Estonia is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Tourist Estonia attracts with its fortresses, forests, historical cultural parks. The nature of the republic is so beautiful that you can admire it forever. Estonia is a country of virgin forests, rivers, swamps, lakes and sea islands. This small wonderful country is located between the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga and is the northernmost Baltic state.
So, if you decide to live in Estonia, then you should consider the pros and cons of living in this state.
Wage
Let's start with wages. The Estonian labor market has a favorable economic situation. The country's employment rate averages about 60-68%.
The unemployment rate for 2021 was 6-8%. The average salary at the beginning of 2018 fluctuates around 930 euros. Highly qualified workers, managers and directors of small firms can receive on average from 1,000 to 2,000 euros per month.
Reference. The minimum salary of an Estonian varies between 470-500 euros.
Considering the level of local prices for goods and services, this salary is extremely low.
Estonia lives with the legacy of the “Soviet occupation”: proven by numbers
For 30 post-Soviet years, Estonian nationalists have been demanding an apology and compensation from Russia for the so-called “Soviet occupation,” despite the fact that a relatively painless transition to a market economy, as well as the entire economic model of modern Estonia, became real due to the infrastructure that developed during the Soviet years.
The standard of living in the Estonian SSR was comparable to the standard of living in Denmark, the collapse of the USSR deprived Estonia of a third of its economy, but even now the Baltic republic lives on the material heritage of the times of “occupation”. The Baltic states had a special position in the Union and were considered the so-called “showcase of the Soviet way of life” with the highest level of well-being. In 1986, there were 8,007 rubles of fixed assets per Estonian, and only 2,291 rubles per Tajik. The share of the Estonian population with a total income of more than 300 rubles exceeded the Union average by 2 times (19.8 versus 8 percent); The poverty level in the three republics was minimal - less than 1 percent.
The standard of living of Estonians in the 1980s was comparable to that of the Danes.
The reason for this phenomenon is simple: investments directed to the region from Moscow.
Estonia was the center of investment inflows in the Union, and in the 1970s and 1980s the country led in terms of investment in fixed assets per capita.
The total volume of investments in fixed capital in the ESSR for the period 1945–1991 amounted to 560 million rubles. A higher return on investment encouraged the Center to locate new production facilities in the Baltic states, and to provide Baltic state and collective farms with benefits in the distribution of fertilizer funds, agricultural equipment, and so on.
The result was that Estonia received a more modern material and technical base and increased its GDP by 13.5 times compared to pre-war figures.
Overall, the republic ranked 46th in the world in terms of GDP per capita ($10,700).
Active investment was due to the developed industrial and social infrastructure of the Baltic states, high work culture, easily accessible natural resources (primarily shale and timber), which allowed the republics to show the highest return on investment, and provided the Center with lower economic risks than in other regions of the Soviet Union .
The geographical location of Estonia, through which reparation supplies from Germany and other countries passed, played a role.
In addition, Moscow used the tactics of “forced incentives” to demonstrate to the Balts the advantages of their stay in the Union in comparison with the period of independence.
With the exit from the USSR and the change of political elites, Estonia set a course towards “cleansing” the national economy of “archaic” elements from the times of the former “occupation”. First of all, from the large industrial enterprises that made the greatest contribution to the growth of Estonia’s GDP, which caused Estonia, according to the Estonian politician and one of the authors of the “White Paper on the Losses Caused to the People of Estonia by the Occupations” Kalev Kukka, “irreparable economic damage.”
Kalev Kukk calls Estonia’s entry into the USSR “colonization of the country,” and all capital investments from Moscow are “a direct means of colonizing Estonia.” And Kukk and the other co-authors of the White Paper are not alone in these assessments - for Estonian politicians this is the absolute mainstream.
The decision to liquidate “uncompetitive” enterprises, which was obviously made for political reasons, was implemented through the policy of “socio-economic Darwinism.” In accordance with the bankruptcy law, the government stopped subsidies to former state-owned enterprises that faced a choice between privatization and liquidation. The state only watched which of the industrialists would survive.
This bore fruit: in the 1990s, Estonia experienced an economic contraction equal to 35 percent of GDP.
