the first time in the history of Estonia’s par-

ticipation in EXPO, a separate floor and in-

frastructure have been designed for thematic

exhibitions and expositions, and the whole

concept of the pavilion has been developed

around the idea that Estonian people are the

ones creating the programme content.

What will happen to the pavilion after EXPO?

Once EXPO is finished, there are plans to take

the pavilion back to Estonia and to use it there.

In theory it is possible to disassemble the en-

tire pavilion and to erect it again in the exact

same form in Estonia. Once we finalise the us-

age of the pavilion on paper, we will be able

to work on how to use it after EXPO. All ideas

are welcome!


I CULTURE

“The sea, clean air, bright colours, white summer nights, tomatoes and apples from my own garden,”

Kristjan Randalu, the Estonian jazz pianist who was nominated for a Grammy award in 2006, lists the things

he missed most about Estonia during his twenty years of living in Germany, England and the United States.

Kristjan Randalu - A Talent Who ReturnedBy PiReT jäRvis

Phot

o by

an

nik

a M

eTsl

a


A bit of abroad, a bit of the homeland

The son of the pianists Kalle and Piret Randalu, Kristjan was just nine

years old when he moved from Estonia, then part of the Soviet Un-

ion, to Germany with his parents and little sister Liisa in 1988. “I have

good memories of regular gatherings when my parents got together

with other musician friends,” Kristjan says, recalling his first decade

in Soviet Estonia, where there was a shortage of imported goods and

only the selected few could travel over the closed borders of the state.

“Looking back, everything to do with trips abroad seems funny. My

father travelled on a regular basis and our standard reply to the question

of what to bring back from the trip was always ‘a bit of abroad’. I kept

one glass Coca-Cola bottle like a bottle of champagne, in order to open

it festively one day. One day they were selling yellow ice cream in a shop

in Lasnamäe, a neighbourhood of Tallinn which was built to ease the

severe housing shortage and where all of the buildings resembled each

other. This delicacy immediately led to a queue forming. Nobody knew

what it was supposed to taste like, but at least it was yellow, unlike the

regular white ice cream, and it was packed straight into a plastic bag. I

had a general feel for borders and being fenced in back then but as a

child I did not have any contact with daily bureaucracy and therefore my

memories of Soviet Estonia are still positive.”

Kristjan adds that Estonian customs and traditions were always hon-

oured in their new home in Karlsruhe, Germany. “There was never

a question of which language we should speak; this was of course a

deliberate decision by my parents. At home we only spoke Estonian

and this is what kept the connection to Estonia strong.” Until the mo-

ment when the pianist decided to become a vegetarian, home tradi-

tions were also supported by ordering Estonian blood sausages (a

mixture of grain and blood in pork intestine) during Christmas, blood

sausage and sauerkraut forming a traditional Estonian Christmas dish.

The advantage of being small

Kristjan, who has worked with numerous masters of jazz, including

Dhafer Youssef, Mark Guiliana and Nils-Petter Molvaer, and performed

in Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, and in the Berlin

Konzerthaus, claims that coming from a small country of 1.3 million

inhabitants has been both an advantage and a disadvantage in his ca-

reer. “As there are so few of us, there is always the exotic factor. One

does not easily come across another Estonian working in the same field

in the world. Especially in Germany, I have felt that coming from a dif-

ferent cultural background is a positive characteristic which is empha-

sised. The downside of coming from such a small country is that you

do not find your own people around easily who can help and support

you. I know that in my field big record labels check whether an artist is

popular in his or her own home country: this provides them with a cer-

tain guarantee on the basis of which they can market a project more

widely. But Estonia is so small that this factor is almost non-existent.”

Kristjan Randalu

Born on 27 August 1978 in Tallinn

EducaTiOn:

* Stuttgart Higher Music School (1998–2003)

* London Royal Music Academy (2001–2002)

* Manhattan School of Music in NewYork (2004–2006)

* Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles (2005 and 2006)

awards:

* Laureate of the Piano Competition of Montreux Jazz Festival (2002)

* Participation in the recording of “Elevation” which was nominated

for two Grammys (2006)

* Baden-Württemberg Jazz Award (2007)

* Jazz Album of the Year at Estonian Annual Music

Awards for the album “Kooskola” together

with Vaiko Eplik (2012)


I CULTURE

Too European to feel at home in NYC

Today Kristjan considers his real home to be Estonia, and he “officially”

moved back here some years ago. Here he has his own base in Tallinn

and a country home in south-western Estonia, in the midst of the for-

ests of Viljandi county. Yet his road back home to his roots was a long

one and, as part of his piano studies, Kristjan has toured half of the

world. For five years, he studied at the Karlsruhe Music High School

in Germany. Then he moved to England in order to study piano at the

London Royal Music Academy. He has also studied at the Manhattan

School of Music in New York, and in 2006 he graduated from the Henry

Mancini Institute in Los Angeles. “After finishing my studies I stayed in

New York for a couple of years. But I was too European to feel at home

in the United States. I tried living in Berlin for a while but could not really

see a reason to stay there. Over the years, I had also come to understand

that a home was where Estonian was spoken. The Estonian environ-

ment is important and dear to me,” he sums up why after decades he

decided to return to Estonia even though his parents are still living in

Germany. The jazz musician who has spent years in the metropolises of

the world has this to say about his countryside house in Viljandi county,

where even mobile phone usage is limited: “It is a place for charging

my batteries!”

Talents return

“If I had not lived abroad, I would probably be one of the majority of

people who curse the local standard of living and politics. When you

see things from a distance, it helps you to sort out your own priorities

and to make changes if necessary,” says Kristjan Randalu, in answer to

the question of what would be different if his family had not left Soviet

Estonia and he had received his education and life experiences here.

Currently one of the most burning social problems in Estonia is emi-

gration. In the last five years, about 10% of the working age popula-

tion has left the country. The fact that young talents like Kristjan are

leaving gave birth to the social campaign “Talents come home” some

years ago. In the framework of this campaign, attempts were made

to tempt young people who had received their education abroad to

return to Estonia. Kristjan was a good target, as he knows exactly what

the advantages of small Estonia are: “All roads here are short: geo-

graphical distances and the distances to make your ideas come true.”

