Swiss Post: Largest part of the deficit will not be passed on to publishers
Swiss Post has responded to the remarks made at the general meeting of the Swiss Press Association: Swiss Post passes on only a small portion of the deficit it incurs from newspaper and magazine distribution to the publishers.
Swiss Post has responded to the comments made at the general meeting of the Swiss Press Association: Swiss Post is only passing on a small part of the deficit it incurs from newspaper and magazine distribution to publishers. Just under a fifth would be covered by the planned price increases for 2010. The loss of subsidies and inflation have further exacerbated the situation and the deficit amounts to almost CHF 100 million, as Swiss Post spokesman Oliver Flüeler told the SDA news agency on Thursday.
Swiss Post understands the difficult economic situation of publishers and is therefore planning to pass on just under a fifth of the deficit to publishers. The remaining costs of around CHF 80 million will be borne by Swiss Post. The plan is to increase prices for the transportation of newspapers without press subsidies by 5 percent, while the maximum increase for titles with press subsidies will be 12 percent. Even after the planned increase, the transport costs for newspapers and magazines are still around 30 percent cheaper in Switzerland compared to neighboring countries such as Germany or Austria, as Flüeler emphasized.
The publishers had already been accommodated in 2008. When the federal subsidies for press promotion were reduced by 50 million in 2007, Swiss Post had borne 30 million itself. As a result of the rate increase at that time, 20 million was taken over by the publishers, concluded Flüeler.
Swiss Post understands the difficult economic situation of publishers and is therefore planning to pass on just under a fifth of the deficit to publishers. The remaining costs of around CHF 80 million will be borne by Swiss Post. The plan is to increase prices for the transportation of newspapers without press subsidies by 5 percent, while the maximum increase for titles with press subsidies will be 12 percent. Even after the planned increase, the transport costs for newspapers and magazines are still around 30 percent cheaper in Switzerland compared to neighboring countries such as Germany or Austria, as Flüeler emphasized.
The publishers had already been accommodated in 2008. When the federal subsidies for press promotion were reduced by 50 million in 2007, Swiss Post had borne 30 million itself. As a result of the rate increase at that time, 20 million was taken over by the publishers, concluded Flüeler.
