Coat of arms: depicts a golden shield, which includes three slim blue lions passant gardant with red tongues in the middle and golden oak branches along both sides of the shield. The lesser coat of arms lacks these oak branches. The three lions derive from the arms of Danish king Valdemar II who had conquered northern Estonia in 1219.
Flag: is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black, and white. the blue is for the vaulted blue sky above the native land, the black for attachment to the soil of the homeland as well as the fate of Estonians — for centuries black with worries, and white for purity, hard work, and commitment.
- Anthem: «Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm» is the national anthem of Estonia.
- Official languages: Estonian.
- Geographical location: it is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia.
- Administrative divisions: The Republic of Estonia is divided into fifteen counties, which are the administrative subdivisions of the country.
- Capital: Tallinn.
- Governance: the politics in Estonia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the Estonian parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government, which is led by the prime minister. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
- Population: 1.32 million.
- Currency: Euro.
- GDP: $23.1 billion.
- Time zone: GMT +2, GMT +1.
- Telephone code: +372.
- Barcode: 474.
Trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Estonia
Estonia's economic performance:
- GDP at current prices — €25.6 billion (2018);
- GDP per capita — €19 449 (2018);
- Direct external investment in shares — €9.1 billion (2018);
- Unemployment (according to ILO standards): 5.4% (2018).
Estonia attracts more foreign direct investment than any other country in Central and Eastern Europe. In general, the country has a good business environment and follows the EU trade directives. Many companies are subsidiaries of European corporations (in particular, Scandinavian ones).
Estonia is a leader in development and implementation of e-government and cyber security solutions.
Estonia has one of the highest international credit ratings in the region:
- Standard & Poor’s: AA-/A-1+;
- Fitch: A+;
- Moody’s: A1.
Key aspects of economic success:
- Monetary reform — a mechanism for secured money issue since 1992;
- Privatization — completed, a number of infrastructure enterprises owned by the state;
- Liberal foreign trade regime — the market is open to competition;
- Modern tax system — motivating, transparent, simple, zero tax rate on reinvested profits.
Estonia is an important trade and economic partner of Belarus in the Northern Europe region.
In 2018, trade between Belarus and Estonia amounted to $180.02 million (an increase of 59.4% compared to 2017). Belarusian exports to Estonia amounted to $144.31 million (170% to the level of 2017), imports — $35.71 million (126% to the level of 2017). The foreign trade balance was positive in the amount of $108.6 million.
The dynamics of trade between the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Estonia in 2013 — 2018 (million US dollars)
|
Year |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2018 as compared to 2017, % |
|
Turnover |
172.6 |
154.2 |
101.2 |
105.6 |
112.8 |
180.0 |
159.0 |
|
Export |
105.1 |
97.4 |
76.1 |
64.4 |
84.5 |
144.3 |
170.0 |
|
Import |
67.5 |
56.8 |
25.1 |
41.2 |
28.3 |
35.7 |
126.0 |
|
Surplus |
37.6 |
40.6 |
51.0 |
23.2 |
56.2 |
108.6 |
|
The export structure was dominated by the supply of strong alcoholic beverages, salt, petroleum products, petroleum coke and bitumen, potash fertilizers, paints and varnishes, plates, sheets and films made of plastic, plastic containers, timber, wood-fiber boards, glued plywood, joinery, linen fabrics, women's clothing, corsetry, polished glass, rods and wires of steel, pipes of ferrous metals, refined copper, refrigerators and freezers, equipment for sorting and grinding soil, wires and cables, tractors and trucks, furniture, lighting equipment.
In the commodity structure of imports from Estonia, the largest share was held by deliveries of cattle, frozen fish, cocoa paste, fermented drinks, slag and ash, medicines, cotton wool, gauze and bandages, putties, rubber vulcanization accelerators, plasticizers, stabilizers, silicones, leather, wood veneer, equipment for heat treatment of materials, hoisting cranes, machines and devices for lifting, moving, loading or unloading, special purpose machines and mechanical devices, communication apparatus, trailers and semi-trailers.
This article has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of Estonia, and taken from public sources. The information presented herein is for informative purposes only. In this regard, it may be useful for the companies, which have been working in Estonia for a long time, as well as for those, which are going to enter this market. Any questions, feedbacks and comments concerning this article are welcome. All of them will be fully considered and taken into account, if possible. If you have any information that may be interesting and useful for the visitors of this page, please write to us.
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