Latest news with #Estonian
Business Upturn
8 hours ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
Extension of the term of office of a Member of the Management Board of Bigbank AS
By GlobeNewswire Published on June 20, 2025, 12:00 IST The supervisory board of Bigbank AS has decided on 18 June 2025 to extend the term of office of Argo Kiltsmann as the member of the management board of Bigbank AS for another 3 years, beginning from the end of the previous term until 30 June 2028. The management board of Bigbank AS will continue with five members: Martin Länts (Chairman of the management board), Ken Kanarik, Argo Kiltsmann Ingo Põder and Mart Veskimägi. Bigbank AS ( with over 30 years of operating history, is a commercial bank owned by Estonian capital. As of 31 May 2025, the bank's total assets amounted to 3.0 billion euros, with equity of 278 million euros. Operating in nine countries, the bank serves more than 172,000 active customers and employs 600 people. The credit rating agency Moody's has assigned Bigbank a long-term bank deposit rating of Ba1, along with a baseline credit assessment (BCA) and an adjusted BCA of Ba2. Martin Länts Chairman of the Management Board Telephone: +372 5561 7616 E-mail: [email protected] Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Tiernan and Ireland look to make history in Killarney
Gavin Tiernan's sensational run to the quarter-finals of The Amateur Championship has helped earn him a place in the Irish selection for the European Amateur Team Championship at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club next month. The 19-year-old is part of a six-strong outfit who will hope to make history on the 50th anniversary of the last staging of this competition in Killarney. Ireland are looking to bridge the gap back to 2008 when Shane Lowry was one of the stars of that victorious side. They had gone back-to-back with Rory McIlroy also part of the team in 2007. Tiernan has built on a third-place finish at his native County Louth in the East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship last month, with another strong showing at Royal St George's and Royal Cinque Ports, where he is up against Estonian Richard Teder this morning. He is joined by another exciting teenager, John Doyle, who has already claimed the Flogas Irish Boys' Amateur Open Championship and Munster Stroke Play in Cork this year. Doyle's runner-up finish at the St Andrews Links recently was another huge step forward while Roscommon golfer Thomas Higgins had a fantastic T6 there to help secure his spot on this team. Killarney Golf & Fishing Club will host the European Amateur Team Championship next month. Reigning Flogas Irish Men's Amateur Open Champion, Stuart Grehan, is also selected alongside the 2024 winner Matt McClean and fellow former Walker Cup star Caolan Rafferty. The Irish Boys' team has also been announced ahead of their trip to Golf Resort Kaskada Brno in Czech Republic. John William Burke, Caelan Coleman, Adam Fahey, Louis Goodman, Isaac Oliver and William O'Riordan will form the team. Both events take place between July 8-12, there will be two rounds of stroke play on the first two days before match play, with the eight teams who are still in contention for a medal then playing two foursomes and five singles, as the Final takes place on Saturday. Ireland Men: John Doyle (Fota Island), Stuart Grehan (Co Louth), Thomas Higgins (Roscommon), Matthew McClean (Malone), Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk), Gavin Tiernan (Co Louth). Support Team: Captain - Damien Coyne (Tuam); Manager - Mark O'Sullivan (Laytown & Bettystown); Coach - Michael Collins. Ireland Boys: John William Burke (Ballyhaunis), Caelan Coleman (Galway Bay), Adam Fahey (Portmarnock), Louis Goodman (Co Louth), Isaac Oliver (Glasson), William O'Riordan (Greystones). Support Team: Captain - John Carroll (Cork); Manager - James Corcoran; Coach - Stephen Hood.
Sharjah 24
a day ago
- Business
- Sharjah 24
Ajman CP, Estonian Ambassador discuss cooperation
Review of bilateral relations His Highness Sheikh Ammar welcomed the ambassador and reviewed with her bilateral relations between the UAE and Estonia across various fields. Exploring enhanced cooperation The meeting explored ways to enhance cooperation in different sectors, building on the foundations of friendship and strategic partnership between the UAE and the Republic of Estonia, with the aim of advancing mutual prosperity and development. Appreciation from the Estonian Ambassador Ambassador Belovas and her accompanying delegation expressed their appreciation to H.H. Sheikh Ammar for the warm welcome, commending Ajman's ongoing growth and the promising opportunities it offers across all sectors for business success. Attendance The meeting was attended by several officials in Ajman.
