Tallinn Municipal Elections - parties and candidates

Soon Estonian citizens (and foreigners with permanent resident permit) will be voting for Estonian Local government council elections to choose the new Tallinn Mayor and City Council (63 councilors) in October 20th, 2013.

This starts a series of Estonian elections (local government in 2013, European parliament in 2014, National parliament in 2015 and president in 2016) urging political parties to get ready for the big race.

And this year elections got more interesting with expats running for local city council, Abdul Turay (from SDE), pledging to represent the foreigner community in Estonia, followed by John Slade (from Keskerakond).

Estonian Political Parties

Estonia has a multi-party system, where the biggest parties (by parliamentary representation) are Reformierakond (Reform party), Keskerakond (Centre party), IRL (Pro Patria and Res Publica Union) and Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond (Social Democratic party).

You can see the last Estonian elections results for Local Government in 2009 and for Parliament in 2011 to get a picture of the players in 2013 elections:

Tallinn Municipal Elections results 2009 (total votes: 212828)
Party	Votes	Percentage of total
Eesti Keskerakond	114013	53,5%
Eesti Reformierakond	35490	16,6%
Erakond Isamaa ja Res Publica Liit	32939	15,4%
Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond	20928	9,8%
Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised	4655	2,1%
Erakond Eesti Kristlikud Demokraadid	637	0,2%

Tallinn Mayor Candidates 2013

The current candidates for Tallinn Mayor are:

• Edgar Savisaar (the actual mayor, from Keskerakond)
• Valdo Randpere (Reformierakond)
• Eerik-Niiles Kross (IRL)
• Andres Anvelt (SDE)
• Mart Helme (from Conservative People's Party of Estonia, newly created in 2012)

And did you know that Tallinn already had foreigner politicians? Abram Petrovich Gannibal, the grandfather of Russian author Pushkin, was the superintendent of Reval from 1742 to 1752. Talk about small world!

Comparing house prices - Estonia and Europe

After reading the previous post about Housing prices in Estonia, you might be thinking that maybe Estonian prices are not that bad compared to other European countries. Let's try to do a rough comparison of Housing prices in Europe and see how does Estonia ranks.

It's good to note that we may be comparing oranges and apples (and there are lies, Lies and Statistics), so take this results with a grain of skepticism.

Global Property Guide has several very good articles on Estonian Housing market, and compared to Europe, Estonian Square Meter Prices are quite low (last 6th position). Also comparing House Price to Income Ratio to Europe, Estonia is on the middle (below top 15). However, this lists compare upscale  houses with "Average per square metre prices in US$/€ of 120-sq. m. apartments located in the centre of the most important city of each country".

Numbeo has some nice interactive maps of World Price to Income Ratio but I don't yet know how this numbers are calculated.

We can get more detailed analysis on a country per country basis, to get more insight. For instance, here's a recent article on Swiss home prices to income ratio.

What do you think: Does the world market affects Estonian housing prices? Postimees reports that foreigners almost one quarter of Estonian real estate transactions in 2012, although we have to remember that a big percentage of local residents holds a foreign or grey passport. Share it in the comments!

Should you buy a home in Estonia?

After living in Estonia for a while, you start considering if it's worth to stop renting and finally buy your own home (specially now that interest rates are so low). After reading our quick Estonian economy review, here's some data to consider before buying a flat, apartment or house in Estonia:

Price to Income ratio

One important way to measure affordable housing  is Price to Income ratio - the number of years of average income necessary to buy a median value home. This value differs in each country: while in US the typical median home cost 2.6 times as much as the median annual income, in Australia a value below 4 is considered affordable.

Estonian Price to Income ratio

To calculate an estimated Estonian Price to Income ratio, lets assume a 50m² flat and use the average gross wages and average price per square meter for 2010, 2011 and 2012  from Statistics Estonia:

Estonian Price to Income ratio
Year	Price/m2	Salary	P2I
2010	640€	792€	3.37
2011	706€	839€	3.51
2012	760€	887€	3.57

Although this seems reasonable, Estonia has one particularity: half of GDP and population is located in the capital region. This can be seen in the average gross wages per region where the income of Valga (lowest income) county employees accounts for 74% of the Harju (highest income) county.

