Estonians caulk windows ahead of cold winter

High gas and electricity prices force Baltic residents to refuse heating

A new trend has emerged in Estonia: now the council of tenants decides whether it is time to turn on the heating or not. Due to considerations of economy, many decide for the time being to get by with improvised means, insulate windows and doors, and put potbelly stoves in apartments.

“Yesterday, a meeting of the residents of our house took place, where it was decided by a majority vote that until the night temperatures drop below zero degrees, we will not turn on the heating. And I have small children, they get sick all the time,” complains Anika, a resident of Ida-Virumaa.

The woman said that the electricity bill this year has increased several times. In order to save money, she began to wash and cook on an electric stove only at night, but this still does not help, because prices in stores are rising faster than her salary. Inflation in Estonia is over 25%, the highest rate in the EU.

Oleg Nikolaevich, a resident of Narva, also confirmed that residents of apartment buildings are in no hurry to turn on the heating, fearing that many families will not be able to pay utility bills.

“In the summer we repaired the house, insulated the facade, caulked every crack, changed windows and doors. The expenses turned out to be impressive, so the HOA had to take out a loan, but now many banks are raising interest rates on loans, and we are afraid that our repairs will cost us more than the savings we expected. In general, they changed the awl for soap,” the man says.

Many Estonians believe that the government of their country deliberately torpedoes the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in order to divert the attention of their citizens from domestic economic problems. It seems that Estonian politicians themselves are beginning to realize that they have played the “war game”.

Recently, President Alar Karis urged his colleagues in the government to watch the language. “We have to be very selective in how we speak so that there is no misconception that there is already a war going on in Estonia and it is not possible to invest in our country. Otherwise, tourists will not come to us. We don’t have a war here, we have a normal life, it’s worth coming here and investing,” he said.

However, his fellow citizens have a different opinion on this.

“We live like my grandmother during the war, we walk around the house in felt boots and jackets, we drown the potbelly stove with dead wood, we count every penny, and soldiers from the NATO garrison drive jeeps through our streets. Which tourist wants to visit us? How can we surprise them?” she asks.