Corona aid for Swiss & Co – the federal government earned 32 million francs with aviation loans – News

  • During the Corona crisis, the federal government supported the Swiss aviation industry.
  • Now the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) says: The federal government made money by supporting the aviation industry – by August 2021 alone it was around 32 million francs.
  • This is thanks to interest that the supported companies had to pay.

The Confederation guaranteed loans of CHF 1,275 billion for airline companies. It provided a total of CHF 600 million for aviation-related operations, and granted SR Technics (SRT) a default guarantee of a maximum of CHF 79 million.

In the summer of 2020, contracts were signed with Swiss and SRT, as the SFAO writes in a report published on Monday. By the end of August 2021, the federal government had received CHF 32 million as a result of its commitment.

Interest was to be paid on loans taken out. So-called commitment fees, a provision commission, are due on undrawn credit lines and a one-off participation fee upon conclusion of the contract. The federal government receives a share of this income. Swiss and its sister company Edelweiss repaid the guaranteed loan in early June 2022.

Two questions for business editor Jan Baumann


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The federal government is benefiting from the crisis – was that to be expected?

Not necessarily. Because: From a purely financial point of view, we have a happy ending with this aid campaign. But it could have turned out differently. When the federal government made these aid commitments, it took a risk: back then – in the middle of the Corona crisis – it was unclear how the story would end. And that Swiss is already in the black again today is by no means a matter of course. In short: the favorable scenario has come true. Luckily, you could say. That was by no means to be expected from the outset.

To what extent is the case reminiscent of that of UBS 2008?

There is indeed a parallel. And it is important to see that the federal government and the Swiss National Bank also took a considerable risk back then when they helped the big bank, which was considered too big to fail, i.e. too big and important to be abandoned to become. In the end, several billion francs in profits were made for the state. But even then, during the financial crisis, there was a lot at stake. And the public sector has – if you will – been financially compensated for using taxpayers’ money to save a company.

criticism of supervision

The Federal Office for Civil Aviation (Bazl) was responsible for overseeing support for aviation during the pandemic, as the SFAO wrote. However, despite an appropriate organization and clear regulations, it lacked a risk-based supervisory concept and formalized quality assurance.

The SFAO also has doubts about the independence and usefulness of the Aviation Foundation, which was set up in 2020 and has since been dissolved. She had to monitor whether Swiss and Edelweiss adhered to the location requirements associated with the guaranteed loans.

Legend:

Swiss and its sister company Edelweiss repaid the guaranteed loan in early June 2022.

Keystone/Christian Beutler

For the Bazl, this criticism of the foundation, in which the federal government was represented, is incomprehensible. In the 2021 annual report and in the final report, the Luftfahrtstiftung found that Swiss and Edelweiss had met the conditions throughout the loan term, the Bazl wrote in a statement.

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