He admits that Estonia, which became independent again 23 years ago,

still has a long way to go to ensure a good standard of living. “Life in

Estonia is full of contrasts; there are different realities existing in parallel.

I see some serious problems and I see some unrealistic dreams about life

in a welfare state. Of course there are always various interests in politics

but for me it is difficult to understand those priorities. To be specific,

since for years we have raised the problem of the declining population,

why do we have child support which is ten times less than in Germany?

As I travel on a regular basis to very different countries, I sense more

and more what a farce global mobility by car is. There are massive traf-

fic jams everywhere. One superficial advantage in Estonia is the fact

that one can calculate travel time simply by kilometre, the only excep-

tion being rush hour in Tallinn,” Kristjan sums up on a positive note.

In 2012, the family of Kristjan and his partner Epp was increased by the

birth of their son Uku Armin. On the scale of “stay at home or go travel

the world”, what does the father wish for his son? “I would definitely

like him to live and study abroad. Speaking other languages and sensing

and understanding different mentalities expand one’s world-view and

benefit everyone.”

www.randalu.com


In 1994, the then-26-year old Estonian pianist Indrek Laul, having freshly graduated with a master’s degree while continuing on his doctorate at the prestigious New York Juilliard School of Music, had a visionary moment. While looking for new opportunities and challenges, he came up with a vision few of his countrymen dared even think about at the time: to start making a new piano model and importing pianos made in and bearing the name of his homeland, Estonia, to the North American mar-ket. Now, twenty years later, the Estonia brand is a familiar name among American and Canadian piano lovers and buyers, and the demand is higher than the extremely quality-conscious factory’s current production.

Indrek Laul – The Estonian Piano ManBy silveR TaMBuR / Estonian World www.estonianworld.com / Photos by Meeli küTTiM and private collection

I CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT


I CULTURE

From playing an Estonia to selling it around the world

Indrek Laul was born into a well-known musical family in Estonia: his

mother, Reet, is a concert pianist, and his father, Venno, is a conductor

and the founder of the Estonian Boys’ Choir. Indrek was six years old

when his parents bought their first Estonia piano and inspired their son

to start playing it. Even at that tender age, the piano had a huge impact

on him. “The awe and magnificence of the beautiful musical instrument

in our home mesmerised me,” says Laul. The first piece he learned to

play, when not distracted by tennis, was Chopin’s Etude No 1. By the

time he was thirteen, he won 1st Prize and a special award for perform-

ing Rakhmaninov at an international competition for young pianists.

Further musical education followed at the Tallinn Conservatory, under

the pianist Kalle Randalu.

It was at the turn of the 1980s-1990s, Estonia still officially occupied

by the Soviet Union, when his life started to take on an international

dimension. While participating in master classes in Ohrid, Yugoslavia,

he met the Estonian piano professor Arbo Valdma. Convinced that he

wanted to study under Valdma, he enrolled in the Belgrade Academy of

Music, soon mastering the Serbian language in addition to improving

his musical skills.

It was Valdma who recommended that Laul continue honing his skills

in New York. “He told me that I was the kind of guy who would make

it in the US – and I absolutely had to go there,” Laul says appreciatively.

Despite the Soviet-era limitations and the financial challenges, Laul’s

persistence paid off and he was accepted at the world-famous Juilliard

School in New York. First working as a teacher’s assistant, he received

the prestigious Horowitz Scholarship. Studying under the pianist Peter

Serkin, Laul embraced the huge metropolis, but found time to engage

with the local Estonian community as well, even playing organ for them

once a month, an instrument that Laul also loves.

While completing his doctorate in New York, word of an ailing Estonia

piano maker reached him. Feeling confident about his abilities to break

through in America, yet motivated by the urge to do something good

for his birthplace, Laul sensed an opportunity: the chance to sell his

beloved pianos in the massive US market.

“Sometimes, we can do more for our country while living abroad,” says

Laul in his suggestive, slow-speaking, intelligent manner, when com-

menting on the moment he found his call of pianist-becomes-piano-

manufacturer. “Looking back, I was certainly motivated by a mission

to do something for Estonia, and selling the type of piano on which I

learned to play as a child was also a pleasant task emotionally.”

Piano making is knowledge of generations

Piano making in Estonia is older than the country’s independence. It was

an art practised in Estonia as early as the late 18th century. The craft

flourished and, by the early 20th century, there were nearly 20 inde-

pendent piano companies, all in a country which at the time had fewer

than one million people. The most notable of these manufacturers was

Ernst Hiis, an Estonian master craftsman trained at Steinway-Hamburg,


whose handmade piano from 1893 became the prototype of the Esto-

nia piano. After World War II, private manufacturers ceased to exist in

Soviet-occupied Estonia. But in an ironic twist of fate, the Soviet dictator

Joseph Stalin shut down smaller factories while allowing the production

of Hiis-made pianos to continue. When Stalin turned 70, every Soviet

republic was forced to present him with a gift. Estonia’s choice was a

grand piano handmade by Hiis. Stalin liked the sound so much that

he ordered the Estonia piano company to be the sole manufacturer of

concert grand pianos for the entire Soviet Union. The Soviet-era Estonia

piano had a massive market at its disposal but, when its old founding

craftsman Ernst Hiis passed away, the old knowledge drifted away and,

as with most things in the ailing Soviet empire, the quality of the pianos

gradually declined.

“By 1994, production had fallen to 50 pianos a year, down from the

Soviet-era peak of nearly 500, and the quality had also declined,” re-

members Laul. He approached the company and offered to market its

products in the US. Soon, he also started to invest in the factory, gradu-

ally becoming the owner.

Failure was not an option for Laul, who brushes aside the question of

whether he feared the challenge of selling an unknown brand in a mas-

sive market. “From the start, I set a big narrative. I knew that I wanted

to make the Estonia piano great, but I didn’t want to cut corners: the

emphasis was always on quality rather than quantity. Therefore, I ex-

pected it would be a long process and the changes were implemented

slowly, to ensure the smooth running of the manufacturing process,”

says Laul about the beginning of turning the company around.

