Tag Archives: 3) Swiss Markets and News

Most of the refugees are women and children. If Switzerland is to benefit from the women’s skills in the workplace, it will have to solve a shortage of childcare places. Keystone / Peter Schneider Switzerland can cope with a large number of Ukrainian refugees, and their skills can benefit the economy, says migration expert Thomas Kessler. “The Ukrainian women will provide new impetus in this country,” he told the SonntagsBlick newspaper. “Especially in the IT sector,...

The number of companies and individuals declaring bankruptcy rose 9.1% last year, which coincided with a gradual withdrawal of state-backed financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some 14,081 businesses and individuals filed for bankruptcy in 2021, which is 1,169 more declarations of insolvency than in 2020, the Federal Statistical Office said on MondayExternal link. The large increase in bankruptcies can be partially explained by the withdrawal of financial...

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are finding that Swiss banks are refusing to convert the cash they brought with them into francs. More than 20,000 people fleeing the Ukraine war have registered in Switzerland so far. But they rely on the goodwill of Swiss families or state to support them as none can pay their way using the hryvnia currency that they have brought with them. Ukranian refugees with a special S PermitExternal link can open a Swiss bank account but...

Anyone using the internet is being watched, and possibly manipulated, via a trail of digital breadcrumbs known as metadata. Two Swiss companies, one backed by former United States military whistleblower Chelsea Manning, are setting up smokescreens to confuse prying eyes and protect web users from big tech companies and government surveillance. Nym Technologies and HOPR employ mix networks (mixnet) to churn together the metadata that people leave behind when they...

Switzerland has signed a declaration along with six other European states in favour of pooling gas storage facilities. Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the declarationExternal link on Wednesday, pledging to work towards coordinating storage efforts on a regional level. The agreement, which is not legally binding, comes after the European Commission announced plans to mandate natural gas storage for EU members each...

The Swiss government did not ban Russian media as has the European Union. Keystone / Mikhail Klimentyev The Swiss government on Friday adopted additional sanctions against Russia for its ongoing war in Ukraine but did not ban the Russian state TV channels Sputnik and Russia Today like the European Union. Switzerland joins the sanctions measures adopted by the European Union on March 9 and 15. It has already imposed a series of sanctions in line with the EU. The first...

A new poll shows that a majority of the Swiss population would be in favour of tougher sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, even if it results in higher energy costs in Switzerland. The poll published on Monday by the Institute Link found that 57% of people surveyed would support the freezing of all assets held in Switzerland by high-ranking Russian officials and government allies. Those questioned would also support de-linking Russian banks from the Swiss...

Authorities have registered over 16,500 refugees from Ukraine in federal asylum centres like the one pictured here in Basel, which Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and the head of the State Secretariat for Migration Christine Schraner Burgener visited last week. © Keystone / Ennio Leanza Diaspora TV Switzerland launched a new service in Ukrainian on Sunday to help meet the information needs of refugees arriving from the war-torn country. The new service, which is...

An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Swiss should be more proactive in looking for Russian funds. But according to a legal expert, current regulations do not allow authorities or banks to do more active searches beyond what’s in their current registers. Zelensky’s advisor, Alexander Rodnyansky, said that for Ukraine, it’s “vital” that Switzerland contributes to international pressure on Russia so the war will end. The Alpine country can make...

L’enfumage de la com occidentale dénoncé dans ce débat. Si la crise ukrainienne a détruit un espace, ce n’est pas le russe mais celui de l’UE. Ecoutez cet échange pour sortir de l’ignorance générée activement par la désinformation diffusée en boucles par certains médias. Transfert et privatisation de la création monétaire, délocalisation des outils de production et d’artisanat historiques, financiarisation des banques centrales et des activités de l’Etat en général,...