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- BLS boss Bernard Guillelmon resigns. This is announced by the BLS.
- With this, the railway patron draws conclusions from the issue of excessive subsidies.
- Guillelmons’ successor takes over from BLS Cargo Acting Chief Dirk Stahl.
- Guillelmon emphasizes that no one has personally benefited.
Guillelmon has made a significant contribution to clarifying open questions, reports the BLS.
Keystone
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) investigation report on the accounting division of BLS areas entitled to compensation confirms that the railway company has an “overly complex accounting system and needs improvement,” the BLS announced. Accounting is only partially transparent.
It emerged in February that BLS had not budgeted for half-fare travel card sales on the Libero network for several years. As a result, the company received overcompensation from the federal government and the cantons for regional passenger transport.
The railway company had to reimburse the Federal Office for Transport (FOT) 43.6 million francs in subsidies. Subsequently, the BLS promised improvements and commissioned PwC to conduct an investigation.
A year earlier, the BLS had come under fire for a flawed interest rate smoothing model. This amounted to overpayments of 29.4 million Swiss francs.
Looking back, “a mistake”
VR President Rudolf Stämpfli admitted that the responsible BLS departments knew that Libero’s half-rate revenue was not included in the offers. According to PwC’s investigation, BLS management knew this since spring 2017.
This was seen as a counterpart to unacceptable costs “in the sense of a negotiated solution,” Stämpfli said. Guillelmon said that management had then accepted this as an economic “risk minimization”. “From today’s perspective, it is a mistake.”
Virtual reality must now approve offers
You don’t want to do “any money laundering,” said board member Ueli Dietiker, chairman of the finance and audit committee. The need for improvement has been recognized and measures have been initiated. The submission of offers must now also be approved by the Board of Directors. In addition, risk analysis will be strengthened.
PwC’s auditors also identified a “conflict of objectives” between the earnings goals set by the Board of Directors and BLS’s business activities. The earnings target was set as an incentive for economical use of the funds, Dietiker said.
A profit target of 25-30 million francs was set for 2011-2018, on sales of one billion francs. Dietiker emphasized that there has been no profit target in the BLS budget since 2019.
Resignation of the boss after 12 years
For Guillelmon, the release of the SFAO report was the right time to “put the implementation in new hands,” the company writes. Guillelmon, who led the BLS for 12 years, made a significant contribution to clarifying the open questions.
Starting in November 2020, BLS Cargo Head Dirk Stahl will lead the company as CEO on an interim basis. A selection committee will determine the new director of the company. For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rudolf Stämpfli, will resign in May 2021 after a 12-year term.
