Moscow becomes Europes most congested city Moscow is the most congested city in Europe, according to a survey of trafc around the world. The TomTom Trafc Index of 403 cities in 56 countries showed that travel in the Russian capital takes 56 per cent longer than average. Mumbai is the most congested city in the world, with travel times an average of 65 per cent longer, followed by Bogota on 63 per cent, Lima on 58 per cent and New Delhi, also on on 58 per cent. Moscow is the fth most-congested in the world. Brussels, London and Paris, on 37 per cent, 37 per cent and 36 per cent, are the 11th, 12th and 13th most congested world cities, respectively. TomTom reported that trafc congestion has increased globally. In nearly 75 per cent of the cities surveyed, congestion had either grown or remained static between 2017 and 2018. There were signicant differences between continents: there were decreases in Asia an eight per cent fall in Jakarta, for example while congestion increased in nearly every South American city. Only 90 cities (fewer than 25 per cent) showed decreases. Ralf-Peter Schaefer, VP of Trafc Information at TomTom, said: Globally, trafc congestion is rising and thats both good and bad news. Its good because it indicates a strong global economy, but the ipside is drivers wasting time sitting in trafc, not to mention the huge environmental impact. IND U STRY N E W S Packimpex takes controlling stake in UTS Relocation Packimpex Ltd has announced it has acquired a majority shareholding in UTS Relocation GmbH & Cos destination services and immigration activities in Germany. The Swiss company, which sold its moving activities in Switzerland and related FIDI-affiliation to Gosselin last year, said the move is part of its plans to expand into Europe. It will ee cooperation between the two organisations to strengthen destination services, and visa and immigration support for existing and new customers in Germany. Services will be delivered under the UTS Relocation name and will be handled by the companys team in Frankfurt by Renate Kalberer, who was previously a Senior Account Manager at Packimpex in Basel. Moving services of UTS Germany are not part of the cooperation. Damian Aebischer, CEO of Packimpex, said: This is an important step in our plan to expand Packimpexs business. We are a company that strives for constant development and improvement. As the Swiss market leader, we have set our sights on sharing our excellent customer service and relocation offerings to customers and transferees moving to and from other European countries. This an exciting stage for Packimpex and I am certain that our expansion is full of potential. Axel Schurbaum, CEO of UTS Germany, said: By bundling our competencies and our joint growth strategy, we will swiftly create added value for existing and new customers. We share the same DNA and vision for our future and look forward to working together as partners. ALFA GROUP MEMBER ACQUIRES OSLO RELOCATION Alfa Quality Moving Norway (not affiliated to FIDI), part of the Alfa Group, has acquired Oslo Relocation AS. Established in 2000, Oslo Relocation is a privately owned WW W. F I D I. O R G FF292 AugSep19 pp08-15 News.indd 9 business and is the relocation and settling-in services market leader in Norway. It is a member of the European Relocation Association (EuRA) and obtained the EuRA Global Quality Seal in April 2008. The companys portfolio includes direct corporate clients, relocation manager companies around the world and smaller companies in Norway. A spokesperson for Alfa said: Alfa has great confidence in acquiring this reputed business and joining forces to further develop it in cooperation with all our customers and employees. 9 15/07/2019 14:39