Then such industrial giants as the Krenholm manufactory in Narva and the Tallinn pulp and paper mill closed. Independent Estonia was unable to “capture” Soviet industry.
The President of the Russian Association for Baltic Studies (RAPI), Nikolai Mezhevich, explains the focus of the Estonian political elites on deindustrialization by competitive struggle: through the liquidation of large enterprises, most of which were the support of political forces from Moscow, the Estonians ousted their political opponents.
At the same time, new realities motivated enterprises to look for a strategic foreign investor, mainly from Finnish companies, or a new owner. Often they were former “occupiers”: for example, the Tallinn machine-building plant Tallinna Masinatehas was sold to Russian businessmen. By the way, the automotive industry in Soviet Estonia was one of the most developed in the Union.
Soviet industrial enterprises eventually became the main source of funds needed for economic reforms in the country in the 1990s: the Estonians used them both as an object for sale and as a “bait” for foreign investors.
In addition to industry, independent Estonia has not sustained its once highly productive agricultural production. If the USSR completely mechanized it, brought the country to first place in the world in terms of grain and potato yields, doubled the volume of milk and meat production, thus solving the food problem, then with the transition to small-scale production in the 1990s, Estonia actually destroyed the fixed assets of large profitable farms and reduced the number of livestock. The country is no longer able to compete with large European agricultural producers.
However, not all of the “Soviet heritage” was dismantled. Thus, the transit sector of the economy has quite successfully fit into the new reality.
About 90 percent of oil export terminals inherited from the Soviet Union to the Baltic countries accounted for 10–12% of the region’s GDP in the 1990s.
Muuga seaport, being the most expensive infrastructure project of post-war Europe, was preserved and still plays a major role in Estonian transit - 80 percent of all cargo passes through it.
The housing stock accumulated during the Soviet era, which grew sevenfold over the 50 years the republic was part of the Union, also simplified the country’s economic transformation, saving Estonians from the need to spend money on building panel houses. The fuel and energy complex, which was progressive for the last century, also made its contribution.
Built in the 1960s, the Narva power plants (Baltic and Estonian State District Power Plants), which the Estonians decided to keep, unlike the Lithuanians who closed the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, provide more than 90 percent of all Estonia's electricity and make the country a leader in the Baltic region in the field of electricity production and energy supply. independent country in Europe.
The same “Soviet occupier” doubled the number of forest lands. At the same time, deforestation significantly lagged behind their growth, which gave post-Soviet Estonia huge forest reserves, which, however, it is now mercilessly destroying formally as part of the European Union program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and use wood as a renewable energy source, and in fact - for financial enrichment.
The significance of the Soviet legacy in Estonia's economic development cannot be diminished.
The production capacities and resources, as well as the developed infrastructure accumulated in the country in the period 1940–1991, provided Estonians with the best starting conditions in the post-Soviet space for building a market economy.
Without the “acquired”, Estonia would not have been able to go through the entire path of European integration and, accordingly, become a member of European and transatlantic structures.
Anastasia Mayorova
Price dynamics
Prices in the Baltic state are more expensive than in Russia and Ukraine, in fact comparable to Moscow. Life in Estonia is not cheap at all. In this regard, most city residents, in order to save money, grow their own fruits and vegetables and have their own gardens.
It should also be noted that there are practically no cheap supermarkets in Estonia.
Local residents recommend tourists and visitors to buy groceries and cook their own food, because visiting restaurants and cafes is very expensive, even with a well-planned budget.
Domestic politics of Estonia
The Estonian government, under the influence of mass protests by the Russian-speaking population, international organizations, the UN, and the European Union, made some concessions. It, still believing that citizenship should be obtained through naturalization, went to weaken the requirements for obtaining it, which were expressed in some simplification of the Estonian language exam.
But gradually, citizenship in Estonia became not a priority issue for Russians. This happened due to the fact that the European Union allowed stateless persons living in this country to freely travel to countries included in the Schengen area. In 2008, D. Medvedev followed the same path, allowing persons in this category visa-free entry into Russia. This is a definite plus, since obtaining a visa to Russia for Estonian citizens is very problematic. Many were satisfied with the situation of non-citizens of Estonia. This does not suit Tallinn. Moscow, as always, prefers to remain silent on this matter.