LeMonde
2 days ago
- Politics
- LeMonde
Iran-Israel: 'Preventive war and regime change are rarely met with success'
Never one to shy away from a witty remark, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski displayed his caustic humor in Tallinn on May 16. While sharing the stage with his Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, and the United States' newly appointed permanent representative to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, recently chosen by Donald Trump, the two Europeans advocated for inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the NATO summit on June 24 and 25 in The Hague, a political gesture they know Washington opposes. "I have to confess to you," Sikorski said, "I would also like to see President Putin at The Hague!" The Estonian burst out laughing, the audience erupted in applause. The American representative remained stone-faced. Did he want to avoid publicly endorsing the Pole's irony? Or did he not entirely understand the scathing quip, perhaps being unaware that The Hague is also home to the International Criminal Court (ICC)? The US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court, and the ICC arrest warrant against the Russian president for war crimes holds little weight for Washington – least of all for Trump, who maintains good relations with Vladimir Putin. For the Europeans, however, the ICC's warrant represented a significant moment in the war in Ukraine: It brought the law to act against a leader who recognizes only force. The anecdote from Tallinn illustrates the expanding rift between Europe and the US over international law. As the pillars of multilateralism collapse one after another, the European Union still wants to believe that it can operate on the basis of the rule of law. It cites this principle constantly, especially when condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. A more recent precedent How can one not be surprised, then, by the stance several European leaders – including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – have taken on Israel's attack on Iran? Legally, it is a paradoxical position. Justifying this offensive with Israel's right to self-defense runs counter to the right to self-defense as recognized by the United Nations Charter: Though Iran does, indeed, threaten Israel by seeking to develop nuclear weapons, it has not yet attacked it. While inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have observed that Iran's nuclear weapons program was advancing, they have not, however, determined that it has become a reality.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
EU ministers call for coordinated action on Russian ‘shadow fleet' in Baltic Sea
Calls to step up and coordinate action against the unflagged Russian 'shadow fleet' of oil tankers in the Baltic Sea were made this weekend before the EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday, which is expected to impose sanctions on 180 ships. The inclusion of those vessels would take the total number of ships under EU sanctions to 350. Efforts to stop the shadow fleet, which is estimated to be carrying as much as 85% of Russia's oil exports and so funding roughly a third of its budget, are seen as a critical proof of the EU's determination to keep the economic pressure on Russia. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, spoke on Saturday with the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, over the latest steps against the shadow fleet, a group of 500 or so ageing and poorly insured tankers using flags of convenience to export Russian oil to countries such as India, in defiance of sanctions mounted in 2022 by G7 countries including Canada. But the Lithuanian foreign minister, Kęstutis Budrys, said current enforcement was ineffective and now faced the threat of Russian military reprisals. Each day, about three loaded shadow tankers pass through northern European waters, including the Danish straits and the Channel. In a further sign of tensions, Russian authorities detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian port while sailing on an agreed route in Russia's territorial waters. The Liberian-flagged Green Admire tanker had left the port of Sillamäe in north-east Estonia carrying a cargo of shale oil, destined for Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Budrys, speaking at the Lennart Meri conference in Tallinn, highlighted uncertainty about the law on interdiction in international waters, and fear of an all-out military confrontation with Russia. The Estonian defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, called for all ships under sanctions to be debarred from entering EU economic exclusion zone waters, as they are debarred from entering EU ports. The move would severely restrict the Russian fleet but would arguably breach maritime law. Related: Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers grows despite western sanctions The battle over the shadow fleet intensified last week when a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 jet flew into Estonia's airspace in what looked like a reprisal for a tanker named the Jaguar, likely to be carrying Russian oil, being escorted out of Estonian economic waters by the country's navy. It was not clear whether the ship, already subject to sanctions by the UK, was sailing without any flag registration, the surest legal ground for interdicting a ship. The Estonian navy believed the ship might pose a threat to nearby underwater cables, and contacted it to check its status and registration. Faced by resistance from the Jaguar crew, the Estonians drew back from trying to board the ship to inspect its cargo and instead escorted it into the international waters of the Gulf of Finland on its way to the Russian port of Primorsk. As the ship was being escorted, a Russian jet entered Estonian airspace for a minute without permission. It is seen as the first incident in which Russia has shown military force in support of the shadow fleet, and its first entry into Estonian airspace for at least three years. The fleet is thought to have expanded, possibly to as many as 700 largely uninsured tankers, to circumvent rules that deny high-quality insurance to ships carrying oil to be sold above $60 (£45) a barrel. The innovative US-designed oil cap policy balances two objectives – limiting Russian revenues for its war machine, while maintaining the supply of oil for the world economy. Ships that operate without insurance can be be placed under sanctions by G7 countries. Related: US vetoes G7 proposal to combat Russia's shadow fleet of oil tankers Budrys said the paradox was that less than half of the ships under either EU, US or UK sanctions had been embargoed by all three. He said he wanted to see all ships in the fleet under sanctions, and for the level of proof required to sanction a ship to be reduced and standardised. Baltic states, he said, needed to clarify the unclear national protocols under the UN convention on the law of the sea (Unclos) about the right to inspect an unflagged ship, especially inside a country's exclusive economic zone. Since last June, the Estonian transport agency has checked the documents of more than 450 ships, but the right to interdict in international waters is strictly limited. Budrys rejected the fears of some Baltic shipping companies that a more aggressive posture would lead to restrictions on freedom of navigation for western ships in the South China Sea. He said lawyers often advised ministers that the current law on interdiction was unclear, but he said there was no point trying to reopen the outdated Unclos itself, since the process would take too long. He said: 'Last week's events involving Russian protection of the Jaguar through the use of Russian jets changes the overall assessment and picture. Russia now is showing force, creating an incident and even entering Nato airspace to protect these vessels.' Since January, Nato's Baltic Sentry mission has been established to protect the Baltic Sea's critical infrastructure, principally undersea cables, but it has no direct responsibility over the shadow fleet. Budrys said: 'We need not only to continue Baltic Sentry, but to expand its mission, because the increase in the shadow fleet increases the probability of military incidents in the Baltic Sea. This is serious.' But Benjamin Hilgenstock, the head of macroeconomic research at the Kyiv School of Economics, claims the oil price cap has proved unenforceable, partly since no means exists to check that oil has been traded at the declared price. Critics say that despite the existence of a 14-country shadow fleet expert group, there is no body coordinating enforcement action, or intelligence about the shadow fleet, with different countries adopting different approaches. John Mead, the deputy commander of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, stressed Nato's focus was to protect underwater cables, but in pursuit of this had hailed 1,800 ships to check flag status. It was also launching a fleet of drones to improve monitoring. He added 'the Russians will exhaust themselves very, very quickly if they want to up their posture by escorting every single shadow fleet vessel through the Baltic Sea.' Anna Wieslander, the director for northern Europe at the Atlantic Council, said in the middle of last year 'we realised that this not in parallel to Russia's efforts sustain its war economy, the shadow fleet is at the core of its whole system.' She said the episode last week showed 'the shadow fleet is at the core of their national security. The first step is to realise the magnitude of this for the war economy. We should sanction them all, why not?'
