Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
It’s hot out there again and summer is around the corner – the thermometer is in the high 20s across most of the country. But it remains a chilly time for Russian oligarchs.
Switzerland has a reputation as a popular destination for Moscow's elite and a holding place for Russian wealth. How much Russian money has been frozen in the Alpine country and who does it belong to? A Swiss government official today gave the latest update.
In the news: frozen Russian assets, an egg-sized white diamond, Ukrainian refugees at university, food waste and 5G concerns.
- The Swiss government reportedExternal link CHF6.3 billion ($6.33 billion) worth of Russianassets frozen under sanctions to punish Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a drop from early April as around CHF3.4 billion in provisionally blocked assets were released. Swiss banks hold up to CHF200 billion of Russian wealth, Switzerland’s bank lobby estimates.
- “The Rock”, an egg-sized white diamond (photo above) – the largest of its kind to go up for auction – soldExternal link for more than CHF21.6 million ($21.75 million) in Geneva.
- Swiss prosecutors should re-examine a money laundering case linked to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, says the British-US financier Bill Browder who brought the original complaint.
- Swiss opinion over the expansion of the 5G telecommunications network is still split down the middle, according to the latest survey on the subject.
- The Swiss government has signed an agreement with around 30 leading food companies and associations to find ways to reduce food waste in Switzerland. By 2030, they wantExternal link to halve food waste losses compared with the level of 2017. One-third of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted; in Switzerland, this represents 330 kg per resident per year.
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The number of new Ukrainian refugees arriving in Switzerland has slowed.
More than 5.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the war began on February, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Monday.
Most have entered countries on Ukraine’s western border: more than 3 million people have fled to Poland, while more than 817,000 others have fled to Romania and around 520,000 have crossed into Hungary, UNHCR statistics show. This figure is expected to continue to rise to 8.3 million by the end of the year.
Almost 48,500 Ukrainian refugees have been registered in Switzerland. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) told reporters today that the number of arrivals had slowed from around 700 a day to between 300-500 a day. The government expects a total of between 80,000-120,000 refugees by autumn.
The share of new arrivals is uneven across the country. Some cantons are still welcoming too many refugees, and others not enough, said SEM.
In separate news, universities in Switzerland reported that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who have fled the war-torn country have contacted higher education institutions to attend classes.
A fourth Covid booster shot on the horizon.
The Federal Commission for Vaccinations is likely to recommend a fourth booster shot in autumn to protect against Covid-19, Swiss public radio, SRF, reportedExternal link today.
In an interview with SRF, Vaccination Commission President Christoph Berger said in the “probable scenario” the booster would likely only be for vulnerable groups. It will be communicated in early summer.
Neighbouring Germany and Austria are already recommending a second booster shot for risk groups and for all 70-80 year-olds.
New infections meanwhile continue to fall in Switzerland and fears have subsided that Covid-related hospitalisations may overwhelm the healthcare system.
In related news today, Switzerland’s biggest hospitals held a joint press conference to underline the severe financial pressures they have faced due to the pandemic.
According to initial calculationsExternal link, the five biggest, and busiest, university hospitals in Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel and Zurich reported a cumulative loss of CHF80 million francs over two years. The hospital directors are calling for additional state funds.
Absurdist pop duo Yello wins Swiss music prize.
The Swiss electronic pioneers – Dieter Meier (photo above) and Boris Blank – have been honoured for their services to electronic music. The duo are set to receive Switzerland’s biggest music award – the Grand Prix Music 2022 – and pick up CHF100,000 ($100,400) in September, the culture office saidExternal link on Thursday.
Yello has been “distinguished for its originality, influence and decisive impact on electronic music”, the culture office said.
Originally founded in the late 1970s as a trio, Yello is best known for its 1985 hit Oh Yeah (which featured in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and numerous commercials) or 1988’s The Race. But the group has now racked up 14 studio albums; the most recent Point was released in 2020.
Mixing pop, dance and avant-garde styles, music samples, percussive rhythms and Meier’s distinctive voice, Yello has been hugely influential on the dance and electronic music scene.
“Boris Blank and Dieter Meier have been able to maintain a careful and original production over the years, taking advantage of the process of digitisation in music,” the culture office said.
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