Ruag: Jürg Rötheli is to become the new chairman of the board

The Federal Council took nine whole months. At the end of February, Ruag announced that Chairman of the Board of Directors Nicolas Perrin would be retiring from his position. This after one Report of the Federal Audit Officewhich made the company appear in a bad light. Since then, the search for a successor has been ongoing.

Because the group is wholly owned by the Confederation, it is the Federal Council that appoints its board of directors. Research by this editorial team showed on Wednesday morning who Viola Amherd had chosen: Jürg Rötheli, current chairman of the board of the ORS Group, which runs accommodation for refugees. The Federal Council as a whole has confirmed Rötheli’s appointment.

ORS is a private, for-profit organization that receives contracts from the federal government, cantons and municipalities. A few years ago it came under criticism: among other things, because it offered low prices for care services for asylum seekers Providers – such as those in the canton of Bern Salvation Army and Caritas – quickly displaced. In 2017, various media – including this editorial team – Abuses in asylum homes run by the ORS were made public. The company is active not only in Switzerland, but also in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Spain and is part of the Serco Group, which is listed on the London stock exchange.

Ruag is being criticized for questionable tank deals

Rötheli had been CEO of ORS Switzerland since 2017 until he gave up this role last July – to himself according to the company to concentrate on his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He made significant changes to the company’s communication strategy and focused on seeking dialogue – including with the media. In recent years, negative headlines have decreased significantly.

At a media conference in Bern, Rötheli emphasized that he was used to dealing with public and media pressure from his current job. Bring calm to the company – or at least ensure calm publicly: That is what Defense Minister Viola Amherd is hoping for from Rötheli.

No federally affiliated company has had anywhere near as many scandals and problems as Ruag in recent years.

It started with a major cyber attack in 2016, which also posed a security risk for the army. In the same year, Ruag bought 96 obsolete Leopard tanks in Italy to use as a spare parts warehouse. For years, little happened with it – apart from the fact that an employee presumably enriched himself from it. Then part of it was resold – without formal approval from the management and the board of directors, as the financial controller discovered during an investigation. When the investigation report was available, Perrin took the consequences and announced his resignation.

Ruag also wanted to push the sale of the Leopard tanks to Germany. And Berlin in turn planned to pass this on to Ukraine. The Ruag leadership pushed the deal forward, even though the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs had made it clear that there would be no approval for it. The Federal Council ultimately stopped the plans.

In addition, the then CEO Brigitte Beck – barely in office – communicated clumsily when it came to Ukraine. She was only in office for around six months. Ruag’s new CEO, Ralph Müller, started last spring. Like Beck, Perrin had already come under criticism for a media appearance. He said 2023 in one Interview with the NZZa discussion about joining NATO is unavoidable for Switzerland.

Before joining ORS, Jürg Rötheli was the CEO of the advertising company Clear Channel. This has been part of the TX Group, of which Tamedia is also a member, since 2023. What was probably more important for his appointment, however, was that he already had experience at a federally-related company: the lawyer was on the executive board of Swisscom for ten years.

The Federal Council wants to be able to better control Ruag

But appointing a new leader is not enough for the Federal Council. He wants even more control over the crisis-ridden company. That’s why he gives Amherd’s people the task of checking what new legal form the Ruag should have. He writes in his press release that the geopolitical situation requires “more dynamic political control than is possible with a private company.”

Ruag has been a private corporation under private law for 30 years. The federal government originally hoped that private individuals would also take part. But to this day he is the only shareholder. As such, he can set the board of directors and the strategic goals – but cannot appoint the CEO or decide on the strategy. It is also apparently unclear what exactly Ruag has to inform the federal government about. This has been a problem recently with the tank shops.

An initial examination by the former director of the Federal Office of Justice showed that a form of organization under public law would be much more suitable for Ruag. The DDPS should now check this again. And at the same time clarify whether it would make sense to integrate Ruag directly into the DDPS or make it a federal office. By mid-2025, Amherd’s people will develop a template on which cantons, parties and other actors can then comment.

Amherd has already made it clear to the media that she is skeptical about the option of integration into the VBS. From their point of view, the Ruag should not become a “big armory”. Rather, she thinks it makes sense for the top management to be close to market developments.

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