Tallinn Price to Income ratio

To calculate an estimated Tallinn Price to Income ratio, assuming the same 50m² flat and using average gross wages and average price per square meter for 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Tallinn:

Tallinn Price to Income ratio
Year	Price/m2	Salary	P2I
2010	€840	€847	4.13
2011	€1037	€893	4.84
2012	€1135	€946	5.00

The Price to Income ratio implies that housing is expensive in Estonia, particularly in Tallinn, and is getting more expensive every year, as Estonian dwelling prices increased 20% since 2010.

Big Picture

Before we rush to conclusions we should consider the European Housing statistics, that overcrowding and affordability is a pressing issue in Europe, and that Estonia had the largest decrease in overcrowding rate over the past years. It may be that Estonia is just paying the price of a much needed housing growth?

For a deeper analysis, see "Before and after the boom: changes in the Estonian housing market" Doctoral thesis by Angelika Kallakmaa-Kapsta defended on April 4, 2013 at the Tallinn University of Technology:

This study investigates housing market developments from three main aspects – market 
analysis, housing affordability, and quality of housing. (...) If a person with an average monthly income cannot afford to pay for an average home (which in the Estonian case is a flat) there is an affordability problem.

So, what do you think: Would you still buy a house in Estonia? Did you find any mistake in the calculations? Share it in the comments!

Working in Estonia - Tax Declaration

Estonia is famous for E-Government, flat income tax rate, decreasing since 2004 (21% in 2008). From February 15 till March 31, Estonians fill their Tax Report (Online at Maksu- ja Tolliamet - Estonian Tax and Customs Board),  in order to receive their tax refund (within 5 working days!). 
Unfortunately, the Online Form is available only in Estonian or Russian, but with some easy steps, you also can make your Tax Declaration!

1. Login using your ID-Card/Phone ID-Card or Bank account.
   
2. Click on "Tuludeklaratsioonid", then "2008".
   
3. Review your personal data, typing the current address at "Postiaadress". Click "Salvesta", then click "Edasi".
   
4. Verify your income and tax data, and add your deductions. Usually, all the information is filled and correct, it means you can simply click on "Edasi".
   
5. Review all the entered information. Everything should be fine, just press "Edasi". You can go to previous pages pressing "Tagasi".
   
6. The total of tax refund you will receive will be written, and you can see the refund calculation by pressing "Vaata arvutuskäiku". Here you verify your banking data, where your refund will be deposited. There will be 2 checkboxes, leave them blank. Click on "Edasi".
   
7. Last page, where you review Bank data, and clicking on "Kinnita" and then OK, you finished your Tax Declaration. Now just wait for the Tax Refund money! Easy, isn't?
   

IMPORTANT DATES

6 February – you can view the pre-populated income tax return in the e-Tax Board. Check the data and amend or update them if necessary.

16 February – submission of pre-populated electronic income tax returns from the website of the Tax and Customs Board starts.

26 February – refunding overpaid income tax on the basis of the electronically submitted income tax returns starts.

31 March – final deadline for submission of income tax returns. You can submit the tax return electronically or on paper.

1 July or 1 October – the final deadline for returning overpaid income tax if the tax return is subject to additional inspection. The Tax Board will inform you about the need for additional inspection from the day following the day you submitted your tax return.

If you want, you can review or re-enter the Tax Form, on the same website. Did yo have any problems, any doubts? Add your comments!

Living in Estonia - Peace

I can only say one thing: Peace!Мир!Rahu!Paz!
More on the war in Georgia by CNN.

Traveling to Estonia - By Land II

Estonia has a good rail system, and is connected to Russia and (not directly) to Latvia. If you are coming from Russia, why not take a comfortable overnight train to Tallinn, specially when the Rail station (Balti jaam) is located in front of the Old Town, providing you a beautiful view on arrival.