The main concern was to improve the pianos step-by-step. First, he

started to attend trade fairs in the US where pianos were sold. Tips

from local piano dealers came in handy. Europe’s foremost piano ex-

perts were brought in and, in collaboration with the Estonian Academy

of Sciences, the instruments were redesigned. The best materials were

used. The mechanical innards of the piano are now made by Germany’s

Renner, the world’s best maker of hammerheads, shanks and flanges;

the soundboard is made of Swiss spruce. In a tech-savvy country, there

was no escape from the computer either: in collaboration with the Es-

tonian Institute of Cybernetics, the cast iron plate was analysed using

a computer mode, and the resulting plate design improved the stability

and balance of the piano. Over the years, hundreds upon hundreds of

changes and improvements have been made to the Estonia piano.

Laul even engaged his parents: his mother started to test out every pi-

ano before it was sent to the US and his father ran the factory in Tallinn,

while Indrek himself was busy looking for clients in America.

Despite helpful foreign advice, Laul emphasises the importance of old

expertise and experience in hand-making grand pianos in Estonia. “I’m

extremely grateful to our craftsmen, who put great care into making

Estonia pianos. For many, it’s knowledge that has been passed on from

generation to generation. Sometimes, in order to move forward, to im-

prove, you have to look back,” Laul explains.

The changes paid off. Upon entering the US market in the mid-nine-

ties, Estonia pianos were among the lowest rated. Fast-forward twenty

years, and they are among the highest rated. According to Larry Fine,

the editor of , the quality of the Estonia piano is at the same general

level as the New York Steinway, yet the Estonia costs much less, caus-

ing the large network of Estonia dealerships in the US and Canada to

constantly demand more pianos from Laul. Indrek Laul plays Arvo Pärt and

Franz Liszt on the Estonia piano


I CULTURE

The Estonia piano is not just another piano – it is the piano of the singing nation

When reading the reviews of the Estonia piano, one cannot escape the

descriptions of “the rich and lush singing sound”. According to Laul,

the connection to the Estonian singing culture is very important in their

company philosophy. Then there is also the idea that there is an organic,

natural sound, not overly complicated, representing the Nordic country.

“When I play it for our clients, I sometimes ask: ‘Do you hear the sound

of the Nordic landscape here? The sound carries the feeling of the coun-

try’,” Laul says.

Indrek Laul likes the personal touch and engagement with Estonia piano

owners. When Laul attends Estonia owners’ meetings in the US – yes,

there are now so many Estonia pianos in America that the owners have

formed club-like get-togethers – he also usually says a word or two

about the Estonian singing and music culture in relation to the pianos,

thus doubling as a unique ambassador for the country. “The Estonia

piano is an example of how a high value product can be successful and

add value to Estonia, and at the same time represent the culture,“ he

says.

Returning to the roots

Indrek Laul lived away from Estonia for 24 years. Settling down in New

York, his sons were born there and started to grow up as Americans.

But when his boys were five and seven, Laul and his wife made the

decision to return to the land of his ancestors. “One day we realised

that it was time to move back to Estonia and let the children grow up

in an Estonian language environment,” Laul says. “And it’s not just the

language. I value the fact that my children are able to spend lots of time

with their grandparents, who pass on the old traditions and knowledge:

it’s about valuing the continuity of the identity,” he adds.

Laul is not the first in his family to try his luck in the wider world, yet

return to Estonia. One of his ancestors, Jüri Laul, came to the US in

the early 19th century, earned money and then went back to build a

house on the island of Saaremaa, naming his sons Jakob and Bruno:

the names Indrek Laul also chose for his own sons. The old family music

traditions are being carried on: his wife set up a piano studio in Tallinn

and both of his sons are learning piano.

Laul himself now splits his time between Estonia and the US. Despite

returning his base to Estonia, he thinks that whether one should return

to one’s birthplace is up to the individual. “The Estonia piano is now

one of the best-known Estonian brands in the US. Would that have

been possible without me living in the US? The answer is probably no.

The question Estonians abroad can ask is what can be done for their

birth country while living elsewhere. Some people can just do more for

Estonia while abroad,” Laul says philosophically. “At the same time,

while I have moved back to Estonia, my connection to the US has not

disappeared.”

But while he is busy selling Estonia pianos around the world, the next

target being China, where he has already got a foot in the door, he still

has time for what his products help to represent: music culture. Indrek

Laul was a small boy when he first took part in the Song Festival: his dad

was one of the conductors there and Laul has vivid memories. Taking

part in this year’s song festival is therefore natural for the Laul family

– it’s all about continuity. And then there’s a new Estonia model 225

waiting to be played at home.

Indrek Laul with his wife Triin and sons Jakob and Bruno.


Estonian Song Celebration Time-lineBy MaRis hellRanD

The Estonian Song Celebration (Laulupidu) is a unique event which

every five years brings together a huge choir of 25,000 people for a

weekend in July. More than 100,000 spectators enjoy the concerts and

sing along to the most popular songs.

The festivals have become the main anchor of Estonian identity. Twice

the song celebrations have led to Estonia’s independence. In the 19th

century, the choirs and song celebrations were at the core of the na-

tional awakening of Estonian peasants, who discovered the value of

their own language and cultural heritage through singing. The national

awakening and establishment of identity led to Estonian independence

in 1918. After WW II, during the Soviet occupation, the song celebra-

tions helped to keep the national identity alive. In 1988, several hundred

thousand people gathered at the Song Festival Grounds and sang for

freedom for many days and nights. The Singing Revolution ended the

Soviet rule and led to Estonia’s independence once again in 1991.

The Estonian Song Celebration 2014 is the twenty-sixth of its kind. The

time-line below highlights the most important instances of this unique

Estonian tradition.

74

I CULTURE

1869 – the first Estonian Song Cel-

ebration was held in Tartu with 878

male singers and brass musicians.

All of the songs were in Estonian.

The publisher Johann Voldemar

Jannsen initiated the Song Cel-

ebration as part of the Estonian

national awakening movement.

