Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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...

Severin Schwan is also CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas Credit Suisse announced on Monday that Vice-Chair Severin Schwan would not stand for re-election. This follows a reported rebellion by large shareholder groups at the Swiss bank. “Severin Schwan, who joined the Board in 2014 and has acted as Vice-Chair and Lead Independent Director since 2017, has decided not to stand for re-election,” Credit Suisse said in a statementExternal...

Switzerland plans to open negotiations with Qatar over the potential delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies. The Alpine state is scouting for new energy suppliers, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer brought up the subject with Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi in Doha on Tuesday. Gas makes up roughly 15% of Switzerland’s final energy consumption and is mostly used for heating and cooking. Around half of this...

The war in Ukraine and consequent threat of energy insecurity is forcing many countries to reconsider their existing policies. The ripple effect has also reached Switzerland, which is already reassessing its gas supply for the coming winter. As the largest exporter of oil and gas combined worldwide, Russia represents a critical piece of the global energy puzzle. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the sanctions which followed have already impacted where oil and...

Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the Swiss ambassador to NATO, Philippe Brandt, explains the importance of Switzerland’s partnership with the alliance, which he views as perfectly compatible with Swiss neutrality. SWI swissinfo.ch: Has your role as head of the Swiss mission to NATO changed since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine? Philippe Brandt: We are living through a very intense time. Our role as a mission hasn’t fundamentally changed. We are closely...

German-born Stefanie Hessler, 35, will head the Swiss art space starting in May. Her appointment is part of several rearrangements in institutions run by the pharma billionaire Maja Hoffmann. Last October, the Swiss Institute, a non-profit contemporary art space in New York, announced that board chair Maja Hoffmann, one of the heiresses of the Roche pharmaceutical company, had been elected president of the board of trustees. Soon afterwards, in November, the former...

Big consumer brands are leaving Russia in droves but for many Swiss companies untangling ties isn’t that easy. Last week Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli joined a chorus of brands like McDonald’s closing shops and suspending deliveries to Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The decision by Lindt & Sprüngli took some by surprise. The company’s CEO, Dieter Weisskopf, had said during its annual results call a day before, that it was planning to keep...

The Swiss economics ministry has downgraded its growth forecast for 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. But it still predicts a solid post-pandemic upswing. After a couple of years impacted by Covid-19, 2022 should yet see Swiss gross domestic product (GDP) grow by 2.8%, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said on MondayExternal link in a quarterly assessment – down from the 3% predicted last December. While the war will have an impact, Swiss economic ties...

The Swiss banks are hit by European Union sanctions against Russian clients. © Keystone/Christian Beutler Swiss banks hold between CHF150 billion and CHF200 billion ($160-$214 billion) in assets belonging to Russian clients, according to the Swiss Bankers Association. The president of the associationExternal link, Marcel Rohner, made the estimate at the group’s annual news conference on Tuesday. Overall in 2020, Swiss banks had assets under management totaling...