Switzerland on Tuesday defended its policy of freezing the assets of Russian oligarchs in the face of critics who accuse the Alpine country of not doing enough after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Switzerland alone has frozen about 7.5 billion Swiss francs (nearly 7.6 billion euros) in assets since the imposition of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which corresponds to "
a good third
" of frozen assets in "
the whole
" of the European Union, argues Helene Budliger Artieda, the director of the State Secretariat for the Economy (Seco) in an interview with the daily NZZ.
She cites in support a figure of “
21.5 billion euros
” frozen in the whole of the EU and is therefore surprised that one can suspect Switzerland of showing “
negligence
”.
Last week, the member countries of the G7 asked Switzerland to act more actively against the money of the Russian oligarchs, revealed the German-speaking Swiss weekly Handelszeitung.
Read alsoSwitzerland takes over fifth package of EU sanctions against Russia
Assets considered as violation of the right of ownership?
A letter, signed by all the G7 ambassadors in Bern, was sent to the Swiss government to ask it to do more, revealed the weekly, specifying that the letter is confidential.
In mid-March, the United States ambassador to Switzerland, Scott Miller, had issued criticisms, in particular with regard to Helene Budliger Artieda.
He said he took note of the amounts frozen by Switzerland but estimated that the country could block between 50 and 100 billion additional francs.
In the columns of the NZZ, the head of Seco replied that this figure is the result of a “
misunderstanding
”.
"
The figure put forward of 50 to 100 billion francs is an estimate of the possible Russian assets managed which circulated at the beginning
", she replies, insisting on the fact that this estimate does not come from the administration.
“
But not all Russians are subject to sanctions, only a minority
,” she adds.
Asked whether the frozen assets can be confiscated to contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine, Ms Budliger Artieda explained that a working group had discussed this subject and had come to a clear conclusion, namely that it is would be a "
violation of the right of property
".
If these goods do not have a criminal origin, "
the confiscation of private goods is not authorized in Switzerland
", she indicated.
Since the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022, Switzerland has passed on most of the economic sanctions taken by the European Union against Russia.