Simple peasants discovered that

their traditions could be part of

high culture. Jannsen’s daugh-

ter Lydia Koidula, whose

sobriquet means ‘Lydia of the

Dawn’, was the author of

lyrics for two Estonian songs,

“Sind surmani” and “Mu

isamaa on minu arm”, both of

which are still in the repertoire

today. She was also involved in

the preparations of the scores and

fund-raising: quite an unusual role

for a woman at that time. Lydia

Koidula, also referred to as Koidu-

laulik – ‘Singer of the Dawn’, was in

fact so important that her face was

put on the 100-Estonian kroon bill.

1880 – the third festival was

held in Tallinn for the first time.

A year later, Finland arranged its

first nation-wide song and music

celebration.

1891 – at the fourth festival,

mixed choirs participated for

the first time. In spite of the

efforts by the Russian czar to

ensure the dominance of Rus-

sian language in public life,

more than half of the songs

were in Estonian, among them

songs by Miina Härma, Es-

tonia’s first female composer.

Singers spontaneously joined in

today´s Estonian anthem ”Mu

isamaa, mu onn ja room” by

Fredrik Pacius. In the years to

come, choral singing remained

the only cultural activity con-

ducted in Estonian, as the

Russian emperor required all

official matters and education

to be handled in Russian.

1894 – for the first time, choirs

from Estonian settlements in

Russia participated at the fifth

festival in Tartu. The anthem by

Pacius was sung again.

1896 – starting with this the sixth

Laulupidu, the festivals have been

held in Tallinn.

1910 – the festival was held

in Tallinn with children’s choirs

among the performers for the

first time. Mihkel Lüdig, whose

“Koit” (Dawn) is the current

opening song, was the artistic

director of the celebration, and

offered a complicated repertoire.

1923 – the eighth festival and the

first one in independent Estonia,

was held on a permanent stage

in Tallinn which accommodated

12,000 singers. The first aerial

photograph was taken and the

first film of the celebration was

shot. With the Song Celebration

of 1923, the tradition of holding

the festival every five years was

started.

1869 1880 1891 1894 1896 1910 1923

Miina Härma 1928

Lydia Koidula

1910

1928

1928

1910


1928 – the ninth festival was the

first one held in today’s Song Fes-

tival Grounds in Tallinn: the new

stage designed by the architect

Karl Burman accommodated

15,000 singers.

1933 – Female choirs participated

for the first time; the first radio

broadcast from the festival.

1938 – in the eleventh Laulupidu,

Gustav Ernesaks conducted the

choirs for the first time, and his

music was performed. In 1944,

he wrote the music for “Mu

isamaa on minu arm”, with the

lyrics of Lydia Koidula, during his

deportation to Russia. Five days

later, the Soviet army bombed

Tallinn and destroyed the Estonia

opera house, national broadcast-

ing centre and conservatory,

among many other buildings. In

1944, more than 70,000 Estoni-

ans fled the country to the West,

among them many well-known

musicians. In 1946, the first large

Estonian Song Festival was held

in Germany; later they were held

in Sweden, the USA, Canada,

Australia and the UK.

1947 – the twelfth and the first

post-war song festival, with Gus-

tav Ernesaks as one of the artistic

directors. In spite of massive

Soviet propaganda, the repertoire

was mostly traditional. People

were arrested even at the Song

Festival Grounds. Ernesaks´ ”Mu

isamaa on minu arm” was per-

formed for the first time. In 1950,

another wave of Soviet repression

swept up the Song Celebration

artistic directors Alfred Karindi,

Riho Päts and Tuudur Vettik.

1950 – the darkest chapter in

the Song Celebration history. In

the thirteenth Laulupidu, Soviet

propaganda songs dominated

the repertoire; choirs of Soviet

miners and the army choir were

among the participants. During

the dark era of Soviet oppression,

choir singing remained one of the

few areas where private initia-

tive and trust were still present.

This helped to keep the longing

for freedom alive. In spite of the

schizophrenic situation, most

Estonians held the Song Celebra-

tion dear as the most important

national event.

1960 – by the fifteenth festival,

the new Song Festival Stage,

by the architect Alar Kotli had

been built. Before the concert,

“Mu isamaa on minu arm” was

removed from the programme.

However, choirs started to sing

it spontaneously and, after a

moment’s hesitation, Ernesaks

climbed up to the conductor’s

stand and started to conduct.

Since then, the song has been

the most anticipated and the

“compulsory” finale of the

celebration.

1969 – the first centennial of the

song celebrations with the flame

being lit for the first time in Tartu,

the birthplace of the celebra-

tions, and carried through Estonia

to Tallinn. The repertoire of the

seventeenth festival was a lot

more traditional compared to the

Soviet propaganda-filled celebra-

tions before and after. ”Koit”

(Dawn) by Mihkel Lüdig became

the traditional opening song.

In 1972, exiled Estonians organ-

ised the first ESTO, with a world-

wide Estonian Song celebration

as its focus, in Toronto, Canada.

Estonian dissidents sent a letter

to the United Nations demanding

the restoration of independence.

At the end of 1970s, the Soviet

army invaded Afghanistan, and

many Estonians were drafted.

The new stage designed by

the architect Karl BurmanGustav Ernesaks

Building the new Song

Festival Stage

1928 1933 1938 1947 1950 1960 1969

1933

1928

1938


I CULTURE

1985 – the twentieth festival saw

the participation of male, mixed,

female, boys’ and Russian choirs,

as well as brass orchestras, violin

ensembles and choirs of Russian

war veterans. Of the 82 songs

on the programme, only 48 were

written by Estonian composers.

In 1988, Alo Mattiisen’s “Five Pa-

triotic Songs” were performed at

the Tartu Pop Music Days in May.

The Singing Revolution started

at the Tallinn Song Festival

Grounds in June. Thou-

sands of people flocked

to the spontaneous

singing gatherings

night after night; in

the end, there were

many hundred thou-

sand people. In August

1989, two million people

in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

joined hands in a 595 km human

chain to protest against the So-

viet occupation of their countries.

