Rein Otsason oli Eesti majandus teadlane ja pankur 1993

Rein Otsason (24 May 1931 in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Mäeltsemees, Sulev
"Rein Otsason – scientist, politician, banker (by Sulev Mäeltsemees)"
''Estonian Discussions on Economic Policy'', ''25''(1).19 September 2017 https://doi.org/10.15157/tpep.v25i1.13731 Retrieved 29 June 2024 – 30 October 2004 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, Estonia) was an Estonian banker.

Biography

Otsason grew up in southern Estonia. After obtaining secondary education he came to study in

and graduated in 1954 from

Tallinn Polytechnical Institute Established in 1918, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech; et, Tallinna Tehnikaülikool) is the only technical university in Estonia. TalTech, in the capital city of Tallinn, is a university for engineering, business, public administratio ...

as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He became one of the leading researchers on economics, being finally nominated as the Director of the Institute of Economics at the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Otsason completed a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in Economics in 1984. From 1988 to 1989 he worked as the Head of the State Plan Committee of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

. Those years were the beginning of Estonia breaking away from the Soviet system. On 15 December 1989, the Estonian government decided to establish the

Bank of Estonia Bank of Estonia ( et, Eesti Pank) is the central bank of Estonia as well as a member of the Eurosystem organisation of euro area central banks. The Bank of Estonia also belongs to the European System of Central Banks. Until 2010, the bank is ...

(''Eesti Pank''). On 28 December 1989 the Bank Law of the Republic of Estonia was passed and Otsason was appointed the first President of the Bank of Estonia. On 1 January 1990, the Bank of Estonia began its work as independent bank of issue.

Bank of Estonia

Otsason led the Bank of Estonia in its very first years when legal acts regulating the activities of the bank were created and

monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...

to re-establish Estonian kroon as the

national currency Fiat money (from la, fiat, "let it be done") is a type of currency that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver. It is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender. Throughout history, fiat money was sometime ...

of Estonia was prepared. On 15 March 1990 the Statutes of the Bank of Estonia were approved; on 15 May 1990 the procedure for establishment of commercial banks was established. The programmes for transition to national currency were finished in November 1990 and the next year started the preparations for monetary reform. Otsason participated in the work of Monetary Reform Committee established on 27 March 1991 and led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar (31 May 1950 – 29 December 2022) was an Estonian politician, one of the founding members of Popular Front of Estonia and the Centre Party. He served as the acting Prime Minister of Estonia, Minister of the Interior, Minister ...

. He signed on 10 May 1991 a contract with the company Thomas De La Rue & Co Ltd. for printing banknotes of Estonian kroons. Although his work was crucial for the success of monetary reform, he was not the one to supervise the reform. His wish to postpone the monetary reform until a way would be found to alleviate social problems caused by the reform led to confrontation with his superiors and on 23 September 1991 he was replaced with

Siim Kallas Siim Kallas (; born 2 October 1948) is an Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia, and former European Commissioner. He served as the European Commissioner for Transport between 2010 and 2014. Before that he was the European Commi ...

. The reform took place on 20 June 1992. Otsason and

are often called the "fathers of Estonian kroon". Otsason was decorated by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the Republic with the Estonian Order of the Coat of Arms, 4th class (2003).

Estonian Credit Bank

Otsason started to work on creating his own bank. The commercial bank known as Estonian Credit Bank (''Eesti Krediidipank'') was established on 15 March 1992. Otsason was the leader of the bank from its establishment till his death, first as the

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and post 2000 as the Chairman of the Council. He and his wife Valentina Otsason were also the main

shareholders A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal owner ...

of the Estonian Credit Bank. Using his extensive knowledge and connections, he managed to maintain the bank even during the economical and financial crisis of 1997–1999 when numerous small financial institutions went bankrupt. As the President of the Estonian Credit Bank, he was also a board member of the Estonian Banking Association (''Eesti Pangaliit''). In 2003, Otsason started co-operation with the

Bank of Moscow The Bank of Moscow (russian: Банк Москвы) was a Russian bank that provided banking services to both corporate and retail customers until May 2016. Headquartered in Moscow, the bank had 267 outlets, including branch offices and cash desks ...

, which obtained 18.69% of the

shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...

of the Estonian Credit Bank through its subsidiary company Latvian Business Bank. After Otsason's death, the Latvian Business Bank became a major shareholder of the Estonian Credit Bank, obtaining 60% of shares on 2 August 2005.

Politics

Otsason was a member of the Union for the Republic - Res Publica and was a candidate at the

2003 Estonian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Estonia on 2 March 2003. The newly elected 101 members of the 10th Riigikogu assembled at Toompea Castle in Tallinn within ten days of the election. Two opposing parties won the most seats, with both the Ce ...

. He was elected to the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu), but turned down his seat and decided to continue his work in the bank.

Career

*1980–1984 First Secretary, Soviet embassy,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

*1984–1988 Director of the Institute of Economics at the

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences ( et, Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to ...

*1988–1989 Head of the Estonian State Plan Committee *1989–1991 President of the

*1992–2004 President of the Estonian Credit Bank *1992–2000 Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Credit Bank *2000–2004 Chairman of the Council of the Estonian Credit Bank

References