Today Eesti Pank disclosed the ten best entries to the design competition for the national side of Estonian euro coins. The selected designs will now proceed to the national telephone vote, which lasts from 4 to 11 December 2004. The design that receives the most votes will be declared the winner on 17 December 2004 the latest. A total of 134 designs were submitted to the competition.

The ten coin sets are introduced on the website of Eesti Pank (www.eestipank.info) and in the press. The designs are displayed within the framework of the exhibition "The Making of the €uro" in Rotermanni Soolaladu (Rotermann Salt Storage), Tallinn, until 5 December.

"We are glad about intensive feedback, and would like to thank all the participants who submitted their designs to the competition. We are expecting active participation in the national telephone vote at the beginning of December," said Vahur Kraft, Governor of Eesti Pank and Chairman of the Jury. "Everybody will be given a chance to decide, which motifs are closest to the heart of Estonian people and a distinguishing representation of Estonia in Europe."

The decision concerning the ten best designs was taken by members of the Jury drawn up by Eesti Pank: Ms Maaja Moppel, Mother of the Year 2004, a music teacher and conductor from Haapsalu; Ms Marika Valk, General Director of the Art Museum of Estonia; President Lennart Meri; Mr Jaan Elken, President of the Estonian Artists' Association; Mr Ando Keskküla, Rector of the Estonian Academy of Arts; Mr Jüri Kuuskemaa, art historian; Mr Harry Liivrand, Art Editor of Eesti Ekspress; Mr Madis Masing, Chairman of the Board of Federation of Estonian Student Unions; Mr Martin Pärn, Extraordinary Professor and Head of Department of Product Design of the Estonian Academy of Arts; Mr Jaak Soans, Head of Department of Sculpture, Faculty of Fine Arts, of the Estonian Academy of Arts; Mr Kalev Uustalu, Head of Department of State Insignia of the State Chancellery, and Vahur Kraft.

The authors or groups of authors of the ten best designs selected by a panel shall be paid remuneration in the amount of 20,000 kroons. Payment of the remuneration shall be conditional on concluding a contract between Eesti Pank and the author or group of authors, according to which all proprietary rights on the design are transferred to Eesti Pank, and the author of the design gives the bank or a third party authorised by the bank the right to make a plaster model or a three-dimensional model required for producing coins based on the design.