As of Thursday morning, there are 34 companies on the Nasdaq Baltic's main list. Head of Tallinn Stock Exchange Kaarel Ots believes the rise in the index is not surprising, as it is not caused but the number of companies but their market values.

"The stock exchange is at its highest level ever right now, beating the previous record by a few points. One company has been added this year, so it's been a rather quiet period and it's the market values of existing companies that have risen," said Ots.

Marek Randma, head of equity research at LHV Baltikum, said the Tallinn Stock Exchange has seen virtually no movement over the last few years.

"If you look at the 16 percent return over the last three years, it means that the total return over the previous two and a half years was zero percent. Now this year's 16 percent return is driven by a couple of solid and strong stocks. One of them was Enefit Green, which had a high enough buyout price that it alone lifted the Tallinn Stock Exchange higher, and Merko has also had a pretty good return. There is not much growth left for this year, but we don't expect the stock exchange to fall now," Randma said.

According to Kaarel Ots, the stock exchange is not so much influenced by world events as by Estonia's own economic policy and tax increases, as well as broad-based economic growth and increased competition among companies.

"The stock exchange reflects the economy. It sums up well why we have had such a lack of knowledge for the last three or more years, which on the one hand makes new companies wonder whether it is the right time to come to the stock exchange and what the outlook is for entrepreneurship in general. On the other hand, retail investors are the biggest contributors to our stock exchange. Forecasting how much money will be in your hands is a rather unattractive trend," Ots said.

"The stock exchange measures confidence – whether investors believe that entrepreneurship and companies have potential. Potential, in my view, can come when there is ambition on the one hand and the conditions to grow on the other. That's how we get to the point where we have supply and demand, which then drives company shares either up or down," Ots added.

International investors do not find the Baltic region attractive, according to Ots. "Geopolitical factors play a role here, and local investors have a slightly stronger nerve," he said.

Marek Randma agrees that interest among international investors in the Baltic states is lukewarm on the whole.

"A large number of foreign investors have left the Baltics. And now when companies want to make initial public offerings (IPOs) to come to the stock exchange, there is no interest from foreign investors. Investors have to be found from among the institutional investors in Estonia or, to a large extent, small investors," Randma said.

A company goes public if, for example, it wants to make extra money by selling shares. However, going public is costly, requiring both financial and bureaucratic effort from the company. Not all businesses are prepared to do this, said Marek Randma, adding that a bank loan is an easier way of raising additional funds.

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