Bronze Soldier removal turned into $US 700 MLN losses for Estonia

German’s Die Deutsche Zeitung writes that the Estonian government has announced the total sum of its financial losses as a result of the removal of a Soviet war memorial from central Tallinn last April at $US 700 MLN.

The losses occurred not only as a result of the large scale riots that followed the relocation.

Estonia also reported a 13 per cent loss in transit profits through its main seaport, as a result of the fact that Russian exports began to seek alternative routes.

But Russia never introduced any official economic embargoes after the memorial's relocation, and a year on, officials say political relations between the two countries are moving forward.