Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia, Lithuania

Siim Kallas.

In an interview with LETA Video, Kallas said that Estonia would most likely attain its goal, and adopt the euro in 2011. Kallas said that this does not mean that therefore Estonia will win over investors from Latvia and Lithuania, thereby impairing their competitiveness.

Kallas believes that Estonia's accession to the euro area does not mean isolation of the other two Baltic countries. Baltics is a small and united region, and Latvia and Lithuania will switch to the euro anyway couple years later. Eventually the entire region will enjoy the advantages offered by the euro. Kallas is confident that Estonia's transition to the euro will have a positive effect on Latvia and Lithuania too.

Commenting the three Baltic countries' investment prospects after Estonia's transition to the euro, Kallas admitted that the euro would give Estonia an advantage, however, investors' decisions depend on many factors, such as flexibility of the economy, the environment, the administrative burden and capacity and others. The euro is just one of such factors, and Kallas believes that Estonia will not win investors over from Latvia and Lithuania after its accession to the eurozone.