Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Turning down heating in households could help stave off energy rationing, the government says. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The Swiss government has appealed to the population to save on household energy ahead of anticipated electricity and gas shortages this winter. On Wednesday, the government launched a campaign entitled “Energy is scare, let’s not waste it” along with the formation of an Energy Saving Alliance. The plans are backed by cantons, business associations,...

Refined gold bars have their origins monitored, but purchase of raw materials for smelting can slip through the net. Keystone / Martin Ruetschi Swiss legislation is lagging behind in the fight against money laundering, and “seldom anticipates developments at international level”, the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) has warned. SFAO audits have “revealed weaknesses and, hence, financial and reputational risks for the Swiss authorities,” the office said in a report...

Health doesn’t come cheap: and the Swiss are worried about it. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Healthcare costs, the pension system and climate change are the top three burning issues for the Swiss, according to a survey published by the Tamedia group. Covid has slipped out of sight and mind. The cost of healthcare was most pressing for over two-thirds (67%) of the 26,000 respondents, while pensions and the climate were cited by 60% and 56% respectively, wrote Tamedia...

Swiss sockets: currently waiting nervously for the winter ahead. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The head of the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) reckons a winter energy crisis is virtually unavoidable. However, he said the cause of the problem – war in Ukraine – was also difficult to predict. Speaking to SRF public radio on Saturday, Werner Luginbühl said the “exorbitant rise in electricity prices” was already putting certain Swiss businesses into existential...

MOB – GoldenPass The GoldenPass Express (GPX) panoramic train, which will link Montreux to Interlaken without any station changes, will make its debut on December 11. The train will link three popular tourist destinations: Montreux, Gstaad and Interlaken, Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway Company (MOB) said in a statement on Thursday. The journey will take three hours and 15 minutes and passengers can choose between three classes (First, Second and Prestige). The...

Under construction: the new Novartis Pavilion in Basel. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas Of the 1,400 job cuts announced by the pharma giant in Switzerland, up to half of them will involve staff in leadership positions, the company said on Monday. For these executive roles, the consultation process has been finalised, and the first individuals concerned will be informed “in the coming weeks”, said the head of Novartis Switzerland Matthias Leuenberger at a media event in...

Retail and hospitality infrastructure helped drive revenues at Zurich airport. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Switzerland’s busiest airport has posted a CHF55 million ($57 million) net profit for the first six months of the year as post-pandemic air travel picks up. By comparison, Zurich airport made a CHF45 million loss in the corresponding period of 2021, but the newly reported profits still fall well short of the CHF143 million booked in the first six months of...

Hydropower accounts for around 60% of total Swiss electricity production. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller The Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) has laid out plans to hold back hydropower reserves to help compensate for anticipated energy shortages this winter. Elcom wants hydropower operators to hold back up to 666 gigawatt hours of electricity that would normally be sold on the open market. That’s enough to power 150,000 households for a year. The reserves...

Streetlights in Zurich © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Leading voices from business and politics have called on the Swiss government – and in particular economy minister Guy Parmelin – to do more about possible energy and gas shortages over the winter. The energy shortage is “imminent”, Roger Nordmann from the left-wing Social Democratic party told the SonntagsBlick. “The war in Ukraine is causing acute gas shortages. Half of the nuclear power plants in France are at a...

Parmelin says every effort must be made to avoid imposing energy restrictions. ©keystone/peter Schneider The threat of energy shortages in Switzerland this winter should not be over-dramatised, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin has said in response to growing calls at the weekend for government action. A number of business groups and left-leaning political groups voiced concerns in last weekend’s newspapers, with some taking aim at the government for a perceived lack...