Eesti in brief - 2013-01-24

Estonian central criminal police have caught Aleksandr Dmitriev, ex-manager of the AK Bars Bank Omsk branch office who had been declared internationally wanted for stealing millions in Russia, reports Public Broadcasting. Estonian State Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Katrin Lunt said that Dmitriev is being held until his extradition, or decision refusing extradition is decided. The Harjumaa county court was to discuss the application from the Russian Federation to extradite Dmitriev on January 22. According to the Russian press, Dmitriev is accused of stealing over 400 million roubles or nearly 9.9 million euros from 2007-2009, abusing his official status and fraud in large scale.

The pocket guide ‘Pocket World in Figures 2013,’ issued by the Economist, indicates that more alcohol is sold in Estonia per capita than in any other state in the world, reports Public Broadcasting. In Estonia, 118.4 liters of alcohol per capita is sold, giving it the top position in the world. Finland and Germany share the second and third positions with 99.5 liters and Australia comes next with 99.4 liters. The guide also indicates that in 2010, 86.3 liters of beer per capita was sold in Estonia, which also gives the country top honors. The other Baltic States love alcoholic beverages a bit less: in Lithuania 87.4 liters and in Latvia 71.9 liters per capita is sold a year. The Economist’s pocket guide doesn’t cite the methodology or sources, meaning that possibly the figures include alcohol that foreigners have bought in Estonia, reports Public Broadcasting.

While the EU Water Framework Directive mandates that by 2015 member states’ lakes and other bodies of water ought to be in a good state, or at least show signs of improvement, nearly half of the lakes studied by the Estonian University of Life Sciences are in a poor or bad state, reports National Broadcasting. Professor Ingmar Ott from the Limnology Department of the University of Life Sciences noted that the health situation in Estonian lakes is mostly at risk from point source pollution from human settlements. The Limnology Center has inventoried a total of 211 lakes and the situation in approximately half of them could be classified as good or very good. Chief specialist of the Water Department of the Ministry of Environment Irja Truumaa noted that 95 lakes in Estonia are covered with the said EU directive. The intermediary evaluation that was carried out last year demonstrated that 33 of them required improvement.

Fourteen percent of Estonians support nuclear energy as a priority in the energy sphere for the next 30 years, reports Aripaev Online. Fifty-eight percent support renewable energy and 25 percent energy efficiency measures. “At a time when the Estonian state is powerfully connecting Estonia’s future for decades to come with oil shale-based energy, only 7 percent of people support that form of production,” said Rene Tammist from the Estonian Renewable Energy Chamber. According to a Eurobarometer study, 70 percent of Europeans prefer renewable energy as the priority for the next 30 years. Twenty-eight percent prefer energy efficiency measures and 18 percent nuclear energy. Energy produced from fossil sources received the least of support.