Eesti in brief - 2013-05-30

Seventy-three percent of users of electric cars are satisfied with their vehicles, but just 43 percent of them would recommend one to others, reports Public Broadcasting. The rate of being satisfied among private individuals who own an electric car was at 97 percent. Among employees of ministries, the rate was 60 percent, according to a study commissioned by the state-owned Kredex foundation that helps finance purchase of the electric cars, and carried out by Faktum & Ariko. Ninety-two percent of private individuals said that they would recommend an electric car to others. Just 30 percent of ministry employees would do so. Although Estonia has the world’s best speed charging network, just 5 percent of the respondents said they use it. Yet they answered that they are satisfied with the charging network. KredEx’s electric mobility program head Jarmo Tuisk said that it is a myth that electric cars are not suitable for Estonia. “At the same time the study points out problems connected to electric cars, some of which are psychological and others technical,” said Tuisk. 441 users of electric cars responded to the study.

The Riigikogu finance committee supported on May 21 a bill submitted by the Social Democrats to raise the income tax-free rate starting next year, reports Aripaev Online. The proposal of Social Democrats raises the income tax-free minimum to 160 euros a month in 2014, 176 euros a month in 2015 and 192 euros a month in 2016, leaving all wage earners with an additional 120 euros. Social Democrat, finance committee deputy chairman Rannar Vassiljev expressed hope that the initiative would be approved by the parliament. “The tax burden on people with low and average income has to decrease in reality too, not just in words,” he said. The Riigikogu discusses the income tax law amendments on June 4.

According to a study of older people, 30 percent of people aged 50 or over in Estonia considered their health as excellent in 2010; at the same time, a third of older people visited the family doctor at least five times a year, reports Public Broadcasting. Among Estonians of the age of 50 and over, 33 percent of respondents said their health was very good or excellent; among non-Estonians the share was 22 percent, Statistics Estonia analyst Kaia Kabanen wrote in the institutions’ blog. High blood pressure was the most common illness as 47 percent of older people suffered from it. Arthritis, high cholesterol and heart attacks were also rather common. Older people usually visited the family doctors 2-4 times a year. The data is a part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe SHARE that took place in Estonia for the first time in 2010. This year the second wave of the study will take place in Estonia.