But the UN, as well as the European Union, are concerned about the large number of stateless people, rightly believing that this violates the rights of a large part of the Estonian population. Since 2015, children of non-citizens of Estonia born in this country automatically receive citizenship, but, as the state government points out, their parents are in no hurry to obtain it. The Estonian government is pinning its hopes on the time when the older generation will die out, thereby causing naturalization.
Education and its cost
Regarding education, children in Estonia start walking at the age of 7. The duration of study is 9 years. Secondary level education in the country is divided into academic and vocational. Estonian students study at 30 universities. For Russian schoolchildren, who make up 20% of the children studying, the doors of public and private schools are open, the teaching of which is conducted exclusively in Russian.
International schools are available for children of emigrants who do not plan to stay in Estonia for a long time. They teach in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish and English.
For a newcomer, entering Estonian universities will not be too difficult. When applying, you need to fill out an online application form on the Estonian website system and attach all the necessary documents, assessments and recommendations.
On average, you need to pay about 3,000 euros for a bachelor's degree, and from 1,700 to 3,000 euros for a master's degree, and admission to medical faculties is the most expensive, it is 11,000 euros. In addition, you will have to pay insurance of 200 euros per year.
History of Russians living in the country
Russians have lived on Estonian lands since time immemorial. It is noteworthy that Estonians themselves call Russians Venelased. This is how the ancient inhabitants of the modern territory of Estonia called the ancestors of the ancient Slavs living in the lands from the Carpathians and the lower Danube to the southeastern shores of the Baltic.
The second largest city in Estonia, Tartu, Russian name Yuryev, was founded in the 11th century by the squad of Yaroslav the Wise; subsequently it was under the rule of the Novgorod Republic, the Livonian Order, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, the Russian Empire, the USSR, and Estonia. Russians have lived in Narva from time immemorial, and at the time this city became part of Estonia, 86% of the Russian population lived here. More than 41% of the Russian population lives in Tallinn.
A large influx of refugees from Russia occurred after the 1917 Revolution. So Russians have always lived in Estonia. A lot of Germans and Swedes lived in the country before 1925, but the implementation of land reforms at that time led to mass bankruptcy and their departure from Estonia. The influx of Russian population increased significantly in the post-war period, so that by 1959 the percentage of the Russian population amounted to more than 20% of the total number of residents.
How old do people live?
An interesting fact is that the life expectancy of the urban population of Estonia is longer than that of the rural population , but only by six months. In general, the average life expectancy of the male population of Estonia is 71 years, and the female population is 81 years. This is due to the rapidly developing medicine of the state.
The state of the Russian diaspora in Estonia
The Russian community in Estonia is characterized by a high degree of fragmentation. The key reasons for this condition are:
- Lack of support from local Russian business.
- The loss of educational institutions’ status as the main channel for the formation of national identity of this ethnic minority.
- Lack of independent Russian-language media in Estonia.
Among the organizations that are a stronghold of the national identity of Russians in this state are the non-profit associations “Russian Community of Estonia” and “Russian School of Estonia”. Since 2008, the Internet portal “Baltija” (Baltija.eu) has been operating - a web resource of the Russian community in Estonia.
Pensions
An Estonian man has the right to retire at any time after reaching 63 years of age, and a woman from 62.5 years of age. The average pension for Estonian residents is 391 euros. The amount of payments is affected by:
- health status;
- experience;
- citizen's income;
- his participation in various government programs.
The more an Estonian resident officially worked, the larger his pension will be. If an elderly Estonian does not have work experience (for example, due to disability), then the state provides him with a national pension, which currently amounts to about 160 euros.
Employment of foreigners
A work permit is issued by the Police and Border Guard Board based on a request submitted by the employer. The document that the migrant worker receives contains all the main details related to employment.
Since the work permit is issued by the employer, Estonian employers invite foreign specialists only in cases of extreme necessity, when it is no longer possible to find a worker with the required qualifications among the citizens of the state.
Important. There is no need to obtain a permit if the contract is signed for a period of no more than six months. Also, residents of the European Union, holders of a residence permit (RP) or permanent residence (PR) in Estonia do not obtain a work permit.
