No new government unit to monitor state firms after PostBus scandal
The government has rejected demands from a parliamentary commission to change the way it monitors state-owned companies. This follows an illegal subsidies scam by the transport unit of the Swiss postal service.
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The PostBusExternal link unit claimed tens of millions of francs in illegal Swiss state subsidies, which it funneled into a loss-making French subsidiary. The scandal cost the jobs of top executives and is still being examined by criminal prosecutors.
The government also came under strong parliamentary and public criticism for failing to earlier spot the abuses that ran from 2007 to 2015.
A parliamentary commission examined the role of the Federal Council, Switzerland’s governing body, in the affair and found several deficiencies. Among them are a conflict of interest in government demands that parent company Swiss PostExternal link makes profits as a group but not from operating its distinctive yellow buses.
The commission recommended the establishment of a new Federal Council body that explicitly supervises state-owned companies such as Swiss Post, Swiss Federal Railways and telecoms company Swisscom.
Government reply
On Friday, the Federal Council issued its reply to the commission’s findings. It rejected the idea of setting up a new supervisory office but agreed to amend the wording of Swiss Post’s charter to erase any potential conflicts of interest in future.
However, the Federal Council denied that the current wording of the charter could have reasonably caused the abuses. It added that the Federal Office of TransportExternal link was implementing stricter compliance measures and would in future coordinate better with the finance ministry.
“The Federal Council unequivocally disapproves of the many years of systematic irregularities at PostBus. As a federal company, Swiss Post must act as a role model, particularly when it comes to handling public funds,” read a statementExternal link.
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Swiss Post sells off French bus unit at heart of subsidy scandal
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CarPostal France was sold on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum to Keolis group. As a result Swiss Post recorded a loss of CHF19 million and a negative exchange rate impact of CHF14 million, reports Swiss public television RTSExternal link. In June, the French bus subsidiary was forced to settle an unfair competition case for €6.2…
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The state-owned PostBus company is to hand back CHF205.3 million ($214 million) following a scandal over illegal subsidies.
Swiss Post admits to illicit funding for PostBus company abroad
This content was published on
Swiss Post, the parent company of PostBus, said an investigation confirmed that the financial situation of PostBus subsidiaries abroad had not been “presented in full”, according to a statement published on Tuesday. The report also showed that CarPostal France and PostBus Liechtenstein were “not charged for all services”. This resulted in around CHF67 million ($67…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.