Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

Here are the latest news and updates from Tuesday in Switzerland.

Keystone/Pablo Gianinazzi

In the news: fewer people on the train, and estimates about the extent of Russian assets in Switzerland.

• Switzerland’s national railway operator suffered a CHF325 million ($347 million) loss last year, mainly due to reduced travel during the pandemic. The state-run railways said about one-third fewer customers used their trains in 2021, while the cargo unit stagnated. The company nevertheless expects “strong growth in demand over the long term”, especially given the advantages of rail travel for the climate.
• The Swiss Bankers Association estimates that CHF150-200 billion of Russian assets are sitting in Swiss banks. This is from a total of CHF7,879 billion in assets managed in 2020, the association said at its annual press conference. However, it declined to put a number on the amount of funds blocked as a result of the sanctions imposed by Switzerland on various Russian businesses and individuals.
• Parliament has rejected a proposal to re-introduce the option to apply for asylum at Swiss embassies. Opponents of the idea, brought by a left-wing senator, said such a move was impossible to implement and would lead to a wave of asylum requests. They also said the European Union had no plans to do something similar. The right to apply for asylum at Swiss embassies was suspended ten years ago.

© Keystone / Urs Flueeler

As fuel costs rise, Swiss consumers take matters into their own hands.

Even before the war in Ukraine, Switzerland had been considering a possible energy crunch next winter. On February 17, a week before the Russian invasion, the government approved a new hydropower reserve, whereby companies operating Alpine dams and reservoirs will be obliged to retain some energy in return for an unspecified fee. But now that the war, and the subsequent sanctions, have upended geopolitics, supply chains, food imports, and energy supplies, the crunch is not for next winter but for now, as is clear from the prices at petrol stations.

What’s to be done? The right-wing Swiss People’s Party wants authorities to temporarily lift taxes and import duties on fuel. France has already announced something similar – a 15 cent per litre discount on fuel as of April 1. Left-wing groups, on the other hand, don’t want to do anything that might mitigate the effects of the sanctions on Russia (and they presumably also want people to use less fuel anyway). Green Party leader Regula Rytz told SRF that “most people in Switzerland are ready to pay higher prices”, if this can play a part in ending the war.

Some consumers, however, are not ready for this: SRF reportsExternal link that many in the east of the country have been crossing over the border to Austria, where a full tank can be up to CHF30 ($32) cheaper. “At the moment, 30% of our income is from Swiss customers,” an Austrian fuel station owner told SRF. And RSI sawExternal link a similar phenomenon in the border town of Samnaun, which is technically Swiss, but for historical reasons a duty-free jurisdiction. But is it all just about getting a better deal? The Blick newspaper today helps out with some frugal tips of its own, to “hit back at Putin”: drive in as a high a gear as possible; turn off the engine when stopped at traffic lights; and make sure your tyres are pumped up to regulation pressure! Every little helps…

Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Bad weather leads to small, but apparently tasty, 2021 vintage

Another liquid that might be set for a price hike is Swiss wine, after it was reported today that 2021 was the worst harvest since 1957. Frost last April, rain and hail in summer, and mildew in the vines meant only 61 million litres of Swiss wine were produced last year – well down on the ten-year average of 95 million. Canton Valais, the Swiss capital of wine, saw its harvests halved compared to normal. However: where quantity suffers, quality can compensate: according to the Federal Office for AgricultureExternal link, the spell of good weather at the end of the summer helped the grapes to ripen and give an “excitingly aromatic” and “limited but tasty vintage”.

© Keystone / Urs Flueeler

And now for the weather…

After a week of clear skies, people in Switzerland woke to a soft yellowish world today. The “Sahara dust” is back – a weather phenomenon caused by desert storms in north Africa lifting sand high into the air, which is brought to Europe by southerly winds, where it leads to poor visibility, a high density of fine particles in the air, and large amounts of ochre photos (e.g. Lucerne, above). The dust, which was even more remarkable this time last year, has been recorded in Switzerland since 2001, weather service MeteoSuisse writes. It can also lead to what Blick callsExternal link “blood rain”, but there haven’t been sightings of this yet. Tomorrow it’s to be dry, sunny, and very warm for the time of year.