Russian assets frozen in Switzerland amounted to 6.7 billion Swiss francs (equivalent to the value in euros), the Ministry of Economy said on Friday in a publication in Twitterindicating that 15 objects are still frozen.
At the end of March, Ambassador Erwin Bollinger, a senior official at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, estimated that the assets frozen after the invasion of Ukraine amounted to 5.75 billion francs. two weeks later, the estimate was raised to 7.5 billion francs.
However, the value of the assets frozen by the Swiss authorities was revised downward after clarification on the assets in question, the Ministry of Economy explained. In mid-May, this figure was 6.3 billion Swiss francs.
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As of July 7, the value of frozen assets rose to 6.7 billion francs, the ministry said in an analysis published on its website.
Switzerland, known for its neutrality, violated the traditional clause immediately after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in accordance with European Union sanctions against Russia.
In particular, he demanded that Swiss banks look for individuals, companies or legal entities that have been sanctioned against customers and report them to the Ministry of Economy.
Among the adopted sanctions Switzerland also banned the export of luxury goods and this would help strengthen the industrial potential of Russia.
However, Switzerland’s application of sanctions has been criticized.
The Socialist Party of Switzerland, the second political party in parliament, filed an administrative complaint in April protesting what it called the too “passive” application of sanctions, calling for the use of frozen assets to help rebuild Ukraine.
The most critical voices were focused on the Swiss Bankers Association’s (SBA) assessment of Russian assets managed in Switzerland, which found the blocked amounts insufficient.
In mid-March, the SBA, a federation representing about 300 of the country’s banking institutions, valued Russian assets managed in Switzerland at around CHF 150-200 billion.