1990 – although formally still in

the Soviet Union, the twenty-first

Song Celebration was dominated

by traditional symbols and reper-

toire. The concert finished with

”Mu isamaa, mu onn ja room”,

the former and current Estonian

anthem, which was banned by

the Soviets. Estonia´s independ-

ence was restored a year later on

20 August 1991.

1994 – the first celebration after

the restoration of independence.

The festival celebrated its 125th

anniversary.

1999 – young children’s choirs

participated for the first time.

President Lennart Meri was

quoted as saying “Song celebra-

tion is not a matter of fashion.

Song celebration is a matter of

the heart.” Even though Estonia

was independent now and the

cultural identity was not threat-

ened by foreign powers, people

still considered the Song Celebra-

tion a matter of pride and joy

which needed to live on.

In 2003, the Estonian, Latvian

and Lithuanian Song and Dance

Celebrations were listed as

UNESCO oral and intangible

heritage.

2004 – the statue of Gustav

Ernesaks was unveiled at the Tal-

linn Song Festival Grounds. Due

to heavy rain, the official proces-

sion was cancelled, but singers

and dancers still spontaneously

joined the march following the

call of the maestro Eri Klas.

2009 – “To Breathe As One”: be-

ginning with this festival, besides

music a message of values was

established, with the first being

the connection between genera-

tions. “Breathing as one” be-

came a new idiom in the Estonian

language. Singers started a wave

of raised hands travelling from

the top of the stage to the last

row of the audience, resulting in

an ecstatic melting together of

the performers and audience.

2014 – “Touched by Time.

The Time to Touch.” A record-

breaking number of participants

- 42,000 singers, dancers and

musicians – will fill three days

of celebration with dance and

music. The first concert of the

Song Celebration, on 5 July, will

take the audience on a musical

journey through the history of

the celebrations, from 1869 to

today. The second concert, on 6

July, will present classical pieces

along with new repertoire com-

missioned for this celebration in a

seven-hour musical marathon.

1980 – the nineteenth festival

was part of the cultural pro-

gramme of the Moscow Olympic

Games, which were boycotted

by most of the free world. The

Soviet authorities increased

pressure on dissidents, and the

well-known Estonian musicians

Arvo Pärt and Neeme Järvi

emigrated to the West.

In 2004, the American filmmakers

Maureen and James Tusty started

a documentary about Estonian

song festivals and the Singing

Revolution. On 1 December 2006,

The Singing Revolution premiered

at the Black Nights Film Festival

in Tallinn, Estonia. The authors

have said: “We had made the film

for the rest of the world, but we

could think of no better venue

for our international premier.

We were deeply touched by the

fifteen-minute standing ovation

the Estonian audience gave us. It is

not just a story about Estonia–it’s

also a story about humankind’s

irrepressible drive for freedom and

self-determination.”

1980 1985 1990 1999 2004 2009 2014


Estonia In BriefOfficial name: Republic of Estonia

state order: Parliamentary republic

area: 45,227 sq kilometres (17,500 sq miles)

Population: 1,294,236 inhabitants: 67.9% Estonians, 25.6% Russians and 6.5% others

Population density: 28.6 people per square kilometre. Over 70% reside in urban centres

capital: Tallinn with 427,894 inhabitants (as of 1 Sep 2013)

Other major towns: Tartu (98,522), Narva (64,041), Pärnu (42,433), Kohtla-Järve (40,032)

administrative divisions: 15 counties (maakond), divided further into 226 local municipalities,

incl 33 towns and 193 rural municipaliites (vald)

islands: 1521, the biggest being Saaremaa 2,671 sq km, Hiiumaa 989 sq km, and Muhu 198 sq km

Biggest lakes: Lake Peipsi 3,555 sq km (1,529 belong to Estonia), Lake Vortsjärv 271 sq km

Longest rivers: the Vohandu River 162 km, the Pärnu River 144 km, and the Poltsamaa River 135 km

Highest point: Suur Munamägi (Great Egg Hill) 318 m

air temperature: annual average +7ºC; March +6.3ºC; July +17.7ºC (2013)

Official language: Estonian, a member of the Finno-Ugric group. Russian is widely spoken.

Many Estonians speak English, German, and Finnish

alphabet: Latin

currency: euro (EUR) since 2011

average salary: 949 EUR (as of 2013)

driving: Right hand side of the road. Speed limits in town 50 km/h, out of town 90 km/h.

International driving licence required

weights and measures: Metric system

Electricity: 220 volts, 50 Hz

country calling code: 372

Emergency number: 112 (free of charge)

national flag: Blue-black-and-white

national holiday: 24 February (Independence Day)

national anthem: Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm (My fatherland, my joy and happiness)

national flower: Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)

national bird: Chimney swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Member of EU, NATO, OECD, WTO, and Schengen area


I TOURISM

For more travel details, please consult the

sources below: www.visitestonia.com

(Estonian Tourist Board), www.riik.ee/en.

Tourist information centres are located in all

larger towns.

The Tallinn Tourist Information Centre in the

Old Town is located at 4 Kullassepa Street - no

more than 10 steps from the Town Hall Square

(ph.: + 372 645 7777, e-mail: turismiinfo@

tallinnlv.ee). The Tallinn Tourist Information

Centre in Viru Keskus (ph: + 372 610 1557,

610 1558), open every day 9 am - 9 pm, is lo-

cated in the centre of the city. A wide selection

of maps, brochures and publications in several

languages (largest selection in English) can be

found at local bookstores and tourist informa-

tion centres.

VisaAs of 21 December 2007, Estonia is a part of

the Schengen visa area.

Nationals of EU and EEA member states are

free to enter Estonia. The required travel docu-

ment for entry is a national ID card or passport.

Nationals of the following countries do not

need visa to enter Estonia, and can stay for up

to 90 days in any 6-month period: Andorra,

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Brunei, Canada,

Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guate-

mala, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel,

Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco,

New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay,

San Marino, Singapore, South Korea,

USA, Uruguay, Venezuela. The re-

quired travel document for entry is a

valid passport.

