Aktuelles

28.09.2012 - FIP assets: about 1.8 million Swiss Francs
The International Federation for Philately (FIP) has a curious way of dealing with money.

For instance: during the 72nd FIP Congress in Jakarta (Indonesia) it was decided (following the advice of the Board; s. picture) that chairmen and chairwomen of all FIP Commissions will have to pay, in future, all their expenses regarding travel and accommodation. The curious thing is that the Board itself regarded it wise to spend for three meetings (New Delhi, Yokohama and Barcelona) the princely sum of 56,542 CHF (almost double the estimate made beforehand).
If one wonders how the FIP still managed to steer away from a deficit: the travel expenses of eleven commission chairmen were not reimbursed; the financial support for the FFE Bulletin was terminated; the FIP Offices in Zurich were closed and it was decided not to organise a Congress in 2011. The result: the net income of the FIP (after taxes) was a healthy 70,000 CHF. And since the capital of the FIP Foundation (about 1.45 million Swiss Francs) will also be transferred, the total sum of money available to the FIP will be in the region of 1.8 million CHF. As Kurt Kimmel, President of the FIP Commission for Postal History, stated this is "quite modest for a world organization" (SBZ, 9/2012, pp. 340).