Go Rail
Estonian rail company, daily trains from Tallinn to St. Petersburg and Moscow. The website (in Estonian and Russian) has timetables and prices, but you can buy tickets only at the rail station. To find good seats, you need to book the tickets in advance (specially if its near weekends or holidays). The train has different seat categories, and prices varies during the seasons, starting at 300 eek (Tallinn - St. Petersburg) or 600 eek (Tallinn - Moscow).


So, with all this options (by Air, Land, or Sea), what is the best way to get to Estonia? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.

Working in Estonia - Average Wage

With the economical growth of Estonia since the joining of E.U., the average wages in Estonia had grown rapidly, and since the end of 2007, passed the barrier of 12 000 eek (bruto). For more detailed information, see Eesti Statistika average wage report for last quarter of 2007.

In the first quarter of 2008, the average bruto salary per month is 12 337 eek (790 Euros), or 74,74 eek per hour. But the average salaries vary much, starting from 7 894 eek (505 Euros, for hotel workers) till 31 252 eek (2000 Euros, for finance brokers). See the statistics for the average salary per month and hour for the first quarter of 2008.

Besides the difference between job types, there's a big difference also regarding where are you working in Estonia. The Estonian Parliament explains it better, in a document released in March 2008.
For instance, the average salary for a worker in Tallinn is 2000 eek bigger then a worker in Tartu, the second biggest city of Estonia. See more in the table below:

Keskmine brutopalk 2007 IV kv maakondade lõikes (krooni)
Average Wage (bruto) for the last quarter of 2007 by Regions (in eek)

Harju maakond	13804
..Tallinn	13997
Hiiu maakond	9700
Ida-Viru maakond	9327
Jõgeva maakond	10268
Järva maakond	10855
Lääne maakond	9577
Lääne-Viru maakond	9723
Põlva maakond	9601
Pärnu maakond	10352
Rapla maakond	10169
Saare maakond	10947
Tartu maakond	12213
Valga maakond	8988
Viljandi maakond	10401
Võru maakond	9490
Eesti keskmine	12 270

As you can see, there are many details you have to consider while thinking about salaries in Estonia. Besides the language, the location and kind of job can mean a big difference in your monthly payment.

Last weekend was a beautiful knock at summer’s doors. The sun beamed joyous rays relentlessly onto a sparsely populated park in Tallinn, Estonia. Lying at the water’s edge with gentle calling of birds and crashing waves acting as an ambient to the usual city sounds, the wind was blowing ever so gently (the most perfect of speeds), not too fast to give you chills and also not to slow so that the Sun slowly raised your body temperature to an uncomfortable level, but at a perfect pace. A couple of beers that had been bought before at the local store around the corner had been opened and were being passed around to be shared with friends. The cold bottle glistened as they touched the warm air and as I looked up at the beautiful blue sky, noticing the slight intricacies of the clouds that made my imagination run wild with shapes of cats, dogs, and dragons—I took my first sip of my beer. I put the beer down and lay on my back for a minute or two. It could have been a lifetime, for time had stopped, and I became entranced into my self-spun web of thoughts. I contemplated the future, the past, the people that I have met that weekend, and most of all, I contemplated how much Estonia has changed me. To use words like ‘good’ or ‘bad’ seem shallow to try to describe my feelings. I believe that words would fall rather short of how I really felt, and to be completely honest, I don’t think it is a feeling that can be felt anywhere else in the world.

Estonia is a beautiful place. Most of the time I am to wrapped up in my own world to see it, but it is moments like this that cut through everything inside of me and just brand me with happiness. It is times like these that I am reminded of the wonderful friends who have turned into my new family and the wonderful strangers I have yet to meet here. I look forward to the journey that is on front of me. That path is long and hard with many obstacles and I still have miles to go, but sometimes I can rest on the side of that road with people on the same journey and just take it all in with one breath then exhale the experiences out and feel a renewed sense of hope and optimism for the past, present, and future. These are the moments that truly make me happy—the moments that are collectively shared that lie beyond the realm of known communication.

Christopher P Kedzierski

USA - Estonia