Citizens of countries not mentioned

above require a visa to enter Estonia.

Visitors arriving in Estonia with visa

must have national passports valid

at least 3 months after their planned

departure from Estonia.

Children aged 7 to 15 years must have their

own passport when travelling to Estonia or, if

they are registered in their parent’s passport,

must have their photo next to the name. Chil-

dren under 7 years need not have a photo if

they are registered in their parents’ passports.

Persons above 15 years must have a separate

travel document with photo.

For detailed information on visa requirements

and entry rules, please consult the Ministry of

Foreign Affairs website at www.vm.ee/eng.

ArrivalBy plane: Recently renovated, the Tallinn Len-

nart Meri Airport, just 3 km from the city cen-

tre, is welcoming, modern and user-friendly.

Among other amenities, travellers have access

to a free WiFi area in the transit zone. The air-

port’s 24-hour customer service telephone is

+372 6058 888.

Tartu Airport is situated at Ülenurme, near

Tartu. Flights from Tartu to Helsinki depart six

times a week.

Regional airports are located in Kuressaare

(Saaremaa), Kärdla (Hiiumaa), and Pärnu; these

provide no regular international connections.

By ship: With over 6 million passengers an-

nually, the Port of Tallinn is undoubtedly Es-

tonia’s main gateway. Large passenger ferries

arrive from and depart for Helsinki and Stock-

holm regularly. The 85-km Tallinn-Helsinki line

is served by ferries that make the journey in

2 hours; hydrofoils and catamarans make

the trip on 1.5 hours and operate between

April to November-December, depending on

weather conditions. Travellers should note

that different ferry lines depart from different

terminals and harbours. The City Port with its

four terminals is a 10-15 minute walk from Tal-

linn Old Town; the Paldiski-Kapellskär line uses

the Port of Paldiski, about 50 km from Tallinn.

By car: Border checkpoints greet travellers

entering or departing the country by way of

the Estonian-Latvian border points at Ikla (the

Tallinn-Riga highway) and Valga, as well as

on the Estonian-Russian border at Narva (the

Tallinn-St. Petersburg highway), Luhamaa,

Koidula and Murati. On the Estonian-Russian

border, all traffic is subject to border formali-

ties both when entering and leaving Estonia.

By bus: Not only is travel by bus the fastest and

most convenient mode of international public

transportation in the Baltic states, it also offers

excellent value for your money. Lux Express

(www.luxexpress.ee/en) offers regular connec-

tions to all major cities in the Baltic countries

and to St. Petersburg. Prices start from €20.00.

Lux Express is operating also within Estonia on

the following routes: Tallinn – Tartu, Tallinn –

Pärnu and Tallinn – Narva. A useful tip: Regu-

lar passenger buses have priority at the border

checkpoints, so travel is smooth.

By train: There is only one international over-

night train to Moscow.

Practical Information For Visitors


CustomsWe suggest travellers consult with the Esto-

nian Customs Board help desk (ph.: +372 880

0814 or www.customs.ee) for details. The

limit on import of alcoholic beverages from

outside the EU is one litre for beverages over

22% alcohol content, and two litres for bev-

erages up to 22%, and four litres for wine.

Import of tobacco and tobacco products from

non-EU countries is limited to 40 cigarettes or

100 cigarillos or 50 cigars or 50 g of tobacco

products. Counterfeit goods, including pirated

CDs, video and audio tapes, are prohibited

by law. A special export permit is required for

specimens of plants and animals of endan-

gered species, protected species and hunting

trophies (please contact the Nature Conserva-

tion Department, Ministry of the Environment

for details). Articles of cultural value produced

in Estonia more than 50 years ago also require

special permits (please contact the National

Heritage Board).

Getting Around EstoniaInter-city public transportation Public buses are the easiest, cheapest and most

convenient solution for visiting Tartu, Pärnu or

any other of the larger towns. Buses from Tal-

linn to Tartu depart every 15-30 minutes, to

Pärnu every hour. On weekdays, seats to these

destinations are almost always available even

immediately before departure (watch out for

special events). For weekend travel or trips to

more remote locations with fewer connec-

tions, it is advisable to buy tickets in advance.

The Tallinn Bus Terminal is located at Lastekodu

46. The timetable is also available online at

www.bussireisid.ee and ticket information is

available at telephone +372 6800 900.

Travelling by car

Travellers hoping to see more of the country

and the rural areas it would be best advised

to travel by car. The roads are quite good and

traffic is light. Crossing Estonia from north to

south or west to east by car takes approxi-

mately three to four hours. All major car rental

agencies have offices in Tallinn. It is also pos-

sible to rent the car in Estonia and drop it off

at a rental agency in Latvia or Lithuania, or vice

versa. The speed limit in rural areas is 90 km/h

and in cities 50 km/h. In some areas the high-

way speed limit is increased during the sum-

mer months. Headlights and seatbelts (front

and back) must be on at all times. Driving un-

der the influence of alcohol or other intoxicat-

ing substances is punishable by law.

Local TransportTaxis: Taxis must clearly display their fares,

driver’s taxi service licenses, and a meter. The

initial charge for entering a cab ranges from

2 to 3.5 euros. Different taxi companies have

different rates, but the average charge per

kilometre is 0.5 euros. There is no additional

charge for ordering the taxi by phone, and it

usually takes the cab just five to ten minutes to

arrive. All taxi drivers must give you a receipt

(in Estonian, ask for “Kviitung, palun”). Locals

usually give the exact fare and no tip. As in

most major cities, some dishonest drivers at-

tempt to overcharge unsuspecting passengers.

If in doubt, note the taxi company and license

plate number.

Public transportation: Tallinn has a public

transport network of buses, trams and trol-

ley-buses. Other Estonian towns have buses.

Check the time schedule for Tallinn bus lines

for any bus stop at www.tallinn.ee/eng.

Free public transport: As of 2013, all resi-

dents of Tallinn, students and passengers 65

years and over are entitled to free travel on

Tallinn public transport.

