TALLINN - The two nights of rioting in Tallinn at the end of April have so far cost the government nearly 60 million kroons (3.83 million euros) including claims for damages from private individuals and businesses, pay of police officers and legal expenses, the daily Postimees reports.
The Interior Ministry has been allocated 30.9 million kroons to cover its expenses, the Finance Ministry, 28 million kroons to pay compensation, and the Justice Ministry 1.1 million kroons, the paper says.
The state has compensated private individuals and legal entities for damages totaling 19.5 million kroons, a spokeswoman for the Finance Ministry said.
The deadline of applying for compensation was June 29, but all applications need to be checked exhaustively, the spokeswoman told the paper. In her judgment, the ministry will be able to make the final payments in September.
Postimees observes that the state hasn't yet recovered any damages from looters because the court cases relating to the disturbances are ongoing, complicated and time-consuming.
The Estonian authorities' decision to move a Soviet war memorial from downtown Tallinn to a military cemetery sparked two nights of rioting in Tallinn and some other towns in late April.
For ethnic Estonians, the monument was a symbol of five decades of Soviet occupation. But many Russians saw its relocation as dishonoring the memory of soldiers who fought against Nazi Germany.
