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Axe falls on federal jobs as budget cuts bite

This content was published on Apr 13, 2005 The federal authorities intend to axe more than 4,000 civil-service jobs by 2010 as part of an ongoing programme to balance the books. Unions condemned the move as a “pointless reorganisation”, adding that federal administration staff were bearing the brunt of government belt-tightening. Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz pointed out that half of the savings would…

Sleepless nights for Swiss caterers

This content was published on Apr 13, 2005 Gastrosuisse, the restaurant and hotel owners’ association, complained on Wednesday about the recently lowered legal alcohol limit, the anti-smoking lobby, VAT and excessive regulations. “We need a breather,” Klaus Künzli, the organisation’s president, told the industry’s annual news conference. According to Gastrosuisse, the main problem is that there are 10,000 outlets too many. To reduce…

Nestlé corporate governance row heats up

This content was published on Apr 13, 2005 CEO Peter Brabeck, the Swiss food giant’s choice to succeed Rainer Gut as board chairman, has upped the stakes by threatening to resign if he doesn’t get his way. The company issued a statement on Monday denying press reports that the entire board had also threatened to step down if shareholders who oppose the double…

Swiss tsunami aid project faces delays

This content was published on Apr 13, 2005 Switzerland is currently negotiating with the Thai authorities about the right to build houses on parts of the island. During a tour of tsunami-hit countries in January, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey unveiled plans to invest millions of francs in the rebuilding of three Thai villages on two remote islands. Reconstruction work on the island…

Nestlé boss Brabeck threatens to quit

This content was published on Apr 12, 2005 The board will resign too, if a group of shareholders opposing the double mandate succeeds in derailing the company’s plan, a Nestlé spokesman has confirmed. Nestlé, which has its headquarters at Vevey on Lake Geneva in western Switzerland, has proposed Brabeck take on the role of both CEO and chairman when current chairman Rainer Gut…

Hotel owners pay high price for luxury

This content was published on Apr 12, 2005 As some of the hotels undergo a complete makeover, there are calls for more to be done to respect the historical substance of the older properties. The 34 members of the Swiss Deluxe Hotels reads like a who’s who of the industry, with many dating back to the 19th and early 20th century – tourism’s…

Roche spin-off plans float to fund drug trials

This content was published on Apr 12, 2005 The aim of the initial public offering (IPO), for which no date has yet been set, is to raise sufficient capital to pay for the trials of Iclaprim, the firm’s lead drug candidate. Iclaprim targets skin and skin structure bacterial infections that are increasingly resistant to existing antibiotics. Management at Arpida, which is based in…

Swiss pay highest rents in Europe

This content was published on Apr 12, 2005 The Swiss Tenants’ Association (STA), which commissioned the survey, said that rental costs for flats and houses have rocketed by 85 per cent in the past two decades. It found that rents in Switzerland are double the average paid by tenants in the European Union and that the Swiss spend on average 18 per cent…

Casinos hit the jackpot

This content was published on Apr 12, 2005 But the gambling joints were not the only ones to strike it lucky, as more than half of their earnings flowed into the coffers of the government and cantons. In all, SFr316 million of the casinos’ gross takings in 2004 are destined for the federal welfare system and SFr54 million will go to the cantons…

UNDP chief points the finger at Switzerland

This content was published on Apr 11, 2005 Malloch Brown argued that the country was cutting its contributions at a time when others were doing the opposite. He issued a “warning” to the Swiss authorities, in particular parliament, during a visit to Bern on Monday. He told them that Switzerland had still not achieved its often-stated goal of contributing 0.4 per cent of…

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Axe falls on federal jobs as budget cuts bite

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Sleepless nights for Swiss caterers

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Nestlé corporate governance row heats up

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Swiss tsunami aid project faces delays

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Nestlé boss Brabeck threatens to quit

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Hotel owners pay high price for luxury

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Roche spin-off plans float to fund drug trials

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Swiss pay highest rents in Europe

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Casinos hit the jackpot

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UNDP chief points the finger at Switzerland

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