Tickets for visitors: The Public Transport Card

Ühiskaart may be purchased for the price of

€2. This smart card, onto which you can load

money, or e-tickets can be purchased from

post offices and online at www.pilet.ee. Per-

sonalise the card for €1 at the point of sale or

for free at www.pilet.ee/yhiskaart.

If you are using pay-as-you-go credit, your

smart card automatically calculates the cheap-

est fare within the next 24 hrs (never more

than one-day travel card). Validate your jour-

ney with Ühiskaart immediately after entering

the public transport vehicle. You can also buy

tickets from kiosks and from the driver (single

ticket €1.60 and student ticket €0.80). Try to

have precise change (cash only) for the driver.

The ticket is valid for one journey only in that

specific vehicle. Discounts only for ISIC Scholar

and Student Card holders. Holders of a vali-

dated TallinnCard are entitled to a free ride.

AccommodationsAll major hotels in Tallinn have been newly

built or completely renovation in recent years.

Despite annual additions to the number of ho-

tels and rooms, it can nonetheless be difficult

to find a hotel room on short notice (particu-

larly over the week-end). For the best selec-

tion, we urge visitors to Tallinn and the rest of

Estonia to book hotel rooms in advance. For

more details, see the Estonian Tourist Board

website at www.visitestonia.ee.

MoneyOn 1 Jan 2011, Estonia adopted euro as its

currency thus replacing the Estonian kroon

which had been the only valid currency in

Estonia since 1992.

Most larger hotels, stores and restaurants ac-

cept Visa, MasterCard, Eurocard, Diner’s Club

and American Express. However, it is advisable

to carry some cash with you.

Traveller’s checks can be exchanged in most

banks but are less likely to be accepted in

shops. Eurocheque is the most widely ac-

cepted traveller’s check, but American Express

and Thomas Cook are also accepted. Banks

are plentiful and easy to find in Tallinn. Most

are open from 9:00 to 18:00 on weekdays,

while some offices are also open on Saturday

mornings. All banks offer currency exchange

services. Exchange offices can also be found

in larger hotels, the airport, harbour, railroad

station and major shopping centres. ATMs are

conveniently located around town; instruc-

tions are in English, Russian and Estonian.

Telephones and InternetThe country code of Estonia is 372. Dial 00 for

outbound international calls.

The GSM mobile phone system is available;

please check compatibility with your operator.

Public Internet access points have been set

up all over Estonia. They are located in local

libraries and post offices. There are over 100

wireless free Internet zones around the coun-

try, many of them in rather unexpected places

- beaches, Old Town squares, stadiums, and

concert halls.

Emergencies112 is the emergency number for ambulance,

police and fire department. The police can

also be reached directly at 110. Emergency

numbers can be dialled free of charge. Select

pharmacies are open 24-hours-a-day in many

major towns. The one in Tallinn is located at

10 Pärnu Road (opposite the Estonian Drama

Theatre); the one in Tartu is located in the

Town Hall building (Town Hall Square).

National HolidaysEstonians celebrate January 1 as New Year’s

Day, a rather slow and quiet day as people re-

cover from the festivities. Shops open late and

banks are closed. February 24, Independence

Day, is celebrated with a parade of the Esto-

nian Defence Forces at Vabaduse väljak (Free-

dom Square). May 1 is a bank holiday, similar

to Good Friday and May Day. June 23 is the

biggest holiday of the year as Estonians cel-

ebrate Midsummer Eve and the Victory Day in

commemoration of the 1919 Battle of Vonnu,

and June 24 is St. John’s Day (Midsummer).

August 20 is the Day of Restoration of Inde-

pendence (1991). December 24 (Christmas

Eve), December 25 (Christmas Day) and De-

cember 26 (Boxing Day) are usually spent at

home with families.

FoodTraditional Estonian cuisine consists of simple

peasant food, such as cottage cheese, pota-

toes and bread, all of which are still important

components of the local diet. The Estonian

dark bread is the main staple missed by Esto-

nians abroad. Typical Estonian dishes do not

feature prominently on restaurant menus, and

traditional home cooking is more likely to ap-

pear at small eateries in remote areas. Still,

a few establishments have made Estonian

specialities their niche; to sample Estonian cui-

sine, try the Vanaema juures, Kaerajaan and

Kolu Tavern (Open Air Museum) in Tallinn,

and the highly recommended Muhu Kalakoh-

vik and Lümanda söögimaja on the Island of

Saaremaa.

The list of the top 50 Estonian restaurants can

be found at www.flavoursofestonia.com


I TOURISM

DrinksThe main drinks in Estonia are beer, wine and

vodka. While many young city residents opt

for beer or wine, the older generation and

rural folk tend to prefer vodka. In the 1930s

Estonian vodka made it into the Guinness

Book of Records as the strongest vodka in

the world (96º). Local brands of beer enjoy

a very strong market position in Estonia. The

two main breweries are Saku and A. Le Coq.

Saku is Tallinn-based, and its corporate col-

our is navy blue while A.Le Coq is brewed in

Tartu and its colour is red. There are also many

smaller breweries. A full list of Estonian beers

is posted at www.BeerGuide.ee

Spirits also include some traditional liqueurs.

The famous Vana Tallinn (Old Tallinn) has a 45º

alcohol content, and is coincidentally made

from 45 ingredients - the recipe is known only

to a handful of people. Indeed, the legendary

19th-century kristallkümmel (caraway liqueur)

has made its long-awaited comeback.

Estonian wines, made from currants or other

local berries, are rather sweet. Wine lovers

usually prefer imported wine, of which there

is an ever-increasing selection at stores and

vinoteks. A very popular and refreshing non-

alcoholic drink is kali, made of bread, malt,

rye or oats flour and yeast; it has a character-

istically dark brown colour. It was with this

drink that the Estonians forced the Coca-Cola

company into submission, or at least into a

business deal. Kali was enjoying phenomenal

sales, while Coke was not selling up to expec-

tations. It was then that Coca-Cola decided to

broaden its horizons by buying one of the local

kali trademarks in order to make a profit on

the stubborn Estonians.

