https://ekspress.delfi.ee/artikkel/120320866/konkurentide-kius-voi-ebaeetiline-ari-linnahaigla-noukogu-esinaise-hea-elu

As if it’s nothing, but the head of the politically appointed hospital board advertises its services with clearly medical arguments. What because she runs a beauty salon of all things.

Liina Normet herself considers the whole following story to be an attack by envious political rivals.

And he is certainly partly right. Ekspres’s attention to Normet’s person has been drawn, among others, by the rivals of his current home party.

But Normet is still the chairwoman of the council of Ida-Tallinn Central Hospital. This is a very important position. It is the head of the council who has to keep a close eye on whether the hospital is still managed as the owner, the city of Tallinn, wants. And to help find everything that is wrong in the hospital.

And currently, the merger of all medical institutions belonging to the city of Tallinn is also being discussed. It is the heads of hospital councils that play a significant role in this process. They have to implement the political will.

According to Normet, the fact that he and his family moved to Dubai makes people jealous.

It is possible, but at least some of them raise an eyebrow at the way Normet runs its business and has given it a boost with the fact of being part of the hospital’s council.

Good life

Liina Normet is really everywhere. In the meantime, to Dubai. Then to Tallinn. City Council. Hospital council. To give a lecture on nutrition. “Pussy chairs” for sale. And so on.

Also divided into several political parties. To the Reform Party (member 2008–2013), to Sotsi (2013–2018), to Estonia 200 (2018–2020), to Estonia 200 (2020–2023), to Sotsi (2023 to today).

As if it’s nothing, but the head of the politically appointed hospital board advertises its services with clearly medical arguments. What because she runs a beauty salon of all things.

Liina Normet herself considers the whole following story to be an attack by envious political rivals.

And he is certainly partly right. Ekspres’s attention to Normet’s person has been drawn, among others, by the rivals of his current home party.

But Normet is still the chairwoman of the council of Ida-Tallinn Central Hospital. This is a very important position. It is the head of the council who has to keep a close eye on whether the hospital is still managed as the owner, the city of Tallinn, wants. And to help find everything that is wrong in the hospital.

And currently, the merger of all medical institutions belonging to the city of Tallinn is also being discussed. It is the heads of hospital councils that play a significant role in this process. They have to implement the political will.

According to Normet, the fact that he and his family moved to Dubai makes people jealous.

Possibly, but at least some of them raise an eyebrow at the way Normet runs his business and has given it a boost with the fact of being part of the hospital’s council

Office for advertising

However, Normet has also promoted itself in a different way. At the moment when Ekspress contacted Normet, there was, for example, an advertising text on the website of her beauty salon for the training offered, in which Normet was titled as “Chairwoman of the Board of East Tallinn Central Hospital”.

Namely the board, not the council.

“Oh, now that’s something you have to talk to him about,” a top municipal politician is genuinely surprised.

According to Normet, however, they have a social media specialist on their payroll to prepare such texts, and he did not write it himself.

The chairman of the council does not think that highlighting a position related to the hospital means promoting a private business with his position: “Here is purely a description of who I am. If it really bothers someone, I can take it down from there.”

And that’s what Normet did.

The whole marketing activity of Normet sometimes resembles a TopShop advertisement when viewed from the side.

Buy now, so awesome, or you’ll miss out! And you’ll also get a gift on top of the goods!

For example, Normet promotes the same nutrition training very actively on social media: “By the way, on October 14, I have a super cool, super useful lecture evening in Estonia for cool women 35+.”

“I give mega many useful hints. Half of this event is sold out in two days. Get yourself a ticket because it’s just that awesome. And this carpet, the women we have, are so-so hot.”

That’s not all.

“I give you a lot of health tips, tips on nutrition, weight loss, I pass on all my best knowledge there. In addition, I offer exclusive discount offers, keep an eye out!”

This is not the first time Normet has organized its own nutrition training. Less than a day had passed since the previous training, when Normet already announced: “Because the event was so popular, people wrote that they wanted to participate, but couldn’t, so we already put up a new link!”

Big markup or not?

Normet, who has also worked as a sales and marketing manager for many years, is visibly good at sales.

