Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services

Bank of Estonia cash and security department head Rait Roosve told the press on Friday that as compared to old European states, Estonia will need a microscopic amount of euro banknotes. Thus it is not feasible to print them and the Estonian central bank will borrow the euros from Finnish and German central banks.

Roosve said that the corresponding preliminary agreements are in place. Since Helsinki is many times closer to Tallinn than Berlin, the majority of banknotes are likely to come from Finland.

The cash would be transported to Estonia on board a plane due to international security requirements. There are 11 aviation companies in Europe that have the corresponding licence, Roosve said.

According to Bank of Estonia, there is 11 billion kroons worth of cash in circulation in Estonia at present. The amount of euro banknotes will be considerably smaller since one euro corresponds to 15.6466 kroons.