Sun, Apr 14th 2024
The convicted head of the Bürgenstock resort, a Russian Swiss citizen indicted: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
Swiss-Russian citizen Vladislav Osipov has spoken out about his indictment by the US law enforcement agency, the FBI. “I am being completely unjustly pilloried by the USA,” said Osipov in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.
He vehemently denied all accusations. The FBI accuses him of helping Viktor Vekelsberg, a well-known investor in Switzerland, to circumvent US sanctions. The USA put a bounty of one million dollars on his head. Osipov denied that he had gone into hiding. His whereabouts are known to the FBI and other US authorities.
The Department of Defense wants to make it easier for foreign armed forces to travel through Switzerland in future. To date, Switzerland has not been involved in cross-border troop transports, also known as “Pesco” (Permanent Structured Cooperation) or “Schengen of the Armed Forces”, as SonntagsBlick wrote.
The newspaper was provided with a draft from the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). It stated that Switzerland could benefit from Pesco in order to simplify cooperation with neighbouring countries. On Monday, military vehicles of the French army will drive through Switzerland on their way to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Climate activists have announced a series of political protests in the wake of the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. The actions are intended to “draw attention to the urgency of the situation and the need for action”, according to a letter from the “Drop Fossil Subsidies” group addressed to the Federal Council. The letter was made available to “SonntagsBlick”. For example, the group is calling for tax breaks for airlines to be scrapped. The group did not say exactly what actions it was planning.
A third of the Covid loans granted to the catering industry have been repaid so far. The sector received the most support during the coronavirus pandemic with around 14,600 loans, as SonntagsBlick wrote.
This was followed by the construction site work and building installations sector with a good 13,100 loans granted. This sector has repaid 40% of Covid loans to date. Companies in the healthcare sector are the most exemplary. According to the newspaper, they have paid back two thirds of the support contributions.
The head of the resort on the Bürgenstock NW is in prison. At the beginning of the year, Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al-Thani, a high-ranking member of the Qatari ruling family and brother of the former prime minister, was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of 207 million francs, according to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
He is alleged to have embezzled public funds. The sheikh headed Katara Hospitality until his arrest. According to the SonntagsZeitung, the parent company also owns the Hotel Schweizerhof in Bern and the Savoy in Lausanne in addition to the Bürgenstock Resort. According to the newspaper, the new Swiss director of the Bürgenstock Resort, Chris Franzen, did not wish to comment on the conviction.
Inconsistencies have arisen in the construction project of Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris on the Isleten peninsula in the canton of Uri. The Aargau real estate investor Christoph Schoop had submitted an offer for the site before Sawiris, as the SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported.
In contrast to Sawiris’ project, Christoph’s project would of respected the protected landscape. Schoop’s purchase contract only had to be signed, the newspaper wrote. Sawiris was then awarded the contract. Schoop believes that Sawiris was informed of his plans at an early stage. The man from Aargau had offered eight million francs, Sawiris ten million francs.
©Keystone/SDA
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