Stories of the week. The ax of the tax office hangs over the car business with Czech license plates, and those who can negotiate a mega interest rate on their home loan

But of course there were other good stories.

Ask and it shall be given unto you

On Friday, we wrote that the banks are rapidly crossing peaks in the home loan market, and based on Äripää’s test, a significantly cheaper home loan interest rate than the current average is only a matter of asking away.

According to the statistics of Eesti Pank, as of the end of August, the average home loan interest margin was already 1.6%, but it has also been at 1.5% in a couple of months – July and March.

Anne Pärgma from Swedbank has now revealed that their new loan margin is on average 1.65%, stating that the margins have fallen somewhat. Competitors, on average, offer even more affordable loans, and you can get much more affordable deals by asking for the home loan interest yourself.

For example, a few weeks ago, the interest rate on the loan taken out for an older panel house was significantly reduced. If the previous interest was 1.68%, now SEB agreed to lower it to 1.5%. This is much lower than the bank’s average.

A larger variety of trading at SEB also led to the next home loan customer. If the previous interest was 1.57% and after some trading it was possible to get it to 1.45%, but after more trading the diligent inquirer already achieved 1.35%.

The Tax Office shares land with JMV

The Czech company JMV Motors, which brought a lot of cars with Czech license plates to Estonia, is having a heated argument with the tax office, which seized a huge amount from the company’s account. If years ago the tax office said that JMV’s business was not problematic, now the wind has turned.

The business of JMV Motors, a luxury car rental and seller that has been operating for a few years, is picking up steam in 2017. The company is moving to Ülemiste township in Tallinn, in the same building as the tax office.

“One tax official, Siim Tamm, knocked on the door. Said friends, you are in the car business, you have some interesting Czech numbers here. Could you please tell me what the reason is?” JMV owner Jaak Laiksoo recalled.

The tax administrator and Laiksoo and the latter’s business partner Virgo Veiman sat down together.

A trade secret was violated by going to the competitor’s salary

The road construction company Trev-2 Grupp went to court against a long-term employee hired by a competitor, who forwarded to him documents containing business secrets in the last weeks of work.

The district court now found that the employee violated a trade secret.

A longtime employee of Trev-2 sent documents containing trade secrets to his personal email address in the weeks before he left the company and then took a job at its biggest competitor, Verston. Trev-2 Grupp and Verston are both the largest infrastructure companies in Estonia, whose turnover numbers were the highest among road builders last year.

Deal or nothing

Planet42 founder Eerik Oja informed investors that there is a deal on the table to sell the South African company to foreign investors for 1.8 million euros, if 75% of Planet42 shareholders approve it. The alternative is bankruptcy.

Oja wrote to investors that all shareholders can vote on the proposed deal, which would separate Planet42’s South African and Mexican businesses, creating opportunities for both businesses to survive and hopefully grow in the future.

“If the shareholders approve this transaction, in the future the owners and managers of the South African business will mainly be investors with a South African background, while the owners and managers of the Mexican business will be mainly investors with an Estonian background,” Oja announced.

Also listen to the program summarizing the week “Äripäev etris”: