 Yes dear Gulchi India Hans ladies and gentlemen This is a nice name that we carry It's really our name and what you see is our new logo of The company and I'm particularly proud of because it will be published tomorrow morning so we will go live with a new intranet and People will will see this Maybe be a bit surprised although it's just a rebranding and we only changed one letter Well, you might guess which one it's the oh before that The oh was like a packaging very geometrical very edgy and now it's round and With this we want to show and symbolize that we want to make in our company the move from Product oriented company to a circular Economy oriented company and this is rather Easy in our case because what we do you see on the top left is We collect waste paper We actually call it recovered paper. It's not waste and Then out of this used paper we produce New paper which you see on the next Picture these rolls and out of these papers we produce packaging. It's corrugated cardboard so each step is a Very nice transformation from one product into the other So on the top right you see the corrugated board and all the things that you can also produce out of it mostly displays for example at the POS and corrugated board is a wonderful product to do almost anything so we want to close the loop and Permanently add value in this circle and that's why this Logo change is happening Now I was asked to talk about bureaucratic encounters of an entrepreneur and I have to build up myself a little bit because it's not really a nice topic that I was given by Hans So let me do this in front of you because first of all We have to build up ourselves as as being strong enough to to Carry to bear these encounters and in our case I can say I'm a happy entrepreneur because something very particular happened in the second half of the 20th century and I do hope your memories are still so good to to remember it really and that was the fall of the Berlin Wall that's that was a very Important happening a kind of a miracle still looking back and I was particularly enthusiastic about it because our products corrugated board are very regional products, they are light. They are voluminous and They cannot travel too far because they are also cheap Unfortunately, so a truck loaded with corrugated board. That's a couple of thousand dollars and you cannot Yeah carry it too far away, so you need the markets the local markets to To be successful and I was always asking myself in my studies in St. Gallen where I by the way also met my wonderful wife, Elizabeth where are the markets of the future and Carrying such a question with you in the 80s, of course gave then the answer at the end of the 80s so actually If you have a very low time preference, then you can also be patient to to wait for the answers and in my case I think that was the reason why I was so enthusiastic in the end of the 80s when I saw what's happening and These were the new markets opening up So corrugated packaging is needed when there is a retail structure that needs Transportation between production to the retail from the retail to the private household And this is in a way. It was a no-brainer for me to to see this opportunity So in the beginning of the 90s 30 years ago, actually, I celebrated my 30 years in August I I went to Jack Republic and I was successful to buy a state-owned company at that time and I think we were only successful because at that time the reigning premier minister We talked about was watch love Claus in Jack Republic and he considered himself as a Very liberal politician, which I would say is also true. Although I heard other stories But as a liberal politician, he was absolutely convinced that he would be elected out of office In the election that happened in 92 So he was really hurrying the privatization process and I remember I was in a hotel in Prague Negotiating day and night to to get the privatization process in this case Done before these elections the 10th of July in 92 happened I think we signed the contract on the 2nd of July and Well, the good thing was that the government was relaxed That was a bit the miracle, but still it was for us the entry in a new market and today we operate Seven plants in Poland and in Jack Republic alone So when I started in the business, we had two plants in Switzerland. That was it today We have 15 plants in five countries and I would say the most Power and energy or you could also say as a sailor the backwind Was given through these opening of new markets because it yeah, basically It was a no-brainer that these markets would develop in the sense that we have seen in the mature markets like Switzerland Germany, I mean West Germany France Spain Italy and so on so This is just to say that this gave us so to speak that the size and the capacity to endure what is today's topic and I just took Some examples just of this year because I I could actually make the whole seminar for four days to tell you about bureaucratic encounters Because there are so many so I just took the last Let's say couple of months is events in 2021 that yes that we had to endure maybe a last remark as a Entrepreneur or a happy entrepreneur is also a fact that we could remain private so that is a very important distinction between a public company and a private company so I could prevent my family or my Predecessing generation family to go public because that was the plan Soon after I entered the company, but I could prevent it. I found some nice banks who gave me some credit to pay out the the other generation and to remain private and Basically me and my wife we we bought our company through our whole life So we really made it private, you know in families. They also tend to become bigger and They tend to become kind of public so if there are dozens of cousins and siblings then The character of the company might also change so it doesn't have necessarily to do Something with being public at the stock exchange and being private as a family company It can also depend on the number of shareholders and in our case. We are just two shareholders and So I am chairman and CEO That's a constellation that would not be or almost not possible from a corporate governance Perspective in public companies if you're chairman and CEO that's heavily criticized if it's ever happening But in our case I I do not follow these rules so to speak and my wife is his country manager, Switzerland So today we operate these 15 plants in five countries. That's Switzerland Germany Czech Republic Poland and Croatia and Reemploy 4,650 people Now what are The things that we encountered this year first point equal payment of salaries So there is that's a thing not only in Switzerland, but there is a law In Switzerland published 1995 I must look it up. It's called In German Bundesgesetz über die Gleichstellung von Frau und Mann So it's a federal law about the equal positioning of male and female In a way for us, it's it's a ridiculous and unimportant thing because discrimination of Sex is I mean, that's no issue in a company How would it or could it be in a company? You are interested to have the best person in the position and you are as an entrepreneur certainly not so stupid to to make a distinction because you would limit Your choice if if you if you do a female male distinction, so it is Something that is absolutely of its nonsense It has no value for us it and we are sure and we know that we do not Discriminate sexes. I mean simply because we are not stupid to do it but but the Legislators sees it differently, so they they have Maybe a born distrust that you're doing such things So what we have to do is make an analysis about the salary You know of female and male and we have to pay of course that analysis and The analysis gives some kind of it's it's a stupid analysis by the way because it's a purely Quantitative one So What it basically does is if a job holder has the same title? male then it is Compared with a job holder the same title female But it's just the name of the function. It's not saying anything Qualitative or quality wise about the job So whatever result comes out of this analysis, it will not reflect something like reality because In our case you could have or you the result was yes We have difference in salary between male and female, but it's it's kind of arbitrary and When you when you go into the details you find out well For example in production, and we are heavily producing Paper corrugated board and so on Then female Do have a little disadvantage? Well, it's obvious they cannot carry as much load Very often they are not so quick or I mean look at Tim. I Mean There is a certain difference between between him and an average female you know worker in production so This difference remains and So to speak we feel sorry for the difference, but of course it reflects also in salary in production Now when you go to office jobs, then when you go in detail, then you see there are Less people reporting to a female officer than to a male officer. So we have a difference in in Responsibility and it's just a result out of Out of reality not out of any discrimination So it's it is something that causes cost this analysis Then you have to justify the analysis make a second analysis About the results of the analysis, and it's a ridiculous thing ending nowhere Unless if it's if it's really big the difference is the Auditors have to make a remark in the auditors report imagine So that's why I put here in brackets Our auditors basically civil servants because you pay the auditors and then they you know Have to make a remark that you do not pay for example female workers the same salary as male workers In our case, I think it can be prevented in a private company. It's not so a big issue and Because we are not so vulnerable You can imagine if you're if your stock is is traded in the stock exchange and there is a remark from the auditor That you are discriminating Basically your your share price is coming down in our case We are a bit relaxed because we don't care about our share price because there is none basically Another element about This non-discrimination is a thing a very ridiculous thing is about candidates so Let's assume you have a job and you have ten candidates. I Mean mathematics shows that you can only take one out of the ten candidates So nine are can can feel potentially discriminated And this is a danger by the way and this is also kind of used if a candidate is refused and Then this candidate is asking for a written Argumentation why he or she was refused then you know one thing There is a lawyer beside You immediately know it because Basically, you are not asking for a written argumentation for your refusal. You might call Make a telephone call. Can you say ah there were ten where where was I was I number two three four? there could be a natural interest in getting these informations but When they want a written argumentation, then you know watch out. There is a lawyer and The funny thing in this law is I read article six Basically, I can't read it in German, but it the title is In German it's be wise last erleichterung so easing the the proof Obligation easing How you prove your discrimination? So basically it's an invitation to sue Because it says if a person can Can give evidence of discrimination we we say It is discrimination already. I mean it has not to give a Necessity to give further proof. So this is in a way. It's ridiculous and I'm I'm not too upset about it because in reality Please correct me Elizabeth, but I I think We do not have cases. We were never sued until today Although there is a written invitation to do so in in practice So one can say this legislation is so ridiculous that there is still such a Strong common sense in reality that it is not used But I have to add two of our three children are working in the company and the third one is a lawyer And she's working for us outside the company and now you know that she has quite Some work to do so for example, we have in HR The necessity to have a written pre-written document So that if a candidate who was refused We can send just a written document by a lawyer, of course Why he or she was refused? So this is the kind of work that our third kid is doing outside the company so Besides extra costs, there is nothing no gain out of it second Point here job references are written by the judges of the labor courts. Well, this is something most of you might know but there is an interesting story our Journey about this Phenomenon to be told and it's a funny a funny story so first an Employer wrote a job reference when the person left the company normally Now there were of course some job references who had some harsh words in it. Let's say let's assume we are in the 70s The the good old times There were some harsh words and and the job reference was a bit of a problem for this Person to find a new job so he Claimed that the wording should be changed and that was normally an issue in front in labor courts and Then judges started to you know do the changes So it was written by the judges and they were and are very clever people of it Lawyers are very clever people. I mean inverting They are perfect so they change these job references and instead of being frustrated the Employers started you might know it to encode the job references So there is a code a hidden wording in job references still today by the way that's surprising that it could survive so long So it's kind of a funny game about the wording. So then This coding came up and I give you the the example you might know Three levels the lowest level is this person was working to our satisfaction Second level this person was working to our full satisfaction Highest level this person was working to our fullest satisfaction So that was in a way a code that you still find today in the job references What it means is to our satisfaction Means hands off and I kind of I think it's just funny because the meaning is so different From the wording so to our satisfaction hands off. I mean, this is a horrible person To our full satisfaction means Mediocre You really have to look into into the case Thoroughly to employ this person And on the contrary to our fullest satisfaction That's really bingo That's really a person that that we can say yes to Now the funny thing is how many years it took the let's say the labor courts the judges and the people to find out about that code I Think it took I Would say at least about 10 to 20 years to find out And then of course they attacked these codes in the labor courts So that was the next stage of let's say degeneration of wording And then the next step of this war. It was it's a word war ww word war Was that the employer started to say I Gave his job reference and then on the bottom in asterisks this job reference is not encoded but the funny thing is that you very often could still find these codes and Then many did not you know, they believe the asterisks and they didn't find it and Let's say my my experience from 2021 is I still find almost 50% of that code codes in job references That's funny. So in a way, it was not sufficient because the employer Employee has to fight of course every job reference in the court And it's it's an internal fight although it's a bit easier for them than for the company Because the lawyers costs are lower than for the company but still it is a fight an eternal fight and there is no No basic result out of it unless one could say nowadays Don't read job references too seriously. I always read them of course to find the code but You cannot be prevented from calling That the reference is on the telephone and still on the telephone you with you will get more truth but Maybe in 10 to 20 years even the telephone calls will be surveyed and then published and and went to court That's a bit of dark fantasy. Sorry for that. But at the moment, it's not yet true We know that of course the Americans for example I would say all governments are surveying telephones, but they they do it too with with words So like bomb they would probably you know find out about the conversation And I assume that with the digitalization in 10 to 20 years The word job reference would also then Evoke some surveillance, but that's a bit a dark joke. Sorry for that So this is also a loss of course. It's a loss of information and it's a loss of value Concerning job references, but I do not have to complain Still Now the third thing is probably the weirdest I have to tell you about the taxation of a yard exchange between neighbors So I happen to be president of our pension fund pension funds with cement is taking care of the savings of the people and This pension fund in our case owns many many apartments on a big block of land very close to So to speak home factories with some Now the neighbor came to me and said I have such a thin stripe of land And of course, I know the paper Couldn't you give me five meters additional? I give you in a side line of the Neighborhood I give you the compensation and What we can do is we can improve the land size both of us to our advantage and it was a very good proposal and We basically said There are many details about it Building But what we did is a complete Neutral exchange of land, so we gave them 500 and he gave us So We never talked about money We never talked about the valuation of the land. We just made an exchange of In a way goods it was land and it's neighborhood I mean you can assume that the valuation of the land is anyway the same And we could yes, we could improve our situation just through this exchange Well, three weeks later, I got the bill And yes, you can blame my 90 And you know what happened? I got the bill for What's the name really state profit because that land was built There was was acquired by the pension fund some 40 years ago so the land price was something and today the land price Increased but I was asking myself What what's the basis of this tech really state profit because there is no profit There is no money in world no valuation, but I can spare you the details But of course bureaucracy has found a way So what they did is they did the evaluation. I Mean we never did the evaluation, but they did And they said well, yes, of course you have exchanged the land, but One part of the exchange is that you sold to the 500 square meters to the neighbor You know you sold them so they kind of They separated the whole exchange into selling and buying So a completely artificial Let's say procedure. Of course, we know why it's it's as pure as this So I must say I was once again surprised by well innovation, I don't know but I mean it needs a Certain thinking you know to Really enter into that transaction and gain Taxation Maybe it's any an interesting thing for you just to to get more aware of the spirit of the bureaucracy It's that's really interesting. I Cannot hide too much until it hurts too much. Sorry. I jump to the next point Which is which is a not a nice one, but Yeah Now I change the country to Germany We're counseling We have four plans in Germany One is that has less than 200 people. So we have no work Three are bigger and they have work Now the three remaining plans we have to very I must say reasonable I Reasonable means we are not against work Courses because they are basically a communication platform to the people So we will have kind of a word comes in Switzerland Which has nothing to do with trade unions by the way. Well It can have something to do, but it doesn't have necessarily something to do with it And there's only one left which where we have troubles and that's Not only based on the law, but of course based on the people, but how law isn't used We see in this case Now the work comes it has Some rights that are basically frightening so one right is it can refuse your request for extra hours That's probably the worst one So you have a word comes in this case. It has ten members We have five hundred employees in that plant and the ten members of the world council can say At the request of the management No We don't make extra Why it is so Stupid in a way is that extra hours are paid extra and not only one-to-one but with an increase of 25% So basically to make extra hours is attractive and you have Also in this plant people who would love to make extra hours But their work comes in representing the people is Again, you see a bit the spirit Of this that's the spirit so they are the bosses of their members basically and They have by the way calls internally of course if somebody wants to you know, earn this extra money Which is quite the good incentive. I would say 25% he cannot and In this case Well Because we are Way how we communicate and so on and here Yeah What can we do? So We are very privileged in our business Concerning demand we have over demand People in covid times are buying stuff at home. They need boxes Now we have another phenomenon Plastic replacement, you know that what is the alternative? Corrigated boxes so we have I'm really a happy entrepreneur So we have high demand Unless we have a work council that is not prepared to make extra hours Extra demand would ask for extra hours now What in these cases is particular is now we can prove That the work council is doing harm to the company Because we have customers who complain about our late delivery and they One customer a big one is thinking about suing us Because of our late delivery and the late delivery causes costs at the site of the customer and and Of course, we are proud that corrugated boxes are so important on the journey of the goods and if you don't have boxes You basically also have to stop your production. So we are at the very heart of Of the whole supply chain in the economy So we have a certain understanding for that customer, but it doesn't help us But we have proof that the work council is now damaging the company so the legal case is going on unfortunately and it's It's completely against our sincere will to you know to bring forward the company to the benefit of everybody So maybe I hope Hans is not asking for the same Task next time, but maybe I can give you an update Next time of how this court case is continuing. This work council has also extra rights in terms of employment and and Giving notice to people. So all these cases have to be Given in front of the work council What they also can do is they can have internal Seminars so that they can learn about their rights how to sue the company basically and and They have the right to from the law imagine from the law side. They have a right to have three weeks of Seminars in four years three weeks and now the judges again have changed the law So we are in that company at an average of three weeks a year We have 11 members in the work council and we had we have heavy machine stoppages Because of the absence of these people They are also free to to choose their hotel where the seminar is Is taking place? So it is high valued Hotels with wellness infrastructure and at the very furthest place in in Germany So the distance of these hotels is is more than 300 kilometers and it's wellness infrastructure hotel so this is a bitter effect, but Let me go to the next topic. It's just too bitter Well, this is not a big issue GDPR, you know, that's a you let legislation Basically, it's not so bad, but it's a bureaucratic monster again So the employee has to give consent to the usage of of their personal data Which is you could say which is okay. It just creates additional stress So what we as a group of companies have to do is we make Contracts between all the companies in the group because an employee could sue us When another sister company is using the data Where he's I mean imagine for example the publication of his name in the internet platform Which is of course a non practical case because there we would show the names of the top management and Top management is not suing us. That's great So that we don't have a problem, but imagine that such a name would be published in the in the Internet group internet website So we would need the consent to all kinds of usage So that's why we have internal Contracts between all group companies that such a usage is allowed Of course, it's a bureaucratic thing another element that our our lawyer daughter is is developing So we can have these internal contracts. Okay gender neutral language is in such quite Ridiculous, you know again wording wording is changing in in Germany We are forced to when you publish a job to say male female and diverse So in Switzerland, we are not yet forced to but we have a lot of pressures from our HR to also do it And we've we think it's kind of funny. That's not that's not so bad Now, let me come to the to the last bureaucratic encounter I show here the Picture of of our model. Hope Yes, it's an opera house and It was inaugurated in 2012 as a result of my let's say Soft c-session. Thank you for the for the word. I learned yesterday. I did a soft c-session in 2004 in front of Community leaders of the Kanton Turgau and I Founded my own state and the result of this activity in 2004 was the building of that house Which was I started in 2009 and the model of is now our management Schooling It's an opera house. We have operas here next month's Rahim. We will have the free private cities initiative hosting here with a public event and What happened was last Monday So just a couple of days ago I for the first time had to Welcome the people coming to a speech By the way Hans was doing the inaugural speech so to speak in 2012 about free private societies That was a great event so I welcomed the people in The model hope for the first time as I hear welcome you in Avalon Avalon is this this the name of my soft c-session Well, I didn't do it just as an advertisement. I had to do it. Why? It this Monday was the first day when the federal government of Switzerland pushed through The obligation to carry a certificate with you When you go to a restaurant or when you attend such a public speech by Andrea Steele last Monday and This certificate is based on so-called 3G Yeah The ones living in Switzerland know knows about it 3G in German means gay impft get tested gay Hild So it means vaccinated healed and and tested now I realized This spirit has forgotten the fourth G Which is? gay soon so it's healthy and It it's not I mean It's not a coincidence that they forgot about it because that is exactly what they are never interested in they are not interested in well successful a Companies, they are not interested in healthy people so they forgot about it. So I had to welcome the people because I Didn't want to become a civil servant Basically because it would be my obligation to ask for the certificate and this is so ridiculous. I I refuse to do it But of course I do not want to to stop the event which is a very Interesting event all the time with such interesting speakers that we have So I said now I have to welcome you in Avalon because in Avalon there are different rules and I okay, I must say the public applauded Heavily they were happy about it, but I I said okay with the health there is also a Responsibility of course going along nobody speaks about that that Taking care of your individual Immune system and your resistance to it is actually not only a selfish endeavor. It's also a Social thing to do because when you then you cannot give it on you just refuse it with your immune system Nobody's talking about that. So I had a little speech in my just short welcoming about that And I'm a bit sad of course that I am more or less forced to to make also a little bit of marketing for my own state, but Circumstances are as they are and I'm I'm pretty curious how this future will will continue to be of course I do not want to have any conflict because my only neighbor around the model of which of course is a very impressive government seat as you can see Is Switzerland so I'm surrounded by Switzerland. I of course hope that the tanks will not Coming but at the moment Switzerland is still quite reasonable with the controls But with this speech I make public my my resistance to it And maybe that that was not very cautious, but that's the way it is. Let's be brave in that. Thank you very much for attention