For example, at the Normet beauty salon, you can buy a device for 45 euros, which on the company’s website is called a face and neck skin tightener.

It can rejuvenate the skin, reduce wrinkles and relieve skin inflammation.

Sounds like a total wonder gadget? Ekspress does not know if it will help against everything promised.

However, anyone can order exactly the same gadget from the giant Chinese online store Aliexpress. There it costs 5 euros instead of 45.

And it looks like the seemingly nine-fold overpriced gadget is doing well. When Normet promoted it on his social media account in August, he had to post an apology the very next day.

“After my video yesterday, we sold out of the warehouse. But the new machines have already been ordered today. They will arrive in about four weeks. I ordered a limited amount of them, so hurry up to place your order!” announced the municipal politician-businesswoman-council leader.

Normet himself notes that his company definitely does not buy anything from Aliexpress. Equipment is purchased directly from manufacturers.

Normet also explains the real profit margin of the device to Ekspres. We won’t divulge trade secrets, but we will say that the purchase price of the device, according to Normet, is higher than Aliexpress’s measly five euros. At the same time, however, it is many times smaller than 45 euros.

According to the businesswoman, the purchase price of the product must also include transportation costs, VAT, customs duties, warehouse rent, utilities, website management, employee salaries, and so on. And in case of problems, he must be ready to replace the device.

He gives the example of a pizza restaurant, where ingredients can cost 2 euros, but a pizza can cost 10 euros. Because raw materials are only a small part of the total cost.

Ekspress does not know how big the real profit margin is for selling such gadgets. And it’s not appropriate to ask either – it’s a trade secret of every entrepreneur.

Otherwise, it could be judged from the annual report, but the Normet beauty salon is so fresh that it has not yet had to submit a report.

Medical claims

One thing is business. Normet can do it a lot if he wants. And ask for as much money as you want for each product. Estonia is a free country. Unlike China, where such stuff is produced, the Estonian government does not restrict doing business in any way.

No one forbids Normet from making appeals on social media to buy the device, which he himself calls a “pussy chair” with an installment plan: “Until the end of September, this highly efficient device is €50 cheaper on the website. You can also purchase this device by installments.”

However, the way to sell all the stuff is another thing.

Let’s take the same “potty chair” for example. The device, whose official name on the Normet beauty salon website is the pelvic floor muscle training device. In the Chinese online store Temu, the same device is sold as a “female urinary incontinence treatment device” among others.

Indeed, Normet advertises that it also treats urinary incontinence by the way: “It really works. Treats urinary incontinence, improves the quality of sex life, prevents uterine prolapse. This device is also for men. In men, it treats erectile problems and also helps with ejaculation problems. Both ways – who comes too early or who doesn’t come at all.”

“It will change your life!” he promises.

And he emphasizes in the commercial clip that he also has the competence to assess all of this: “I speak directly as it is. I have been a medical professional for 20 years and I am talking to you about it in simple language.”

Normet has really graduated from Tallinn Health Care College as a nurse. He also likes to emphasize this in his work as chairman of the council: “I still have the competence of a specialist. Therefore, there is not only a politician who does not have education or work experience in this field.”

However, the talk about 20 years of experience as a medical worker is a clear exaggeration. Based on Normet’s own biography, she has worked as a midwife for a short time, but that was almost 20 years ago.

After that, he has been involved in marketing, sales and general business. Yes, he was marketing medical devices, but whether that can be called being a medical professional is another matter.

Ekspress is also not competent to evaluate the medical effects of the devices sold by Normet.

In fact, there are very few people in Estonia who know how to evaluate the effectiveness of, for example, the “potty chair”. The Society of Family Physicians tells Ekspres that this can only be done by a physiotherapist specializing in pelvic floor muscles.

And they are such busy professionals that Ekspres did not manage to get a comment from them at the beginning of the week. So we are left to state that Normet does not have the appropriate education, but neither the businesswoman nor Ekspres have the competence to evaluate the effectiveness of the product she sells.

Normet himself asks Ekspress not to publish this story: “I would really appreciate it if you didn’t touch my business. It’s not true and it has a very, very bad effect.”