EntertainmentThe entertainment scene in Estonia is vibrant

year-round, providing visitors and locals alike

with a long list to choose from. Concerts, festi-

vals theatre, street raves, DJ competitions – Esto-

nia has it all. It is not by chance that both Tallinn

and Tartu have their own opera and ballet thea-

tre. Tickets are an excellent value for the money;

concert tickets cost around 10 euros, and best

seats at the opera are yours for about 25 euros.

For more information on the concert schedule

see www.concert.ee; the programme for the

national opera is posted at www.opera.ee.

Tickets can be bought at the box offices or via

ticket agencies located in all larger supermar-

kets, or via Internet www.piletilevi.ee, www.

piletimaailm.com and www.ticketpro.ee

Even the most sceptical museum-goer is bound

to find something intriguing in Estonia’s large

selection of museums, which feature every-

thing from history, art, photography to toys,

chocolate, musical instruments, even wax fig-

ures and many other topics. Most museums

are closed on Tuesdays and many on Mondays

as well. It is advisable to have cash on hand

as many museums do not accept credit cards.

Tallinn is also bustling well into the night with

booming and blooming club scene. Clubs are

usually open and packed with energised vibes

from Thursday to Sunday, with Friday and Sat-

urday drawing the liveliest of crowds. In addi-

tion to local and resident DJs, clubs frequently

present guest performers from London, the

US and other club hubs. For those looking for

a more mellow night on the town, Tallinn’s

street are brimming with pubs, vinoteks and

bar-restaurants, many of which offer live mu-

sic even on weekdays. Rather take in a movie?

Films in cinemas are shown in the original lan-

guage with subtitles.


ShopsSouvenir shops in Tallinn and most other tour-

ist locations are open seven days a week,

10:00-18:00 or 19:00. Big supermarkets and

hypermarkets are open seven days a week

from 9:00-21:00 or 10:00-22:00. Department

stores close a few hours earlier on Sundays or,

in smaller towns, may be closed on Sundays.

Smaller food shops may have shorter open-

ing hours. Some 24-hour shops can be found

as well. Other shops usually open at 9:00 or

10:00 and close at 18:00 or 19:00; they of-

ten close early on Saturdays and are closed on

Sundays. The majority of shops accept credit

cards, with the exception of smaller stores and

stores in rural areas.

SouvenirsSouvenir and shopping preferences vary

hugely but there are certain souvenir gifts that

have gladdened many a heart. Estonian handi-

craft comes in many forms. There are woollen

sweaters and mittens with local ethnic pat-

terns, linen sheets and tablecloths, crocheted

shawls and veils, colourful woven rugs, hand-

made jewellery and glassware, baskets, and

an array of wooden spoons and butterknives

made from juniper. Fine and applied art for

show and purchase is on display at art gal-

leries around the country, featuring graph-

ics, glass, ceramics, hand-painted silk scarves

and leatherwork. Various herbal teas from

wild plants are available at pharmacies. Local

honey – pure or flavoured, e.g. ginger, is an-

other delicious treat. In rural areas, you may

find hand-milled flour. And those who keep

coming back swear by the Estonian black rye

bread. To bring home local spirits, popular

choices include Vana Tallinn or kristallkümmel

liqueur or local beer. And there is no place bet-

ter than Estonia to buy Estonian music.

CrimeAlthough common sense is advisable in all

destinations, Estonia gives no particular reason

to be excessively worried. Do not walk the un-

lit and abandoned areas alone at night. Do not

leave bags or items of value in the car, as not

to tempt car thieves or robbers. Pickpockets

may operate at crowded tourist destinations

in Tallinn, so make sure your wallet and docu-

ments are stored safely.

LanguageEstonian is not widely spoken in the world, so

Estonians do not expect short-term visitors to

master the local language. Still, local people

are thrilled and pleased to hear a foreigner say

“Tere!” (Hi!) or “Aitäh (Thank you) in Estonian.

Knowledge of foreign languages is naturally a

must for hotel staff and numerous other pro-

fessions in the service sector. Many people are

fluent in English, particularly the younger ur-

ban generation, and a great number of people

also speak Finnish, due to Finnish TV, Finland’s

close proximity to Estonia and the great num-

ber of Finnish tourists. German is less widely

spoken in Estonia, although previous genera-

tions have often studied German, not English,

at school. Russian-language use has dropped

to a point where older people no longer speak

the language well and the younger generation

have already chosen other languages to learn

at school. Studying French has become more

popular over the last few years but the number

of people who speak French is still quite small.

An English-Estonian dictionary is available on-

line at www.ibs.ee/dict.

EstoniansEstonians are typical Nordic people – they are

reserved, not too talkative and speak rather

monotonously, with very little intonation. All

this may give one the impression of coldness

bordering on rudeness. But rest assured, this

is not the case, and the speaker may actu-

ally be extremely well-meaning, even excited.

There are several well-known Estonian sayings,

such as “Think first, then speak”, “Weigh eve-

rything carefully nine times before making a

move”, and “Talking is silver, silence is gold”.

It is, therefore, no wonder that the people are

not very good at small talk, do not waste too

much time on grand introductions, and usually

come straight to the point. This is why Estoni-

ans’ English may sometimes sound shockingly

direct. There is, however, often a subtle irony

involved in Estonians’ utterances - delivered

with a serious face and just the slightest twin-

kle of the eye.

Estonians are relatively individualistic. There

is a saying that five Estonians mean six par-

ties. Even though people agree on the final

objective, they insist on reaching it in their

own ways. Estonians also value their privacy.

In the old days, it was said that the neigh-

bour’s house was close enough if you could

see the smoke from the chimney. Modern,

tight-packed urbanites flock to remote coun-

tryside on the weekends to enjoy more space

and privacy.

Even though guests at birthday parties and

concerts are rather quiet and subdued in the

onset, they warm up eventually and turn into

a direct opposite of their day-character, as you

are likely to see in Tallinn’s clubs.


I TOURISM

ESTONIA – MAKING THE WORLD GO WOW

Experience the creative effi ciencyof the Nordic nation with a twist

investinestonia.com

Life in Estonia (summer 2014 issue)

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Transcript of Life in Estonia (summer 2014 issue)